The largest project aimed at mobilizing Russian society was initiated on Russian TV three years ago. This initiative was de jure unofficial but was de facto state sponsored: public officials and politicians were ushered onto TV sets in their droves to talk about the war in the Donbas being “another Battle of Stalingrad”, spouting such rhetoric as: “failure to protect the Donbas against the Ukrainian army today will lead to NATO troops being stationed at the Volga River tomorrow and that will be the end of Russia”.
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Separatists of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DNR) carry flags and a portrait of late pro-Russian rebel commander Arseny Pavlov, known as "Motorola", during the funeral ceremony in Donetsk on October 19, 2016.
Ukraine's pro-Russian rebels announced three days of mourning on October 17 after Pavlov was killed in a lift bombing. The 33-year-old Russian died late on October 16 when a homemade device exploded in the lift at the entrance to his block of flats in the de facto rebel capital Donetsk, separatist authorities said. Thousands of pro-Russian rebels and supporters in eastern Ukraine on October 19 turned out to bid farewell to the notorious rebel commander. (AFP)
