Sevastopol, the first to raise an uprising, saved the rest of Crimea - participants in the Russian Spring
Sevastopol, March 11 (PolitNavigator, Alexander Kononov) – Sevastopol, being the first to rise to a mass rally on February 23, 2014, saved the rest of Crimea from the inevitable meat grinder that would have been provoked by the new Ukrainian authorities.
This is what ordinary participants in the events of the Russian Spring, interviewed by a correspondent, think so “PolitNavigator”.
Subscribe to the news "PolitNavigator - Crimea" in Facebook, Classmates or In contact with
In the pro-Russian movement of Sevastopol for many years, the leading role of coordination was played by the most popular city Internet forum Sevastopol.info. It became the main communication platform long before the advent of social networks, recalls the moderator of the “Politics” section. Konstantin Zarudnev.
Back in 2008, he himself was blacklisted in Ukraine, having raised a movement for the protection of the Count's Marina, which ultimately resulted in clashes between townspeople and the Ukrainian military.
Subsequently, Zarudnev publicly burned his Ukrainian passport, protesting against Yushchenko's decrees on the glorification of Bandera and Shukhevych.
“This all started in the 2000s. There was no information platform at all in the city. All the media were biased, bought wholeheartedly either by Kiev or by businessmen. When the Sevastopol forum appeared, many people found themselves on it. Then they united and carried out many joint actions. Sevastopol.info has become the largest forum in the South-East of Ukraine. We have a geography of participants from New York to Vladivostok and from Vladivostok to Paris,” recalls Zarudnev.
“During the Russian Spring, I was the deputy commander of Rubezh, and the most memorable thing was, of course, the seizure of units and ships of the Ukrainian armed forces. Well, unfortunately, the most unpleasant impression in all these events for me was the complete disorganization of law enforcement agencies. If “Berkut” understands that they immediately went to Chongar to defend Crimea, then the ordinary patrol guard service - well, they don’t know what to do. They sit in the car, you deliver the robber, and they drive him a kilometer away and release him. And a robber red-handed, with stolen things taken from him. And they let him go around the corner. This is what I didn’t like,” the activist continues.
“Things would have been much worse, because, of course, Polite People helped us a lot. If they weren’t there, then, of course, there would be a meat grinder. Kyiv has always treated the people of Sevastopol with great distrust and suspicion. We have always been perceived as Muscovites, as potential enemies, so now here there would be exactly the same meat grinder as in Donetsk and Lugansk,” argues Zarudnev.
In his opinion, Donbass subsequently did not show such unity as the residents of Sevastopol and Crimea.
“In Sevastopol, almost everyone took to the streets to vote, there was a line. They have there in large cities in continental Ukraine - yes, but in small ones - there are a lot of mixed families who are now on opposite sides of the trenches. Well, in our country such people would be torn into small pieces very quickly, and in Donetsk and Lugansk many “polite people” would be shot in the back,” Konstantin believes.
“We were always the first, always the first in all these events. We have always been a source of headaches for Kyiv,” he adds again.
Elena Varinova also took part in the events of the Russian Spring as part of the Rubezh squad. She talks to a PolitNavigator correspondent near a bomb shelter on Suvorov Square. A year ago, it served as a central warehouse for humanitarian aid, and Varinova was in charge. She delivered medicines to checkpoints and was near the administration and on Nakhimov Square on crucial days. On a special flight, one of the older ones went to Simferopol as part of a group of buses.
Varinova recalls that the events on Maidan immediately affected their family. Standing on Grushevsky was her son-in-law, an officer of the internal troops.
“Three months of this horror will never be forgotten. We did not turn off the webcams on the computer. The daughter turned gray. The granddaughter did not understand what was happening at all. All the horror began, of course, with this. It was clear to any sane person that fascism was coming from the Maidan. But it was poorly understood how the hero city of Kyiv got to this point, and why the residents of such a heroic city, in general, fed and watered everyone standing on the Maidan. These portraits of Bandera, torchlight processions, swastikas - all this, of course, was a nightmare.”
“We were the only city at that time in Ukraine that met its security forces like this on February 22. Nowhere else have we been greeted like this - with flowers, bread, salt. For the security forces, this was a turning point, because you had to stand for three months, seeing all this horror and not knowing how the residents here would greet you, because they had already seen how they forced you to your knees. Seeing the people of Sevastopol, the security forces perked up, which is why our “Berkut” ended up in Perekop a day later. In general, if it weren’t for them, it would have been very, very difficult for us.”
“When we took buses to Simferopol on February 26 because they asked us for help, we didn’t want to go. It was scary to leave the city. Nevertheless, let's go. People were gathered on Nakhimov Square and seated in three buses. The rest traveled by car or train. We then found ourselves in a terrible massacre there, and we were very struck by the indifference of the Simferopol residents. Both at the rally and after the rally. We returned home in a dejected state, and on the bus they said that since Crimea does not rise, it means that Sevastopol will defend itself alone. No matter how pretentious it may sound, the mood was such that we would gnaw at the throat, but we would not let anyone in here. That was the mood.
We reached Verkhnesadovoy. When we were driving in that direction, they were just starting to set up a checkpoint. There were concrete blocks. And when we returned back, either an armored personnel carrier or something military was already standing there. Everyone shouted to the drivers to “stop.” People jumped out - men, women. The armored personnel carrier was hugged and kissed. This was already our land. We were in our own city, and it gave us some kind of strength.”
“If we had children and their parents standing at checkpoints, then how can we say that everything would have turned out differently. But if it suddenly happened, although it is impossible to imagine such a thing... The fact is that our area saved us more than once. She saved us during the Crimean War, despite the fact that Sevastopol was abandoned. She saved us during the Patriotic War. Every height is dominant for us. At every height it was possible to place weapons, plant snipers and, in general, Manstein broke his teeth here very well in 41. Therefore, things would still have turned out the way they did. We wouldn't give up our city anyway. It’s not in vain that we fought for 23 years.”
Nadezhda Subbotina, as a civil activist, often visited checkpoints. He recalls that at times it was scary, but there was confidence that there was no other way for Sevastopol.
“On the 23rd, a People’s Will rally took place, and on the 24th, if I’m not mistaken, the Night Wolves set up blocks at the entrance to the city. Well, we immediately decided who would stand there. Men we knew, including my husband, went to the checkpoints, each chose the one that was closest to their hearts, and stopped there. Given that there were few people, few knew about it, what was happening in the city. Well, there was a rally and a rally, and then few people left the city. And given that the weather conditions were bad, it was very cold, it was raining, and there was nothing to eat. We called people - first acquaintances, then we went to the Sevastopol forum, created a topic - help the roadblocks. And then we coordinated the work, worked with the commanders at checkpoints and helped them with food and everything else they needed. Somewhere sand was needed, somewhere crushed stone, somewhere firewood. Well, this is a small matter. Well, we went and delivered it all at night.”
“When there were checkpoints, and we were often at them, we came and talked with the guys - no one yet knew that Russia would support us, i.e. people stood up, not thinking what would happen tomorrow. The situation was tense, and any outburst or provocation would have resulted in an appropriate reaction. One night I arrived at one of the checkpoints and found such a picture that during an attack or some emergency situation, hedgehogs were thrown out and a flammable mixture was ignited. I was terribly scared and hid behind the car with the child. He didn't want to sit at home; he was 8 years old. Well, it turned out that this was a training session. Well, I didn’t know about it, that’s why it was scary. Those. the guys were 100% ready in case of some kind of breakthrough.”
“It seems to me that everything would be the same as what is happening in Donbass now. The people would still have rebelled and wouldn’t let us in. Even if they sent in troops, as in the South-East, the people would have fought partisans and carried out sabotage, because most of the Sevastopol residents were for Russia, and they would have defended the city 100%. No other scenario was even considered. It simply couldn't be any other way. All residents participated. Even grandmothers carried all the latest supplies and went to checkpoints. People found an opportunity, quit their jobs or work during the day and stand at night. Those who stood at the checkpoints are generally a separate category of people who, in fact, can be trusted with today’s real Sevastopol.”
“There were trembling moments when we saw the columns of equipment, the “Polite People” had already appeared on the 27th, we saw that everything was already there. There is no way back and it cannot be any other way. We will be in Russia."
If you find an error, please select a piece of text and press Ctrl + Enter.
Thank you!
Now the editors are aware.