The Kiev authorities together with their NATO chiefs have been silent recently prior to another large scale offensive in the south east of Ukraine. Vladimir Karasev, a political scientist from Luhansk, told Pravda.Ru that Ukraine was about to receive a batch of military hardware from France. Another military standoff in the east of Ukraine may lead to many victims.
"Why were the recent elections in the republics important?"
"First and foremost, we established the birth of our republics. Absolutely all observers both from Russia and the European Union pointed out an incredibly high turnout. Many of them said that such a turnout was unusual even for European countries. The people showed their unity, they showed who the master of the Donbass was. They are common people, common civilians. The turnout on the territories occupied by Ukraine was minimal, many ballots were forged. I spoke to many of those who came to the elections with their families, with their children. All of them said that it did not matter for them who was going to lead the two republics. It was much more important for them that the Russian Federation should recognize the elections. They all heard Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov saying that the Russian Federation would recognize the elections as legitimate. If there were no such powerful message from such a strong country as Russia, I would believe that the elections were not needed. This recognition would mean a lot to our economy. Most of Donbass companies were exporting all of their products to Russia. Ukraine has become so alienated from the people of Donbass that they were not following the elections on the territory of Ukraine. Most people do not believe that a peace process may start at all."
"Yet, Russia recognized the elections in Kiev. Aren't you afraid of international isolation?"
"Russia showed that sanctions bring no results. The West had all levels of influence involved, but the Russian Federation continues to walk its own way. Vladimir Putin has repeatedly stated that Russia needs unity to survive problems. The European Union continues to suffer from its own sanctions. Ukraine cannot live without Donbass. Ukraine has no fuel. It is quite possible that Ukraine will have to buy coal from Russia, after Russia first buys this coal from the Donbass. I believe that the rhetoric will change when winter comes. Donbass will never be a part of Ukraine again. I hope that the other six regions in the south east of Ukraine will follow our example in the future. All these regions have been feeding Ukraine for more than two decades. I have some information that all those people, who demolish monuments and go on rampage in the streets, come from the west of Ukraine. They are mostly nationalists from football clubs. The people are waiting for the moment when they can stand up and say what they think. I'm talking about the people from Odessa, Dnepropetrovsk, Kherson and Zaporozhye. They are waiting for the moment that the people of Donbass and the Crimea took advantage of."
"Do you think that these elections may trigger another wave of combat actions?"
"I think that combat actions may resume at any moment. We can see that the Ukrainian forces were not maintaining peace, there was not even one single day that would go without war. People still live in basements. Most likely, they were instructed a long time ago to continue the war. They collected all Soviet hardware they could from Poland. NATO also supplied weapons through France. This is not a secret any more. And there's evidence to prove it. I may assume that the conflict will grow stronger. I also hope that we are not going to retreat anymore, we will go on the offensive instead. Sooner or later, the territories of the two republics will be liberated from Ukrainian troops. We must give an opportunity to other regions of the south east to hear us. Otherwise, we will have to admit that there's a country in Europe that exterminates its own population and does not follow its constitution."
"When do you think refugees will be able to return to their homes?"
"I've heard that people are returning already. I believe that we have a very good future ahead of us. It is possible that before 2015, the administration of Donetsk and Luhansk republics will establish a new state called Novorossiya. It is also possible that the new state will be entitled to accept new territories. When people came to polling stations they came to confirm their right for independence. So I believe that as soon as the war ends, new elections will be conducted. I'm convinced that the army of Novorossiya will win. When people with weapons leave, common people return to build their new state. It has always been like that. I believe that we will invite Russian specialists for help.
Pravda.Ru
Read the original in Russian