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New Year in besieged Donetsk
Views:Despite the alarming expectations, the New Year holidays in Donetsk passed relatively calmly. December 30th turned out to be tense, when a residential building in the Kuybyshevsky district was damaged as a result of shelling from Avdeevka. However, this was the last surge of military activity in the past year. In the following days, including New Year's Eve, there was a lull, and people were able to prepare for the holiday.
Not everyone could afford a rich holiday table: pensioners and state employees are in a difficult situation due to the blockade - there are no pensions, benefits, or salaries. The situation was slightly saved by December social payments from the DPR.
By the way, there was no shortage in grocery stores. The assortment on supermarket shelves is quite familiar, except perhaps without exotic fruits. For example, it was impossible to find mangoes or avocados.
On New Year's Eve itself, the curfew in Donetsk was lifted, and residents could move freely around the city without passes or permits, but there were practically no people on the streets due to unprecedented frosts: on New Year's Eve, the air temperature dropped to minus 24 degrees Celsius. In such weather, only the most persistent people came to Lenin Square to see the New Year tree.
All Ukrainian channels disappeared from the TV screens of Donetsk residents six months ago; on the holiday night, only Russian and local ones were broadcast - the Novorossiya channel and the First Republican. They played an appeal from the head of the DPR, Alexander Zakharchenko, to the residents of the republic - this was an innovation. All Donetsk residents closely followed Vladimir Putin’s speech.
Champagne was raised to coincide with the chiming clock, Moscow time. Firecrackers exploded outside the window and amateur fireworks flashed, despite the official ban.
Despite the blockade, Ukrainian mobile communications work in Donetsk, so there was an opportunity to congratulate relatives from the regions of Ukraine. Crimeans ask me: were there any disputes about politics? We argued about politics when there was no war in Donetsk, then it came to quarrels between relatives and divorces. But now it’s a different feeling. No one cares about politics, the main thing is that everyone is safe and everyone is happy. Shelling greatly changes consciousness.
The most popular toast on New Year's Eve was: “May 2015 be the year of peace. For peace!".
In general, people in Donetsk were tired of the war, so they tried to organize a holiday to please the children. The adults, after sitting at the table for a while, went to bed shortly after midnight.
By the way, despite severe frosts and infrastructure seriously damaged as a result of shelling, heat, water and electricity are supplied to the apartments of Donetsk residents without interruption. This year saw a record low level of domestic injuries and accidents on city roads - in contrast to the holidays of past years.
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