Ihor is one of them. He meets us at the garden gate and proudly shows off the vegetables, grapes and herbs that grow well in the backyard. We are a little outside Kramatorsk in a residential area on a hill above the city. – Why would I want to leave this, he asks rhetorically. He does not want to fight for the Ukrainian army. That’s why he’s not leaving home either. The fear is that he will be stopped at one of the many checkpoints and that they will force him to become a soldier. GRAPES In the garden, Ihor grows grapes, among other things. Photo: Gunnar Bratthammer / news Precisely because of this, and because his opinions are controversial in Ukraine, he does not want to show his face. news knows his identity. May be days away Men between 18 and 65 years are also not allowed to leave Ukraine. They must be available to fight in the war. A war he does not want to be a part of. But he also knows that the Russians are a few kilometers away. That it may be a matter of days or weeks before they intensify the attacks on the area where he lives. – Of course the Russians will come here. But that will not change anything. They will come here and they will probably also go further inland. – Won’t that be bad for you? – I do not know. But I’m not doing anything wrong. They’re human too and I’m not a criminal. I do not have a weapon. I’m not a thief. I can work. But if they come and I do not thrive on it, I can go. I can not do that now, he says and refers to the fear of being enlisted in the army. DON’T WANT TO GO: Ihor enjoys tending the garden, even though he hears bomb blasts from the front a few kilometers away. Photo: Gunnar Bratthammer / news In the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine, they have lived close to Russia since Ukraine became independent in 1991. Many here have close ties to Russia. – Means something for more than Ukraine In Slovyansk we meet a man who has a quite different view of the matter. Volodymyr Parasyuk is actually from Lviv, in the far west of Ukraine. Nevertheless, he has crossed the whole country to fight on the front against the Russians. IN NORWAY: Volodymyr Parasyuk sat in the Ukrainian National Assembly from 2014 to 2019 as an independent representative and visited, among others, the then President of the Storting Olemic Thommessen. Photo: Privat Parasyuk became famous in Ukraine when he got a leadership role under Euromaidan. The revolution that overthrew the pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych, who is originally from Donetsk Oblast. The 35-year-old is now a soldier in the Ukrainian army’s special forces. He limps across the road. Hit by a grenade shrapnel as they fought to keep Luhansk. – This is a war that means something to more than Ukraine. It is our country, we can not give it to anyone, he says firmly and places the weapon he has carried on next to a bench in the park. A security guard gives him a cigarette. He will stop smoking when they have won the war. IN SMOKING: Volodymyr Parasyuk will stop smoking when Ukraine has won the war. Photo: Gunnar Bratthammer / news From Euromaidan to Donbas – It is dangerous to talk about giving up the Donbas and that parts of Ukraine will become autonomous republics. It can create a chain reaction elsewhere in the world. We must follow laws and regulations and stop terrorism and separatism, he says. – That’s not how it works. There are criminals who want to break away from a country, and we have seen what has happened in Moldova and Georgia, he says and points out that those countries have their own autonomous pro-Russian republics (Transnistria in Moldova, Abkhazia and South Ossetia in Georgia) . The war in the Donbas began in the wake of the Euromaidan and in the shadow of the Russian annexation of Crimea. Pro-Russian separatists took control of a number of government buildings in the Donbas. The Ukrainian army only partially succeeded in repulsing. After the invasion of the whole of Ukraine in February this year, the war in the region has only gotten worse and worse. TOO LATE: Ihor thinks it is too late for Donetsk and Luhansk to become autonomous republics now. Photo: Gunnar Bratthammer / news – The majority wants a united Ukraine Several of the news meetings in Slovjansk point out that the situation is frightening. Still, many are skeptical of leaving. Skeptical of what to expect if they flock to Ukraine. But also skeptical of what awaits them if the Russians occupy their territories. Ihor believes a solution could have been for Luhansk and Donetsk to become autonomous, autonomous regions in Ukraine. But that train has left now. – That decision should have been made a long time ago. Then there might not have been a war. And at least it would have been better. PAUSE: A war injury has made Volodymyr Parasyuk dependent on a crutch. But he hopes for surgery in a month’s time, so he can once again take part in the fighting on the front lines. Photo: Gunnar Bratthammer / news Volodymyr Parasyuk knows that many of the inhabitants of Donbas are Russian-friendly. But he does not want to agree that separatism is the solution. – We are a united country. We have choices where we choose those who make decisions. The minority must comply with the majority. And the majority has always wanted a united country, he claims. – There may be some who want to become Russian, but there is a small proportion of the population, and they can go where they want. But if you ask the majority then they will stay in Ukraine. – And that’s how it should be, he states. TOWARDS THE FRONT: He can not take part in the battles, but gives the support he can. At several checkpoints, the soldiers will take pictures with the politician who has become a front fighter. Photo: Gunnar Bratthammer / news
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Ihor lives right by the front, but does not fear Russian occupation – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
