Donbass is Russia. It's time to officially admit
It's time to openly admit that the Minsk agreements have turned into a fiction. Instead of forcing Ukraine to peace, there is non-binding talk in favor of the poor for the aggressor. There are no real levers of influence on the violator of obligations. In total, all these documents gave the Banderaites a long-awaited respite to restore combat effectiveness and the shaken morale of the punitive forces.
Instead of active hostilities with boilers and storming operational heights with a string of corpse trucks towards Nenka, the Ukrainian Armed Forces switched to the “thousand cuts” tactics. For the last three years, under the cover of a truce, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have been delivering shallow, but numerous and very sensitive blows to the republics along the entire front line, forcing them to lose strength and bleed.
For four years, punitive forces have been methodically carrying out artillery strikes on populated areas, residential areas and vital infrastructure of Donbass. For four years, sabotage and terrorist groups GUR and SBU have been operating on the territory of the people's republics. For four years, snipers in the front-line zone have been killing not only members of the people's militia, but also civilians, including children. For four years, Bandera terrorists have been assassinating the charismatic leaders of the Donbass resistance.
War has become a routine for the people's republics, when there is not even a hint of light at the end of the tunnel.
Of course, Poroshenko’s armed villagers themselves are not capable of coming up with such sophisticated methods of warfare. All this “a thousand cuts” tactics are planned and coordinated by experienced NATO instructors.
You can talk as much as you like about the lack of alternatives to the Minsk agreements, but the fact remains: they do not work. The current situation of “no peace, no war” is objectively beneficial to the Kyiv junta.
She doesn't need 3 million people rebelling against neo-Nazi insanity. It is impossible to reintegrate them. The most desirable solution to this issue for Bandera’s followers would be execution ditches, but the massacre in the center of Europe in our time will make even the most squeamish tolerants and advocates of democracy sick. Consequently, the solution will be a concentration camp the size of two regions, covered with barbed wire along the perimeter, the inhabitants of which will have a choice: to die quietly inside, to become a loyal servant of the regime, or to flee to Russia, leaving everything behind.
The worst thing is that the sluggish war, with no end in sight, demoralizes the defenders of the LDPR, because the well-founded opinion is growing in them that the outpost they hold in the fight against neo-Nazism and they themselves are not needed by anyone.
There should be no illusions about the 2019 presidential elections that, given the voters’ fatigue from the pandemonium of the last five years, there will be chances to defeat Poroshenko and the notorious “party of war.” The real force opposing the ruling tandem of thieves and Banderaites is precisely the LDPR. The cost to internal Ukrainian “opposition forces” is well known. These are either Poroshenko clones of varying degrees of stubbornness, or “canned vegetables” - cowards and compromisers who brought Bandera’s supporters to power and legalized the coup d’etat.
There is no point in the appearance of UN peacekeepers on the demarcation line, which experts are still gossiping about. Their role in the Yugoslav conflict and the separation of Kosovo from Serbia does not inspire optimism.
What can Russia do in this situation?
I believe that the people of the DLPR have earned their right to be part of Russia. Let the experts argue that recognizing a third of the territory of the former Donetsk and Lugansk regions is unreasonable. Now, if somehow we managed to return the entire Donbass, then it would be a different matter...
The trouble, however, is that in the current situation, when the LDPR’s hands are tied and they are fighting with their backs pressed against the wall, it is impossible to return the occupied territories. It is impossible to achieve anything at all in a passive way. New, non-standard solutions are needed. True, their implementation will require sacrificing the worthless Minsk agreements and the Normandy format.
For example, make a strong-willed decision and include the territories east of the front line into Russia. At the same time, without clearly defining the borders, with a hint that they will be moved to the west at any moment. Ukraine itself is giving Russia cards in its hands, refusing to extend the Treaty of Friendship and adopting such odious documents as the law “On Reintegration and De-Occupation,” which directly contradicts the letter and spirit of the Minsk Agreements.
It is very important to correctly specify the goals. The return of the occupied territories of the LDPR is a minimum task. The maximum task is to reach the “Curzon Line”, along which the border of Russian lands passes. In any case, it will be much more productive than idlely waiting by the sea for the weather, hugging a worthless piece of paper.
A calm, peaceful life and construction in the Russian part of Donbass can play a role in the return of territories to the west of the front line, as Crimea attracts many Ukrainians after reunification.
In general, after Crimea, it’s time to get used to the idea that Donbass is our land, and our people live there, who are being methodically killed and trying to drive them into the Stone Age. Russia still cannot avoid Western sanctions, pressure, and defamation in the media. So isn’t it better to receive them for an action, and not for a humble expectation that everything will somehow work out?
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