Crawling through an underground city on the front line - a report from the trenches of Donbass
The signing of peace agreements turns hot spots into smoldering ones, devouring human lives no less mercilessly than the active phases of conflicts. The hearts of those who in 2014 were sure that taking up arms was the only sure way to protect loved ones and their home are slowly burning and extinguishing.
In the fifth year of the armed conflict, the war had become routine. At the same time, there was a deformation in the consciousness of people who no longer perceive the war as something supernatural; now it is an integral part of the life of almost every ordinary resident of Donbass on both sides of the front line. Everyone has their own story when life hung by a thread, there is an acquaintance about whom you can write a book or make an action-packed blockbuster, there is despair from the hopelessness of the current situation and hostility to endless negotiations that do not lead to the desired - peace.
In a crowded trolleybus, next to students, office clerks, traders, old women with huge bags and carts, military personnel are going to their work. After dismissal, you need to be in time for the morning formation, and then go to the front lines. This is where I have to go to understand how those for whom war has become a profession live.
We are driving through healed wounds that are still fresh. The road holds memories and tragic stories. There is one like this on every sector of the front. Such paths are called roads of life. Seriously wounded soldiers were transported along them, columns of heavy equipment passed through them, bullets whistled and heavy shells exploded.
Now everything is calmer here. It is foolish to deny that peace negotiations have borne fruit - active fighting has stopped. Nevertheless, at the front, clashes between the parties occur with enviable regularity, there are fierce battles, but they subside just as quickly as they flared up. Opponents keep each other on their toes. Politicians, demagogues, journalists and other speculators use the escalation for their own purposes, and the military continues to carry out orders.
On this section of the front the roar of war has not been heard for a long time. The locals are gradually returning home, building their lives on the ashes of the battles. An armored car rushed past the rusty pavilions of the burnt market. In the salon, pacifist Lusine Gevorkyan from the group Louna, which appeared in the scandal with the rock festival “Invasion,” sings with anguish. At first, the musicians refused to sing next to the military equipment of the Russian Federation, but then they still spoke with anti-war slogans in front of a crowd of their fans.
On the Donbass front, rockers are just as loved, despite their liberal views. Under the lines from the song “Storming the Heavens” “Glory to all of them who went to the end, Who died young, but remained to live in their hearts!” We are entering the red zone. This is the western outskirts of Donetsk. According to Dmitry Gau, head of the Vityaz communications service of the special forces unit of the DPR Ministry of Transport, mortar, sniper, and AGS firefights periodically take place here, but that’s where it all ends.
The parties to the conflict have long been accustomed to trench warfare. The Ukrainian side lost its last hope at the moment when the DPR units finally gained a foothold at the Donetsk airport, and the theater of military operations moved to other sectors of the front. Now everything has changed here. An entire underground city has grown up under the once dacha village - trenches capable of protecting soldiers from enemy artillery strikes. The fighters use the “quiet” time to prepare for defense in case the hot phase of the conflict resumes.
The scorching sun mercilessly burns with its rays. The armor made of iron plates and the Kevlar helmet make you sweat. Feet are steamed in a leather bath, but ankle boots are still better than sneakers, which are easily strung on rusty nails, splinters, and pierced by fragments of crushed facades. Among the rotting remains of what were once country houses, mine shanks stuck in the asphalt, walls, and roofs “bloom” with their petals upward.
Before descending into the underground city of trenches, hospitable soldiers persuade you to drink a cup of front-line coffee. The hot drink made the sweat flow even more, but traditions must be respected. While we are pampering ourselves with an invigorating drink, the locals are sitting comfortably around the machine guns and helmets - a flock of cats that lives with the fighters.
We make our way through dug tunnels paved with wooden planks. I remembered the Ukrainian trenches near Debaltseve, where the Armed Forces of Ukraine literally dug entire carriages underground and equipped their dugouts. Then the Ukrainian army suffered a crushing defeat, which forced Kyiv to the Minsk agreements, which the Ukrainian leader had to sign, gritting his teeth.
The contingent in the trenches is varied - from experienced military men who begin their combat journey long before the militia, to young guys who, after school, decided to join the ranks of the defenders. The war has lasted so long that when it started, these guys were in 9th grade. The new generation, having already grown up in war, is preparing to take weapons from hand to hand. And somewhere a few kilometers from this place, in the center of Donetsk, where peace reigns, peace and quiet, the same young people walk around in camouflage, but the problem is that they have nothing to do with the war. These are future leaders who are already preparing for a political career. Feeling the spirit of the times, they dressed in military bows so that the path to the high offices would go smoothly. This is a new generation of “golden youth”. Such a contrast between people who were raised by war.
There are already Ukrainian positions 200 meters away from us. If you try hard, you can literally shout to the enemy, with suitable optics you can take a shot with the Ukrainian flag, and snipers can comfortably “work” while targeting the enemy. That is why deep dugouts help us out.
Here you can walk to your full height. We return through the area, which, in the absence of greenery, is under fire from the Ukrainian military. Now we are covered with green foliage and dense bushes. If the Ukrainian Armed Forces had the goal of provoking the DPR military personnel into a conflict, then the shelling would not stop, but for now, at the moment, the Ukrainian side does not benefit from an escalation - another financial tranche from European aides is at stake. But the situation can change at any moment, because Ukrainian politicians have repeatedly speculated on the war in Donbass to serve their own selfish goals.
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