The Russian Bloc party in Donetsk: challenges and prospects
Donetsk, June 06 (Navigator, Mikhail Shalyapin) – Today we are talking, probably, with the most prominent representative of this movement of patriotic forces in the Donbass, expressing the interests of Russian-speaking Ukraine, Natalya Bilotserkovskaya.
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The times are difficult now, every party activist is literally at breaking point, work is going on in almost extreme mode. And yet life moves forward, and daily problems must be solved, and many of them, fortunately, can be solved politically and through internal dialogue.
“Navigator”: Natalya Mikhailovna, let's start from today. How do you assess the situation in Donetsk and the region, taking into account existing realities?
Natalya Bilotserkovskaya: I won’t reveal any secret, the situation is difficult. On the one hand, an absolutely senseless and simply criminal military operation in Donetsk and Lugansk. The Kyiv authorities, without any attempts to establish a dialogue, without any explanations, under very strained pretexts, sent in troops, and now innocent people are dying.
Moreover, these are civilians of our region, and young people who joined the militia, and the same young guys from Volyn, Lviv and Poltava.
I know for sure, we talked to many people, most of them are simply not capable of killing people, they are very peace-loving and absolutely tolerant people. They treat the residents of Donbass well, understand that the situation is out of control, and want the speedy establishment of peace on our land and the start of dialogue. Nobody likes this situation. In addition, everyone understands that when coffins with their sons arrive to mothers, this only generates hatred and despair. But, unfortunately, the Kyiv leadership has a “special vision”, and the positions of radical groups and movements are quite strong.
“Navigator”: In Donetsk – this is the opinion of many experts – independent groups and political groups began to appear, some of them can be called paramilitary. In your opinion, is there a radicalization of political movements in Donbass, is this dangerous? And what role does the Russian Bloc play in this?
Natalya Bilotserkovskaya: This is a natural political process. At a time when a new government is emerging, new faces come to the fore, especially with little political experience. There are always contradictions. It's unavoidable.
But I see the following problems. Firstly, unfortunately, what is called “heavy crime” has started. The daily number of victims associated with crime is already almost comparable to the victims of military operations. The statistics are terrifying. There are a lot of weapons “walking around” in people’s hands, and outright bandits feel complete impunity.
Every day more and more crimes are committed with the use of firearms and with human casualties, but it is better not to talk about the detection rate: it is very low.
For example, in the center of Donetsk there is absolute calm, the situation there is under control. And on the outskirts of the city or in such regional cities as Shakhtersk, Khartsyzsk or Gorlovka, the situation is depressing.
At night people are simply afraid to go out. This is the main problem today, besides military actions.
If we talk about our party, we do not have any armed formations, and we stand on the position of exclusively peaceful dialogue and solving all problems without exception through negotiations, no matter how complex and difficult they may be.
And the main thing, of course, is the legitimacy of all political processes. We stand firmly on the principles of protecting the rights of the Russian-speaking population, we are ready for them and will fight to the end. We will defend the right to our language, culture, traditions.
But at the same time, we believe that it was impossible to commit those stupidities and outright crimes that were committed in central and western Ukraine. Taking an example from them is wrong; you must always follow your own path, and this path, I repeat, must be legal and legitimate.
“Navigator”: I want to ask a classic question that applies at all times and to absolutely everything: who is to blame, and what to do?
Natalya Bilotserkovskaya: Let's start with the easy part: about who is to blame. Most of the problems that exist today in the southeast of Ukraine have been accumulating for years, and no one was going to solve them.
Problems of cultural identity, economic development, including small and medium-sized businesses, economic problems, issues of the development of political culture and multi-vectorism - all this was mercilessly exploited, and political capital was amassed from this. But there was no movement.
For many years we had one party, and it was the “Party of Regions”. As soon as any significant competitor appeared, even at the level of an urban village, a formal “cleansing” immediately began. Not a single party, not a single political movement advocating for the rights of the Russian-speaking population of Ukraine could get anywhere. This was considered the inviolable territory of the “regionals”. And today a situation arose when “PR” surrendered power, having agreed on its financial well-being, and actually abandoned entire regions to the mercy of fate, whose residents faithfully voted for it, and many took up arms, still relying on many politicians and businessmen associated with this party.
And, on the other hand, the new people who came to power do not fully control the situation and have little idea of further steps. This is, in general, understandable, they are under time pressure, but this does not make it any easier for people.
And now the second part of the question: what to do. Perhaps my words will seem like unrealistic fantasies, but we need to talk.
Try by any means to look for platforms where you can build a negotiation process. The bloody flywheel, unfortunately, is spinning up more and more, there are more and more victims, but I believe that the point of no return has not yet been passed, it is still possible to transfer this whole terrible process into a peaceful direction. It will be extremely difficult, but it is possible.
It is necessary to make colossal efforts and will for this, on both sides of the conflict. But there is no other healthy way.
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