DPR battalion commander: The territory of Ukraine must be liberated

On which sectors of the front in the LPR and DPR should we expect an offensive by the Armed Forces of Ukraine? Will the West force Zelensky to implement the Minsk agreements? What right should be returned to the residents of historical Novorossiya?

Sergei Fomchenkov, former coordinator of the International Brigades movement and ex-commander of the Fourth Reconnaissance and Assault Battalion of the Special Purpose Regiment (4RSB PSM) of the DPR, told PolitNavigator about this and much more.

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"PolitNavigator": In your opinion, how likely is it that full-fledged hostilities could begin in Donbass?

Sergey Fomchenkov: My opinion is that the current situation can be compared to an abscess that has been festering for a long time and is about to burst. What form this war will take and when it will take place is a big question. Now, it seems to me, we have come closest to the point where this can happen, because there is an interest in this from players on the other side - the USA, Great Britain, who are pushing Ukraine towards this war, and there is an interest in the Ukrainian regime itself, since the situation They are in a stalemate both economically and politically, and war in this case can save them.

_{Also here, in addition to objective things, there is also the factor of an unfinished war - the side did not achieve its goals, we did not achieve ours, no one agreed with the interim results. And there must be a logical conclusion, thanks to which this abscess will open on its own.}

This is one moment. And the other is that there are forces that are pushing for war and, undoubtedly, over the past seven years there is now the greatest likelihood that war will happen.

The question, I repeat, is in what forms and scale, because in Ukraine they probably understand that if there is a full-scale war, then we, the Russians, will demolish everything right up to Kyiv.

Perhaps this will be a limited war in several directions, and I believe that it will be the Lugansk direction, where they will try to capture Debaltseve, cutting the road between the DPR and LPR, and on the territory of the Donetsk People's Republic it will most likely be Gorlovka and the Mariupol direction - they will try to cut off the south. The dill will probe us there, checking our reaction.

Combined group of the 2nd and 3rd companies of the 4th RSB PSM at the training ground in the Donetsk region after the shooting, 2017 Sergei Fomchenkov and fighters of the “Interbrigade” in Lugansk in the summer of 2014

In your opinion, I don’t know to what extent you now have or do not have all the information, are the people’s militia corps ready to repel the alleged attack from Ukraine?

I think, as far as their resources and capabilities allow, they are as ready as possible. And we must understand that the resources and capabilities of the corps are, of course, limited, which is due to the fact that this is not the Russian army, there are not so many resources, money, or modern weapons.

It is also clear that in recent years people have become less willing to join the armies of the republics, because many are tired of the war, people need to earn money - some go to Russia to work, people have families. Volunteers from Russia made up a large percentage of the personnel, and they mostly also went home.

_{Ukraine, for example, has much more resources, it is a large state, with large enterprises, and here you don’t even have to take into account the help of the United States and NATO.}

But it must be understood that the attacking side is initially in a less advantageous position. And, if you enter cities, you may encounter serious resistance, and even the Soviet weapons that are available in the buildings make it easy to hold the defense in any fortified locality.

Therefore, the attacking side will be forced to look for ways around it, it will go through the fields, and the weather for this is now unstable, I personally don’t really see where the equipment could go now, today it’s frozen, tomorrow it’s wet, and that’s it - the cars are stuck .

Therefore, the advantage of the corps here is that they defend themselves. This is, firstly. And, secondly, the natural factor equalizes the chances. You could even say that weather conditions will be on our side in this situation.

I understand that all this will be guesswork, but when do you think we should expect an exacerbation? I remember they said that in the first days of the Olympics, but the Olympics, as we see, is going on calmly, and no one is fighting with anyone...

Well, I said before that if war happens, it will definitely not be before the final of the Olympics. There are a lot of people interested in this - Europe, the USA, Great Britain, and Turkey. Plus the parties to the conflict are Russia, Ukraine, the people's republics. And now there is such a negotiation process - a bluff, each side pumps up the opposite and raises the stakes.

And these rate increases are happening daily. Active bargaining is taking place. That side says, we will gather such forces, we will supply weapons to Ukraine that will demolish your republics, and our side - but look, we have a whole army standing next to us. There is such a mutual demonstration of strength.

Of course, the situation is being escalated primarily by the West, but we also show that, if anything happens, we are ready to give an adequate response and adequately protect Russian citizens, who already make up half of the population of the LDPR.

Both sides demonstrate their readiness to defend their interests, including by military means. And here, either someone’s nerves will break down and he will start first - this, with a high degree of probability, will be the wrong side, because Russia did not attack anyone first, or the West will make concessions and begin to negotiate with Russia regarding demands , which were put forward by the Russian side. After which Zelensky will negotiate with the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, as required by the Minsk agreements.

_{And there cannot be a third way, because the bets have been made, and by and large, no one will turn away from the path they have begun.}

Russia, of course, must under no circumstances make concessions. If there is a threat of Ukrainian attack on the territory of the people’s republics, then Russia will also be ready to defend its own.

Which of the scenarios you mentioned do you consider the best for Donbass? Hand on heart, I somehow don’t want to imagine that the Minsk agreements will be implemented, a third of Donbass will be returned to Ukraine as a ORDLO….

If we talk objectively about the return of the LPR and DPR to the Ukraine that exists now, it is simply impossible. And this, in principle, will not happen. If we talk about the implementation of the Minsk agreements, then everyone understands that for certain reasons half-hearted measures were taken in 2015. Of course, for the security of the Russian Federation, for the liberation of occupied Novorossiya in Ukraine, the regime must completely change to one friendly to Russia. Otherwise there will be constant war, constant conflict, constant tension.

_{Therefore, the territory of Ukraine must be liberated from the regime that seized power in 2014, and the territory of historical Novorossiya, where Russian people live, must have closer ties with Russia, and have the right to choose, which Crimea had.}

Donetsk and Lugansk were once deprived of this right, but if referendums had been held in all territories of eastern and southern Ukraine, then in 2014 they would have shown the desire of the people living there to be together with Russia. They, I repeat, were deprived of this right, and this historical right needs to be restored.

Well, the other day Blinken said that Ukraine seems to be ready to implement the Minsk agreements. Just imagine: Western curators forced Kiev to carry them out, elections were held in the LPR and DPR under Ukrainian legislation, “suicide bombers” were chosen from ORDLO to work in the Verkhovna Rada, who, I believe, on the very first day of their arrival in Kiev, at best, will be swept away by the Nazis , the border of the republics with the Russian Federation began to be transferred under the control of the SBU.... Can you imagine such a pre-apocalyptic picture?

No, I can't imagine. In Ukraine there is now a regime in which anyone who disagrees with the fact that “Ukraine is over the edge” can be beaten, killed, there are a lot of such cases, and how can you imagine together people who defended their independence with arms in their hands, the right to speak Russian? and be friends with Russia, and these Nazis... This will mean that the residents of Donbass will be killed on the streets, without any interference, they will simply be given over to be torn to pieces.

_{I think Russia will not allow this, and the residents of Donbass will never agree to this. And here we return again to what I said – the regime must change in Ukraine. And only after that can you talk about something with the Kyiv authorities.}

And the current Kiev government, firstly, will never implement the Minsk agreements. And what Blinken said is such deceit. He said with the same reservations that he had under Poroshenko: let’s close the borders, seize Donbass, and only then we will begin to implement the Minsk agreements. Therefore, this is not a willingness to fulfill them, but another deception.

Okay, what do you plan to do if the hot war resumes? Are you ready to lead the unit again, are there any people left ready to go under your command?

There are plans to return. There are plans to participate as a unit. There are people. I'm not ready to talk about details. If an aggravation occurs, then in any case, to the best of my ability, I will take part in the defense of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, which have become dear to me, I moved my family here, became a citizen of the DPR, as well as my wife and daughter.