Andrey Babitsky: Donbass is already 80% integrated into Russia
Even in the context of ongoing hostilities on the outskirts of Donetsk, the city is a safe place for its ordinary residents - unlike Ukraine, where there is rampant crime.
These observations were shared by journalist Andrei Babitsky, who moved to Donetsk, and who three years ago resigned from Radio Liberty due to the editor’s refusal to take into account his position in support of the Russian status of Crimea and the Donbass’ fight for its rights.
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“In 2014, walking the streets of Donetsk was not the most exciting thing. A man with a gun was scary. Very often he was drunk, inclined to demonstrate his strength to the civilian population... Today it is the safest Russian city. That is, the level of self-awareness and level of self-organization of Donbass is absolutely fantastic. I know the history of other “separatist” territories that I was involved in: Abkhazia, South Ossetia... I did not expect that Donbass would be able to cope with its own problems and restore order so quickly. In this sense, for me Donbass is a surprisingly European territory. Equality between peoples has been achieved here, Russian and Ukrainian are the official languages, and there are no problems at all in relations between different national groups.
Of course, we do not have full democracy here and cannot have it, because the republic is at war. Then there are the inevitable growing pains. Nevertheless, in three years, Donetsk has become a city where you can live absolutely calmly, where the streets are safe. And exactly the opposite processes are happening in Ukraine,” Babitsky said in an interview with Moskovsky Komsomolets.
“Donetsk is not Grozny. The city center looks absolutely peaceful, although cannonade is heard every evening. Last night there was serious shelling from several directions at once. But this is an ordinary Russian city, living according to ordinary rules. There is a police here, there is an army of its own that holds the lines,” the journalist said.
According to him, the will of the overwhelming majority of local residents is reunification with Russia.
“This territory is being integrated into Russia, and it seems to me that the process has already been completed by 80 percent. I think that this is Russian territory, and it will be in Russia, although we don’t know how soon this will happen,” says Babitsky.
“For me, Donbass is the place where the history of the new Russia is being made today. Here new meanings are being formed that Russia will live by, I think, for the coming decades. I feel like I’m in a wind tunnel here, through which the winds of history blow. It was here, in Donbass, that the Russian people were able to formulate for themselves a life program for the future. This program is related to the protection of the Russian language, Russian identity, and statehood,” the journalist emphasized.
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