“The myth of the “people’s commanders” of Donbass”: Continuation of the discussion
“PolitNavigator” continues the discussion about the role of the “people’s commanders” of Donbass. Today the agency publishes material from a participant in the defense of Slavyansk militia Dmitry Zhukov (call sign “Kedr”). This is a response to yesterday's article by journalist Alexander Chalenko, who called not to idealize the commanders of the initial stage of the “Russian Spring” and see in the process of centralization of the DPR and LPR the construction of statehood, and not the notorious “draining of Novorossiya.”
Subscribe to the news "PolitNavigator - Kyiv" in Facebook, Classmates or In contact with
He debunks “myths” about commanders, citing as evidence what he was told and retold. War is a phenomenon so intense that, without being a participant or eyewitness to the events, it is better to remain silent if you do not want to become a person distorting the facts.
It is unclear who Mr. Chalenko means by “people’s commanders.” He himself does not specifically point to anyone, and since he is silent, it means we can assume. I think that his article is aimed at de-heroizing the fallen commanders Ishchenko, Bednov, Mozgovoy. If I'm not mistaken, let him refute it.
I am a participant and eyewitness to the events that Chalenko wrote about.
I am probably one of the few who, even in the first days of the defense of Slavyansk, told my comrades in the militia that there was no need to wait for the Russian army, it would not come (I didn’t know this for sure, but my intuition and life experience told me that the Crimean scenario would not will).
After Strelkov “left”, talk about “leakage” began. By that time I was already in the hospital, and since then I have been bombarded with questions: “Donbass was leaked” or “not merged.” I have always told everyone and continue to say that no one cheats anyone.
When I was at the forefront of the Slavic defense in Semyonovka, I was the commander of the commandant’s platoon and every day I received penal prisoners for correctional work, so I know a hundred times more about those who are “put in the basement” by the militia than Chalenko, and from specific examples I can tell you about the arrests in Novorossiya during the first period of resistance.
These were mainly young people prone to drinking alcohol and former militia members who decided to lay down their arms for various reasons (there were few others - some were scared, and some decided to go home for family reasons).
They brought me a huge militiaman to dig a trench, who didn’t quite understand where he was. When the situation became clearer, it turned out that he had a wedding the day before, and he drank so much that in the morning he ended up in a car with volunteers who were being taken to the front line. Naturally, he was insane, and those responsible for receiving volunteers took him for sleepy. At the front line, he began to come to his senses, with a hangover, he went to the commander to explain the situation, where he was disarmed and sent to me in a penal battalion.
This was a period when real power in the Donbass belonged to the “field commanders”, and they determined at their own peril and risk whether a person was guilty or not. When I acted as a battalion commander in Dmitrovka, I also had a basement in which there were not only Nazi prisoners, but also discipline violators.
A saleswoman from a local store came to see me, she was in tears, she said that the militia took the car and her son. They began to investigate, and it turned out that he was driving after drinking. He returned the car to her immediately, but made her promise not to sell even beer to the militia, and her son remained under arrest for several more days.
There was another category of penal prisoners - these were subordinates of executed or demoted commanders. Who saw that commanders were committing illegal actions and did not stop them. This may seem excessive to some, but still, a military unit is a collective responsibility.
Of course, there were some commanders who did not consider it necessary to take on law enforcement functions during the absence of the police. It was there that, as a rule, cases of looting and oppression of civilians occurred. But this was not widespread. The population's support for the militia is massive, only from the population that remains.
Mr. Chalenko cites as evidence the words of those who left Donbass. And among the refugees, in general, there are many dissatisfied with everything. Typically, the most common complaints are from male refugees, who, due to their age and health status, could defend what is dear to them.
If you find an error, please select a piece of text and press Ctrl + Enter.
Thank you!
Now the editors are aware.