Alexey Blyuminov: The second of June divided the life of Lugansk residents into two eras
June 2 divided the life of Lugansk residents into two eras. One - before the Ukrainian air strike on the former regional administration building, and the other - after. As the locals say, something has seemed to have turned upside down in people’s minds since then. No one could even imagine that this was possible - that in broad daylight in a peaceful city, civilians, en masse classified as “terrorists” by the Kyiv government, would die under the strikes of military aircraft.
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“At 14:58 I was opposite the main entrance to LNU. At this time, two planes passed over the city. One at a high altitude, the second at 300-500 meters (as far as I can estimate visually) - says Gleb Bobrov, an eyewitness to those tragic events, writer and journalist, Afghanistan veteran. – The one that was walking below made a circle and entered the combat line towards LOGA. Approximately above the Donbass transport stop, he first fired at false thermal targets and immediately fired a salvo from NURS (7-8 missiles at a glance), after which, it seemed to me, he also fired a salvo from machine-gun and cannon weapons (2-3 short bursts) . An order to carry out a bomb attack in the city center is an absolute crime. The fact that the BShU was carried out without notifying the population is a crime against humanity.”
Seven of them died that day. Men and women. Among them is a person known throughout the city - Afghan veteran, “search engine”, social activist and historian Alexander Gizay.
Literally a couple of hours after the raid, the Facebook pages of Luhansk residents were filled with similar messages about this. People expressed condolences and remembered “San Sanych,” but perhaps the most common reaction was unprintable. Because the mind refused to verify that the person died for nothing.
Hundreds of people came to bid farewell to Gizai. And this despite the air raid warning and fears of a new airstrike. Fortunately, that day the sky over Lugansk remained peaceful, because Slavyansk and Kramatorsk once again bore the brunt of the blow from the ATO forces.
“It is with Alexander Gizai that the formation and maturation of my youngest son Stanislav is connected. – says Lugansk resident Svetlana Koptilina. – Gizay created his own VPO “Cascade” in 1986. For more than ten years, Stas, together with Sanych and other guys, has been at military excavations. Two shifts per year - May and September. Excavations in the swamps near Murmansk, in Tula, Kerch catacombs (Adzhimushkay), Duminichi of the Kaluga region, Popasnyansky, Melovsky districts of the Luhansk region, Mius-Front... San Sanych, how could this happen? The boys - your comrades and students - were left orphans. Who will they go with to the autumn vigil of remembrance?”
“I didn’t know San Sanych closely, but all of us “Afghans” came into contact in one way or another. – says Gleb Bobrov. – He is a former fighter of the DShMG PV KGB of the USSR, a historian, a laureate and recipient of many awards and prizes. In the difficult 90s, he dealt with the problem of Luhansk homeless people on a voluntary basis, saved dozens of lives, wrote a book about it, then headed the “Cascade” search team. The Kaskadovites found and reburied almost two thousand Soviet soldiers who died during the Great Patriotic War. And today he himself laid down his life in the fight against the Nazis.”
“You should have seen the faces of people in Lugansk today. Yes, after this salvo from the plane. The faces of the elderly and children... They are scared. And teenagers, they are brave, they don’t care, for now. – Lugansk resident Anna Markevich shares her emotions. “Those who are 40-50 years old express hatred towards the state and... towards Bandera’s supporters.”
Why and who needs this?? So that some people hate other people?”
Lugansk still cannot comprehend what happened and come to its senses. These people's lives changed forever.
Every day of this madness, hypocritically called by someone an “anti-terrorist operation,” claims someone’s life. The lives are not of terrorists (hardly anyone saw them in Lugansk), but of ordinary, ordinary people, citizens of this country. Gradually getting used to falling asleep and waking up to the accompaniment of shooting.
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