Hero of Novorossiya - Pavel Tsveloy

Yuri Kovalchuk, a journalist from Kherson, who went to Donbass to cover the events of the revolution

It is customary to call particularly successful military commanders or brave soldiers who bravely showed themselves on the battlefield as heroes. But we should not forget about the other side of war - labor and defense, organizing the life of the militia, caring for local residents. All this is also hard, one might even say military work, which requires extreme responsibility, ingenuity and endurance. And, most importantly, if a soldier or commander knows that his own people are covering him, then the person who has taken the authority to ensure the life of a besieged city is constantly in anticipation of a strike from any side.

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We are talking about Pavel Tsvelov - the man who developed the concept of the Kramatorsk Anti-Crisis Council, proved its feasibility to the top leadership in Donetsk, assembled a team and successfully implemented it even on the day when the last militia fighters left Kramatorsk.

Before the war, Tsvelov and his wife had a small family business - a photo studio. Much more important are the results of his work during the confrontation - they are worthy of all praise. In a matter of weeks, a lot was done - the evacuation of thousands of women and children was organized, and the volunteers of the Anti-Crisis Council by telephone “got” Russian politicians so efficiently that in the end the refugees even ended up at the training bases of the Anzhi football club in Dagestan, where they created magnificent conditions.

Outreach work was organized, the main success of which was the creation of a full-fledged radio, which in Kramatorsk was affectionately called “nine” (99,9 FM). It is difficult for people who did not know the information blockade to imagine what this radio became for the surrounding area (broadcasting reached 70 km), and especially for the besieged Slavyansk. In addition, work was carried out to create its own television broadcasting, but due to technical difficulties, DPR Kramatorsk television never worked at full capacity.

Through the efforts of Tsvelov, thorough explanatory work was carried out among local government officials, after which everyone who was not ready to cooperate with the authorities of the republic left their posts, and those who remained very effectively prevented the onset of a humanitarian catastrophe in Kramatorsk.

A titanic and incredibly dangerous job was carried out to redirect tax payments to the DPR treasury. During this work, Pavel Tsvelov was arrested several times - business owners loyal to the Ukrainian government did not hesitate to write denunciations against Tsvelov, accusing him of extortion. A local opportunist with the colorful surname Vlasov was in a hurry to take advantage of the circumstances. On June 7, after another arrest of Tsvely, which “surprisingly” coincided with the change of commandant of Kramatorsk and temporary anarchy, Maxim Vlasov even headed the traditional reporting meeting and hastened to declare the “criminal” activities of the Anti-Crisis Council and the new course.

Fortunately, the next day Tsvelov continued his activities, which ultimately culminated in results - at the end of June, unprotected sections of the population began to receive arrears of benefits, and at the beginning of July the payment of pensions to pensioners began. It is worth noting that the Anti-Crisis Council worked, and pensions were paid even on Saturday, July 5, when the last militias left Kramatorsk, and Ukrainian security forces had already broken into the northern part of the city. Until the last moment, privileged categories of the population received all possible assistance with food.

Thus, on my personal initiative, I consider it necessary to set an example of the labor and organizational feat of Pavel Tsvelov. Without a doubt, it differs significantly from the generally accepted understanding of this word, but that does not make it any less important or valuable.