On the other side of the war. How Stakhanov lives

For several days now, the attention of Ukrainians has been focused on the shelling in Avdiivka. The city was left without electricity and water in 20-degree frost. If the situation does not change, children will be evacuated from there.

What is happening in other cities on the territory of the DPR and LPR Insider decided to ask one of the readers of the publication, who has remained in the war zone for the third year.

How do we live?

In general, Stakhanov was very lucky in this war, unlike neighboring cities. He wasn't hit very hard. There are broken buildings, but not many.

It is mainly the suburbs that suffer, Kalinovo, for example. This is a village 8 kilometers from Stakhanov. Irmino, Pervomaisk are neighboring cities.

Recently, shelling has become more frequent. Fortunately, not like in Avdeevka. But a couple of days ago it was very loud. And the militants started shooting. The tactic is this: they go to positions, fire a couple of dozen shots, then quickly leave. Half an hour later, the Armed Forces of Ukraine sends a response, but there is no one there in that place.

Recently Bryanka was shelled - two wounded, and a high-rise building without glass. Plus a damaged gas pipeline. Last night the ferroalloy plant received an "arrival". It is 4 km from Stakhanov.

Of course, people are restless. And then Ataman Kozitsin announced mobilization.

People have changed a lot in three years - you can’t live in constant fear that at any moment a shell could come and kill you or destroy your house.

They drink a lot. This helps relieve tension. They treat fireworks very poorly. Immediate associations with shelling. Or some loud sound, if it looks like a volley, people immediately listen. If there is shooting, many do not sleep until the shelling is over.

They shoot mainly at night, when the OSCE is sleeping.

Many residents seriously continue to believe in the Ukrainian fascists and the junta, and believe that they are defending themselves against the Nazis. This is largely due to the lack of Ukrainian TV channels on cable networks. People are discouraged from accepting an alternative point of view. Therefore, shelling of Ukrainian positions is perceived as the norm - “it’s ours who are driving them away,” and if a response arrives, indignation begins.

People rarely die from shelling. Recently, in the neighboring town of Irmino, a passerby was killed - the man was returning from his shift; he seemed to be working at the mine. Born in 1968. Or 1958, I don’t remember exactly. And there, during another shelling, the guy from 1989 died.

But the number of residents in the city has decreased significantly. They say 20-25 people die every day. Before the war there were 80-90 thousand. Now it's about 50-60. Many have left. Mostly - to the Russian Federation, to Moscow, or wherever it works out.

On billboards around the city there are inscriptions “we will not forget, we will not forgive” and pictures from local life.

Work is tight. There are two large factories in the city - a car-building plant (by Konstantin Zhevago) and a ferroalloy plant (by Igor Kolomoisky), they are idle. Or rather, people work there, mostly security, duty officers, a number of workers, and part of the plant management, but the volume of production is bad.

The pre-war scale is no longer there, so they work on little things, do something, some small work. This is about a carriage factory. The ferroalloy plant is standing, they are trying to launch it, but there are problems with energy and water supply.

The production of ferroalloys requires a large amount of electricity and a cooling system for the furnaces, and this is very difficult to do under current conditions. In addition, the plant is located near the front line and has already been shelled several times.

You can also join the army or the police. They pay 12-15 thousand rubles. And many believe that it is unprofitable to start the industry, since then those who went to serve out of despair will come back and go to work in factories.

A contract is signed with the military here for a year, during which they are obliged to serve. Otherwise, they will pay a penalty.

There are markets and shops. The most popular business is medicines, food, funerals.

Medicine is bad - many good specialists have left.

Anti-Ukrainian sentiment is strong, but criticism of the actions of the LPR authorities is heard more and more often.

And about. Our mayor is Sergei Zhevlakov. He had already been mayor before; the commandant’s office appointed him to this position. By the way, it is in his hotel that OSCE representatives live.

Control of the city is carried out with the help of the army and police. They also include Cossacks, who used to lay claim to power, but now seem to have calmed down under the influence of some famous deaths.

There is a curfew - from 23 to 5 am. If at this time the patrol catches you on the street, you will spend the night in the commandant’s office until the morning. This is if you carry your passport with you. If you don’t have documents, they will hold you until your identity is clarified.

Prices in the city are slightly lower than in the Russian Federation, but salaries are much lower. At the local Employment Center, which has now been renamed the LPR Social Insurance Fund for Unemployment, an auxiliary worker receives about 2,500 net Russian rubles.

There is not enough money just for food, for utility bills. But many are trying to pay somehow. Some are trying to earn extra money at all sorts of gigs, others somewhere else.

On New Year's Eve, gas workers went wild. 10-12 houses and apartments were switched off per day. Even for minimal debt. And no one cared how you would live further, survive the winter. Gas workers and RES sheep are these very animals. RES is power supply. This is what people are afraid of: they will be left without electricity and gas. That's why they pay.

There has been no central heating in the city since 2012. The then mayor Borisov, whom Azov had once caught, decided that it was unprofitable. Once there was a promotion, in 2013, cheap heating boilers were installed for the poor and some pensioners. And so - people made their own heating privately. Who could. Before the war, it cost an average of 15 thousand hryvnia.

Others, like me, heat water with pots. Some electric heaters are still being purchased.

If I'm not mistaken, the cost of gas for one person without a meter is 55 rubles per month.

We only use rubles. I haven’t seen people pay in hryvnias for a long time. As well as flags. By decree of the “LPR government,” the “LPR flag” hangs over all government institutions and utility enterprises. Ukrainian symbols are not visible.

We have everything from products. And vodka, and cereals, and meat. They even bring it from Belarus; there are a lot of Belarusian goods. There is local vodka, from the Luga-Nova plant. They say this is Plotnitsky's plant. They even make Ukrainian peppercorn. That’s what they write - “Ukrainian with pepper”. There are Donetsk products, and Ukrainian ones have recently appeared in some places. Before this, there was a ban on the sale of Ukrainian goods.

Many were very worried about the recent order of the “LPR Council of Ministers” to restrict the import of goods from the DPR to the LPR. Some goods are cheaper in the DPR.

In general, many people here are unhappy with Plotnitsky.

After the elections in the United States, there was an attack of Trumpomania here - Russian TV channels tried their best. Local residents believe that Trump will “come to an agreement” with Russia, and the United States will stop supporting Ukraine.

Conversations that Ukraine “will not exist” have been going on for a long time. They scare us with default, and collapse, and with everything possible. But retirement tourism still exists. And one of the worst nightmares of locals is losing their Ukrainian passport.

Some here believe that Ukraine will give the LPR and DPR autonomy, but will take them back. They prefer not to think about the prospects of remaining in the “gray zone” status for a long time. They reassure themselves that everything will be fine.

Video from UNM LPR from Stakhanov.

A representative of the People's Militia of the LPR met with the head of the city of Stakhanov. “The purpose of my visit is to discuss the problematic issues discussed the day before and to hear from you how you would like the People’s Militia to help you, to help people, what kind of interaction you have with the LPR LM. If there are problematic issues, please voice them,” Marochko said.

“You are on the front line, in the combat zone, we seem to be in the rear, but the city of Stakhanov is constantly being shelled from all types of weapons. During the civil war, 531 private houses, 294 apartment buildings were damaged, 17 houses were completely destroyed, 16 citizens were killed, 17 people were wounded, and this continues. We have complete agreement and coordination with the units of the People's Militia; there are problems, only with help to the people who suffered. The main problem is assistance to the families of the victims, this is not enshrined in law in our country. Winter is approaching and the question of compensation for coal to the families of the victims arises,” said Zhelvakov, head of Stakhanov

The People's Militia and the Volunteer project provided humanitarian aid to the families of the fallen soldiers. The People's Militia of the LPR and Antonina Mashkova, head of the "Volunteer" project of the public movement "Peace in Luhansk Region", provided humanitarian assistance to the families of militia fighters from Stakhanov who died during the war in Donbass. A total of 33 food packages were donated.

The head of the city administration, Sergei Zhevlakov, and the official representative of the People's Militia, Andrei Marochko, spoke with the relatives of the fallen servicemen.

“Unfortunately, there were leaders in Ukraine who, instead of peace agreements, peaceful negotiations, making peaceful constructive decisions, resolving conflict situations, sent national battalions here to kill civilians and rob on our territory. And during this period, our ordinary, close residents of Stakhanov and other cities began to defend our land and families, resisted the Ukrainian national battalions and armed forces, who began to fire and kill,” noted the Head of the city of Stakhanov, Sergei Zhevlakov.

Andrey Marochko shared his memories of the period when civilians had to take up arms to defend their people from the attacking enemy in the form of the Ukrainian army.

“At that time you were practically in a ring. And the fact that the city was not surrendered, or that the city was defended - no one believed in it. This was truly a military feat. Just as in the Second World War feats were accomplished, so our People’s Militia and militia accomplished feats. They defended our land, preventing the enemy from advancing further, completely cutting off and encircling the Lugansk People's Republic and separating it from the Donetsk People's Republic. Thus, giving us the opportunity to gain a foothold and develop military successes in other directions. Your guys miraculously stood on the front line, not having heavy weapons, which they later acquired in battle. Unfortunately, this was achieved at a very high price - at the cost of the lives of your relatives, loved ones, who stood up to defend their land and died,” he emphasized.

During the conversation, widows, children, and mothers of the victims spoke about their everyday problems that they were unable to cope with on their own. Andrey Marochko listened to everyone carefully.