FreeСХІД.ua#22 Going to the Champions League Final via Donetsk, Five-Year Plan - Luhansk style, and a new book about the war
This week the US representative Kurt Volker has learned how local officials distribute second-hand clothing coming to Donbas as “humanitarian” assistance. Resettlers have been trying to get their pensions. Statistical data on the number of people leaving Donbas have been released. New bright figures of children have started to appear along the roads in Luhansk region.
Read these stories - and more - in our new digest!
#FreeZONE
The US Special Representative to Ukraine Kurt Volker held private meeting with a group of residents of the so called “red zone” – territories with ongoing military hostilities that can only be entered with special permits.
Representatives of towns and villages along the separation line – from Horlivka and Avdiivka, to Pisky district near Donetsk - attended the meeting.
What did Volker find out as he was talking to the locals?
- People started coming back to Vodiane village. 111 people and about a dozen kids are living there now. There is no gas supply, no medical assistance, and the nearest authorities are 60 kilometers away. Residents distribute humanitarian assistance themselves, and are extremely worried about the Joint Forces Operation: “How are volunteers and benefactors going to reach us now, without the special permits?”
“Avdiivka authorities pick the best of second-hand humanitarian aid, and people get whatever is left”. - Sais one of the women. “Right, - adds Halyna from Vodiane village, - and we get what’s left after everyone else got their clothes!”
- In all the settlements, up until recently, all the information came “from Russia”, since only “DNR” TV channels and 6 federal Russian TV channels aired at separation line. Now, after four years of war, Ukraine started systematically blocking signal from Donetsk, so there is static noise at all the TV channels in villages along the contact line – whether Ukrainian, Russian or “separatist”.
#FreeLAW
Journalist of the Ukrainian Helsinki Group Oleh Shynkarenko raised sensitive issue: thousands of Ukrainians who lost their housing due to war and shelling cannot receive their rightful compensation. We are talking billions of hrivnas.
Why is this important?
Shynkarenko tells a story of the Loshadkin family from Pisky village near Donetsk airport. January 10, 2015 their house burnt to the ground after being hit by a shell fired by “DNR” militants. The Loshadkin spouses survived the shelling as they were hiding in a basement.
In September 2017 Pechersk District Court of Kyiv granted Ihor Loshadkin’s claim for losses reimbursement. According to the court, Ihor Loshadkin will be compensated UAH1.8 mln in property damages and UAH 10 000 in moral damage with the money from the State Budget of Ukraine. The state appealed court decision, however it remained unchanged. The State Treasury received the court order to pay compensation to the Loshadkin family, but refused to act on it.
What is the State Treasury argument for refusing payment?
This is word to word Treasury response:
“Compensation of material damage due to terrorist act for ruined house in Pisky village, Yasynuvata district, Donetsk Region, and property estimated at UAH1.8 mln cannot be accepted for execution. To date, there are no legislatively determined source and procedure for the payment of compensation for damage due to terrorist attack”.
Are there any other catches awaiting the Ukrainians whose houses were ruined in shelling?
Most likely, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine was anticipating huge number of similar court orders, so in January 2018 they adopted the Law “On peculiarities of the State policy on ensuring Ukraine’s State sovereignty over temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions “. The second paragraph of the law states: “The Russian Federation is held responsible for moral and property damages to Ukraine and its citizens”. It means that Ukrainians can now claim damaged housing compensation from Russia. But the legal mechanisms for such type of lawsuit are yet unidentified.
The Loshadkin family and their attorneys had predicted the possibility of such turn of events. So, in 2015 they filed a claim with the European Court of Human Rights.
What should IDPs do if their pension payments were discontinued? This May many IDP pensioners have not received their pension paychecks. Unfortunately, right now the State Pension Fund is awaiting “further notice” and is not resuming pension payments.
Human rights activists explain what to do to influence the situation right now:
· Call the Government Hotline at 1545 and to record human rights violation.
· File complaint with the Pension Fund of Ukraine hotline at 0800 503 753.
· File written request to the authorities demanding written response to explain the situation.
It is highly recommended to get written response instead of oral explanation by phone, since written response on deficient actions of authorities can be used in court.
#FreeLUHANSK
“LNR” militant group presented “the program for economic development” of Luhansk region territories under its control for the period ending 2023. “Realna Gazeta” studied local media for information on how militants are planning to spend money in the course of their “Five-Year Plan”
There are several interesting points:
· “Development program” suggests job quotas for young professionals – 1% of total employment. How many young professionals will be getting jobs under this introduction? Couple dozen at best – considering there are few enterprises operating on the territory of occupied Luhansk region with over 100 employees.
· “LNR” militants are planning on imposing environmental fee for waste disposal and processing, and the local entrepreneurs are not too happy about the new fee.
· Today medical personnel and teachers in Luhansk make RUB5-7 thousand (EUR70-100) per month. By 2023 their salary is promised to be raised to RUB10-11 thousand (EUR 140-150).
· By 2019-2020 “LNR” military group promises to pay off salary debts that accumulated since 2015. Accumulated debt will be paid in equal portions of approximately RUB1.5 mln per year. This means that even in five years most of the salary debt to workers and miners will remain unpaid.
· Meanwhile, the militants are ready to provide financial support to media, cultural and youth projects. There is a block of financial aid designated to this purpose. “LNR” military group announced that it intends to create a youth center, new internet-channel and even… experimental theatre.
#FreeNEWS
For the first time the president of other country –Estonia’s Kersti Kaljulide - will visit the East of Ukraine. There is no information on which cities the Estonian president will visit. However, we know that Estonian investors are coming along “to evaluate possibilities and prospects of business operation in Ukraine”.
To improve road safety for kids, figures of schoolchildren will be installed along the roads in school zones in the city of Svatovo. Project “Attention! Kids on the road” is aimed at making Svatovo roads safer for children. To improve safety Svatovo administration will place brightly colored figures of schoolchildren on the side of the roads near city schools to remind drivers to slow down.
The village of Pryvoliye in Luhansk region is getting ready for launch of the first milk processing plant. The plant will process 20 tons of milk per day. It will run on Israeli equipment that insures better processing and product quality. 10 people will be employed at the plant.
Passenger bus exploded in occupied Debaltsevo. A 14-year-old boy died in the explosion, four more school students were seriously injured.
“DNR” military authorities called the explosion an accident. They state that the students were coming home from school and one of them was carrying grenade in his backpack. The explosion became the result of grenade detonation.
External independent testing (EIT) session started in Luhansk region. 5835 students will be taking exams during the period of May 22 to June 13 in 29 EIT locations. However, only 250 students from the uncontrolled territory will be taking the exam this year.
#FreeNUMBER
2 164 444 people lived in Luhansk region as at April 1, 2018 (excluding residents of temporarily occupied territories). This number gets smaller.
During the first three month of 2018 the population of Lughansk region declined by 3358 people. 2556 people are a natural decline, and another 802 moved out of the region. This way, Luhansk region “looses” about 1 thousand people each month.
#FreePEOPLE
Denis IVANOV, producer of movie “Donbas” (directed by Serhiy Loznytsia)
This Ukrainian movie won the Best Director Prize in Un Certain Regard competition at the Cannes Film Festival. From the interview that Denis Ivanov gave to Bird in Flight online magazine we have learned the following:
· Work on the movie “Donbas” will be completed in 2019, after televised premiere. Normaly, it takes 5 years to make a film.
· German premier of the film will take place at a movie theater in Munich. Toronto film festival organizers are interested in the picture as well.
· “Any art evolves if there are artists who teach their craft. In Hollywood this tradition was not interrupted neither during WWI, nor WWII; in Europe the tradition was suspended for a while, but revived later. But it is different in Ukraine. Here everything underwent severe crisis in the 90-ies, and there were no signs of resurgence till early 2000. That is why we don’t have any artists capable of real input to independent cinema, or even makeing money with a mainstream picture. Now, a new generation of movie industry professionals will be formed – they are all self-thought, but some made one movie – and they made it wrong – then the second one, the third, the fourth; those who keep improving on their craft.”
· “You see, the money coming for patriotic films give hacks a chance to thrive. On the other hand, instead of making good comedy people are shooting patriotic films - because that’s where money is. Wouldn’t it be more patriotic to make Ukrainian comedy instead? I think so. And then there is a question – what will we become if half of our movie making money is designated to patriotic films. Aren’t we moving back in time to Dovzhenko Film Studio of the 70-ies, when they made a whole bunch of films about communists? And where are those films now?”
Natalia VOLOSHINOVA, Horlivka-Kramatorsk-Slavyansk
Before the war Natalia worked as a deputy chief of “Privatbank”Horlivka branch, and, as the war started, she was on maternity leave with two small children. She had to move to a new place – Kramatorsk, and decided to open business in neighboring Slavyansk.
Natalia opened children entertainment studio “Wonderland” and tee-and-coffee shop “Samovar”:
“Today there are all kinds of European programs that fund business development. What you need is to find viable idea that will be profitable in the long-run”, - shares Natalia.
#FreeBOOKS
From May 30 to Lune 3 traditional “Knyzhkovy Arsenal” book fare will run in Kyiv. A book by an author famous in Donetsk region, Elena Stiazhkina, will be presented at the event.
Her book named “Rozka” consists of four novels about the way life used to be before the war, and that the war does not end with the return from the frontline.
According to the author, all of these novels are a bit of an “odyssey”, small sagas about long and hard way back home.
#FreeCURIOSITY
American magazine The New York Times published a story about hardships endured by “soccer” fans on their way to Kyiv for the Champion League Final. It is impossible to get to Kyiv by air as all the plane tickets are sold out. So, according to NYT, football fans are looking for alternatives routs. As a life-hack for the fans the author suggests flying to Minsk and then traveling by land.
Another route to Kyiv suggested by NYTimes goes via… occupied Donetsk!
“Fans, of course, try to find a way: some are flying in through Minsk, in Belarus, and then traveling overland, or even coming through Donetsk, in the east of Ukraine, in territory still afflicted by sporadic fighting between the Ukrainian army and pro-Russian separatists.”
On his twitter page the author of the story was unable to support his claim. Well, whether you are a small news agency, or a world renowned one, you still need to do your fact check.
See you next week!