Opinions among residents of Bakhmut, a frontline town in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, are increasingly divided, leaving the light a conflict of loyalties.
Sometimes, it appears as a whisper. More often, it hides behind euphemisms, shrugs, and carefully ambivalent responses. Although, from time to time, a fierce pro-Russian sentiment is expressed, like the sound of a shotgun, in the green hills of Donbas.
“This is Russian territory . Ukraine is the occupier here,” says a man in overalls, standing next to a group of municipal workers. They had been clearing weeds in Bakhmut, a Ukrainian city currently within range of Russian artillery sound waves.
And the man was not the only one expressing contempt for the territorial integrity of Ukraine. Next to him, Yelena, from years, he simply stated his positions in more ambiguous terms.
“I personally don’t know Putin, so I can’t say what I think of the. But I don’t see Russia as the enemy. We all lived together under the Soviet Union. so we’ll see what happens ”, he explains.
Ukrainians ethnically Russians
The The notion that Ukraine remains unquestionably united in its opposition to the Russian invasion may hold true for most of the country. But here in Donbas, there is a large Russian ethnic minority, a painful history of 8 years of conflict separatist against Russian-backed militias and, particularly for an older generation, a powerful nostalgia for the Soviet Union.
The result is an increasingly tense conflict of loyalties, in which at least some of the residents of Bakhmut – a key step for those fleeing the Luhansk region further east -, they openly support the latest Russian invasion.
“Putin is an intelligent man, an intelligent man from the KGB (the intelligence service of the former USSR)” , said a retired engineer from 80 years while sitting in the kitchen of a local coffee shop peeling potatoes. In the event that the Russians took over the town, it wouldn’t “make any difference to me”, she whispered, before falling silent as one of her colleagues entered the kitchen.
“I am a creation of the Soviet Union. We all lived together in those days and I have family everywhere. I will not tell you what I think of Putin,” said another ethnic Russian woman, part of the task force preparing to plant rows of saplings at the entrance to Bakhmut.
Harmless comments?
Some Ukrainians in this area have dismissed these pro-Russian comments as harmless complaints from a generation out of touch with the present, from a handful of older pensioners who refuse to leave their homes and whose views seem unlikely to be a real impact on the development of this war.
But in other parts of Ukraine recently liberated from Ukrainian occupation, there is evidence that some collaborators may have assisted actively to the Kremlin troops.
And today, in frontline cities like Bakhmut, there are concerns that pro-Russian sentiment could present a real risk go, particularly if shared by local government officials.
“These people are trying to have it all, win or lose”, said a local businessman, Dmytro Kononets, describing what he claims is the attitude of certain figures in the municipality .
He compared the relatively low-key public comments of the city’s mayor, Reva Oleksiy, with the strongly defiant tone of many of the city’s younger regional governors and civil servants. Ukraine, and asked why the municipality was busy employing people to remove weeds when they could be digging trenches.
“Obviously they don’t really want to avoid [que Rusia se apodere de la ciudad]. It’s like they’re faking it. It’s just ridiculous,” Kononets said, adding that he knew many residents who got all their news from Russian TV and believed “that nonsense.” )
“Part of the fight”
But supporters of the municipality said such suspicions were misplaced. They defend the beautification campaign that is taking place in the streets of the city as an inspiring and defiant display of normalcy in the face of Russian aggression.
“This is our form of resistance”, one of the workers told us.
“The mayor is firmly pro-Ukrainian, without a doubt”, said a councilor who, without However, he asked that his name not be published.
The mayor himself he refused to give an interview. He has held the same position for more than 30 years. His deputy, Maxim Sutkovyi, dismissed suggestions that the mayor might be anything less than loyal to Ukraine as an accusation “below contempt.”
Bakhmut is part of Ukraine. Our job is to protect the day-to-day here, to keep doing our job and not to collapse in hysteria. There are certainly [colaboradores] here, but it is the responsibility of the security services to eradicate them,” Sutkovyi said.
While most families in Bajmut have already left the city, following the official advice, there are many local volunteers, uniformed, who have stayed to fight against any Russian attack.
“We will defend this place to the death”
“Traitors”
But as the air raid sirens wail across the city, the f Russian forces ready to take full control of Popasna, to km to the east (the Russians are also advancing from the north and southeast), it is not surprising that old suspicions and new tensions are rising here.
“Karma will catch up with them quickly”, said Svetlana Kravchenko , from 57 years, on anyone who supported the Russian offensive in Bakhmut.
She helps run a small charity that collects food and other supplies for distribution to soldiers in the town and older civilians in surrounding villages.
Her basement office also houses a Ukrainian Orthodox church, where she and others pray daily. Most of Bakhmut’s more traditional churches are still officially linked to the Russian Orthodox Church, whose leaders publicly backed President Putin’s invasion.
“Everyone makes their own decision. And they will have to answer for it. Maybe some people here want to give up [a los rusos]. But when this conflict ends, when the shelling and shooting stops, the traitors will be punished, either in this world or the next,” Kravchenko said.
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