From checkpoint to polling station

How residents of the Donetsk region voted in the election of the President of Ukraine. Special report

The election of the President of Ukraine in the Donetsk region was almost torn off the font size - + Alexander Wagner

Published 05/26/2014 14:06

"Who is still a junta? When they conducted their referendum, no one bother them, why do I take my legal right to vote in the presidential election?" - From what was heard on May 25 in the territory of the so -called DPR .

On the day of my arrival in Donetsk, May 24, a march was held on the occasion of the appearance of the so -called Novorosia. For the first time in many weeks on the streets, one could see many police officers in the performance of official duties: they carefully guarded no more than a thousand people who passed the procession from Lenin Square to the captured building of the Donetsk regional state administration.

Among the participants there were many supporters of the Communist Party of Ukraine: in their Red Tent-the only political organization officially registered here in Ukraine-an 18-year-old young man who called a volunteer said that he was playing for the unity of Ukraine. Two meters from him on the pedestal of the monument, someone left several The new Russia's new Russia new Russia is published in the DPR, the newspaper Novorossiya News of the first release of the New Russia newspaper with an article by the leader of the Eurasian movement of Alexander Dugin and an interview with one of the leaders of the DPR Pavel Gubarev. In the past, the organizer of children's holidays spoke about the gifts of Vladimir Zhirinovsky and scared readers with the beginning of the "ethnic purges of the Russian-cultural population" if Ukraine signed an association agreement with the EU.

The Ukrainian flag, hung on one of the balconies of the house adjacent to the captured OGA: several participants in the procession, tried to shout from the street to the owner of the apartment and threatened the mood forced him to remove the flag. Everyone who was going to organize or take part in the presidential election was announced at a rally by the enemy of the people.

Later it became known that due to the received threats and the inability to bring ballots in Donetsk, even polling stations in the building of the local airport, where, as the Ukrainian authorities planned, almost a million people could vote with a population of a population. Many did not recognize this bad news about unheated polling stations, and the next morning the people who wanted to vote gathered at the airport.

At half a day in the morning, voters crowded and at one of the polling stations in the small town of Selidovo, just half an hour drive from Donetsk. In the morning there were no ballots here, but the members of the election commission said that from a minute to a minute they were waiting for a call to get them. “It happened that in the past years we began voting at 10 in the morning, so it's okay,” the representative of the election commission reassured the audience. Those who came to vote in the early morning, she asked to come later. “Who is the junta after all?” Asked one of the residents of Selidovo. “When they held their referendum, no one interfered with them, why do they take my legal right to vote in the presidential election?”

Dimitrov. The site is not pleasing, but the order of the X dimitrov. The site is not pleasing, but the order at this time is heard a call from the Maryanka of the Peter and Paul region of the Donetsk region. It turns out that the site in this small village was completely defeated the day before. The separatists even took the computer in which data on voters were stored. But in the neighboring Dimitov, members of the election commission invite you to look at the voting process. “Everything goes well for us, the mood is festive,” says the local volunteer present here. One of the members of the commission notes a low turnout: "When we voted for Yanukovych, there were more people, but we are glad that we opened. The bulletin is guarded by the police, we even organized an exit voting for the disabled."

At the same time, the DPR flag is developing at the local executive committee, and when the journalists leave the plot for lighting elections, several Dimitrov residents begin to reproach them: “Have you seen a vote in a referendum? How many people were there? Now what will you tell?” The taxi driver who agreed to throw up to the next settlement is not so categorical: "I’ll go to the polls, there are still many time until eight in the evening. It seems to me that there is no republic. If there is no war."

Towards us more and more often begin to come across buses with “Shakhters” signs on the front glass. “There are four mines in the vicinity of the city. Everyone is state -owned. To earn more, some are sitting two shifts underground,” the taxi driver says. “My friend worked on the railway, salary - 300 hryvnias a month. He left for the Czech Republic, married Lvivka, and built a house in five years.”

On the way from Dimitrov to Dobropole, I meet the second checkpoint. The Ukrainian military thoroughly prepared for the elections, defeating the separatist posts on highways northwest of Donetsk. The first traces of these battles are already visible on the exit from the city: an almost completely burned blackened two -story building, traces of bullets, sand bags. Karlovka. There was a battle, armed supporters of the so -called DPR retreated, but on the election day they returned here again. Two Author-Airiers check passing cars. But then there is only the Ukrainian army.

At this checkpoint, the X had never shot at this checkpoint never shot at a checkpoint between Dimitrov and Dobropolish, the soldiers do not even allow to get out of the car and categorically forbid taking pictures. Their bags are riddled with traces of bullets. A sleeve is scattered around. The fact that the shootings continue even on Sundays, I find out immediately after arriving in Dobropolie: in the local hospital lies a seriously wounded soldier in the neck. He asked not to call his name in the press, so as not to worry his relatives. The doctor of the Dobropol hospital talks about the features of bullet wounds, that the serviceman has done an emergency operation and in the near future is transported to a military hospital: ordinary surgeons are not fully owned by knowledge about such types of injuries, and to save a soldier, a consultation of military doctors is needed.

In the center of Dobropol, at the entrance to the local House of Culture at that time, a rally of supporters of the DPR is taking place. They came here in protest against the presidential election. "Does it bother you that in order to uphold their opinions, your supporters took up weapons?" - I ask one of the participants in the demonstration. She transfers the conversation into the plane "who was the first to start." But people continue to come to the site. The excited member of the election commission tells how, on the eve of only one day, the hall of the House of Culture turned into an polling station: they placed cabins, tables and chairs, prayed that everything happened and calmly peaceful time returned.

I'm going further: to Aleksandrovka, Donetsk region. On the way - again the checkpoint of the Ukrainian army. The fighters are relaxed, posing on cameras and smiling. They haven't shot here yet. One of them, from Kirovograd, says that he was mobilized two months ago, but served in the army seven years ago. "Was it scary when you were sent to the war area?" I ask. "No, I am a patriot and is ready to protect our land. I don’t know, of course, for sure, but it seems to me that we are fighting with our neighbors. It is a pity. After all, these were our brothers." His combat comrades have lunch nearby, sitting on a tank, next to which is a blue sign "fishing is prohibited."

Votes counting in Krasnoarmeysk X Counting of votes in Krasnoarmeysk at eight o’clock in the evening one of the polling stations in the center of Krasnoarmeysk, about 50 kilometers from Donetsk. Present when counting the votes, which lasts more than two hours. At first, having carefully counted, they “extinguish” unused ballots, cutting off the corners from them. Then the ballots are laid out in heaps depending on which candidate the vote is cast for. Observers and commissions converge. The ballots are thoroughly packaged, having previously stamped, and announce the results. Until recently, candidates from the Party of Regions had unambiguous support in these parts, and now half of those who took part in the elections cast their vote for Petro Poroshenko. Since this happened in the east of Ukraine, it means that this candidate can win immediately in the first round of the presidential election.

Tags: Ukraine , elections , Donetsk , DPR , Poroshenko , Gubarev