Translated material
War and Peace in Slavyansk
A small city in the Donetsk region with a population of just more than 100 thousand was in the first lines of the world media, becoming an epicetr of confrontation in Ukraine
He will every now and then storm, here they are captured by journalists, blood is pouring almost daily. The reason for this - it is almost on the border of the three regions of Eastern Ukraine - Donetsk, Lugansk and Dnepropetrovsk, here is the transport railway junction that connects Kharkov (and therefore Kyiv) with the east, finally, a conditional territorial corridor from mainland Russia to Crimea passes through Slavyansk. 
At about 9 in the morning on April 24, on the barricades at the approaches to Slavyansk, tires caught fire: it was in black smoke that the inhabitants predicted a quick storm. Many left the city in advance, the remaining hid in the basements. Throughout the morning, shots were heard from the surroundings, and helicopters were barusted in the sky above the city. However, after two hours, until noon, everything calmed down. And the city healed his life, as if there was no assault. The suspension of the anti-terrorist operation of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine announced at five in the evening, the result: the law enforcement officers of Donetsk self-defense in the north-eastern part of the city were destroyed, five pro-Russian activists were killed, and one law enforcement officer was wounded.
Fears
In front of the Slavic city executive committee of the barricades, the entrance is guarded by taciturn people armed to the teeth in camouflage and masks. After the search and questioning, where and why came from, they are passed inside. Here it is possible to talk with one of the fighters, a 25-year-old tall guy who seems to be a cartoon. The cartoon laughs over the anti -terrorist operation: they say that the gut of the Ukrainians is to capture the city in which the population supports pro -Russian activists. He says that of the five killed fighters of self -defense, five killed during the operation. Two more - a man and a woman - died in an accidentally sheated car, the fifth deceased - supposedly a teenager of 14-15 years, who also had nothing to do with self -defense. "
“They had a machine gun, you see, canned, unmasled. He gave them one turn for ten rounds and jammed "
“However, according to the cartoon, in addition to attacks by the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the district, skirmishes and another kind occur now and then. So on the night of April 20, one of the checkpoints attacked four jeeps with the fighters of the“ Right Sector ”. Three self -defense activists were killed in place, but the absorption of two cars had arrived, and the other two were a lot of battleships. Judging by the traces of the blood, “they had a machine gun, it was possible to have one turn for ten rounds and stuck it. Or there are no associations in the east.
It should be noted that the “Right Sector” is generally a parable here: many residents of Slavyansk told the author that they were afraid of the attacks of the militants of this organization. “Well, for example, I’ll lay out the weapon for the promised amnesty,” the cartoon reasoned, “well, the security forces will not touch me.” And the "right sector"? The resentment of them remained. " 
War at the gate
If you move away from the city executive committee, the mood on the streets can hardly be called war. “If only there was no war” - this phrase every now and then is repeated by the townspeople. Moms with strollers, railway workers, entrepreneurs, merchants. There are supporters of Russia and Ukrainian patriots, but you rarely meet the layman, ready to pick up weapons. And the war, meanwhile, is already at the gate. “The main thing for me is that I can take a walk with my children calmly, and not the commandant’s hour,” says the probe driver of the minibus. His children are of draft age (mandatory military service in Ukraine was canceled, but a draft in the Ministry of Internal Affairs was preserved, whose forces are involved in the ATO). “How is it? My children will soon serve the children of my friends who live in Russia, too. Will they shoot each other? "
Here, in general, almost every second one has friends or relatives in Russia, to whom they go to visit, invite to themselves. Many came here themselves before the collapse of the USSR, others in Russia were born fathers or grandfathers. “Industrial region” - as the locals explain this migration. “They gathered here from all over the Union. After the war, they rode the country after the war, ”the lady of about 65 years explained to the correspondent.“ Zone. Immediately we have three zones in the district. They drove everyone. Hard labor, ”adds one of the activists on the barricades. "
“They gathered here from all over the Union. After the war, they rode the country after the war "
"According to the 2001 census, 56.87 % of Ukrainians and 38.22 % of Russians live in the Donetsk region. There are also Greeks, Belarusians, Tatars, Armenians and Jews. All these years have lived all these years quite peaceful. Russian and Surzhik, the author, spoke Ukrainian in the minibus and not at the checkpoint of the station. Only one of the guards at the station is at the station. “You better talk in Russian now, otherwise the city is in the city ...” Although the language question is one of the most important in the region. About three quarters of the Donetsk region were considered their relatives. 
Relatives coming from earnings created Russia's image of a neighboring Eldorado. And salaries are higher there, and it is better to live, so there are many for Russia. According to the research of the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, conducted in April 2014, 27.5% of the inhabitants of Donetsk and 30% of the Lugansk regions would not against joining a rich neighbor. After talking with people in Slavyansk, you understand that here the Crimean script is impressed by almost half of the inhabitants.
| *Data of the Main Directorate of Statistics in the Donetsk Region in January-February 2014 in January-February 2013-25.2 %. |
The remaining enterprises are also tied to Russia. For example, one of the largest Donbass factories, the Novocamatorsky Machine -Building Plant (NKMZ), sends more than half of its products to Russia. After the start of tension in Russian-Ukrainian relations, the factory’s leadership questioned its further work, so that 6 thousand jobs were threatened. “In Kramatorsk, 90% of factories are focused on Russia. 70–80% of the population - workers. What to do these people? Who are they for? Think for yourself, ”the author explained the same cartoon guarding the city executive committee of Slavyansk. “The stupor began with the new government.” Statistics, however, speaks of something else. According to official figures, only 12.6% of the exports of the Donetsk region goes to Russia*. Among other partners of the region are European countries (32.7%of exports), Asia (27.4%), CIS (19.8%), Africa (14.2%) and America (5.8%).
However, the reasons for the desire in the arms of a neighbor are not only economic. One of the main factors of ideological feud with Kiev is the complete confidence that the new power is the direct successors of the German-fascist invaders of 1941. “Enter troops here, start a war with your own population! Before that, even Hitler had not thought of! - One of the residents of Slavyansk comments on the anti -terrorist operation and adds: - But okay, this is not the main thing. The main thing is that there is no war. ” 
