Chekov's Donbass Thread

[Admiral Chekov]

The town of Dokuchaevsk* (self-declared Donetsk People's Republic territory) has been repeatedly shelled by Kiev-controlled forces in the last couple of months of 2021. Here's a video from December 2nd (2021)

Spoiler: *

*Named after V.V. Dokuchaev, a renowned geologist/soil scientist (the surname, in turn, probably stems from an old Russian word "dokuchAt" - to annoy, to bore). The word "dokuchAt" has a very close-sounding Ukrainian analog

On 19.12.2021, a Ukrainian drone dropped a grenade-based explosive on the premises of the DPR fire station #43 in the town of Golmovski** (part of the Gorlovka*** district, self-declared Donetsk People's Republic territory)

Spoiler: **

**The town's name probably has something to do with the Russian word "gOlyi" - "barren", "naked", in a figurative sense "extremely poor". It either alludes to the type of landscape around the initial settlement or the poverty of the miners who used to live there in the 19th century. The word "gOlyi" has a very close-sounding Ukrainian analog

Spoiler: ***

***Named after P.N. Gorlov, a mining engineer (the surname probably stems from the Russian word "gOrlo" - throat, bottleneck). The word "gOrlo" has a very close-sounding Ukrainian analog

In other news - the people of Donetsk and Luhansk republics have welcomed in the New Year and Christmas, no matter what

A Happy New Year stamp, issued by the Luhansk People's Republic

Sources: "Russia 24" news channel; Gorlovka - The Heart of the DPR (a group in VKontakte, a Russian social network); Typical Donetsk (a group by & for Donetsk residents in VKontakte)

-- I try to use the term "Kiev-controlled forces" as often as possible because I don't want to insult Ukrainian army as a whole/Ukraine as a country. I'm half-Russian/half-Ukrainian. I know that many people in Ukraine privately feel abhorred by shellings of DPR and LPR civilians and don't support russophobic/ultra-nationalist views preached by those, who rose to power in Kiev in 2014 --

 

[Admiral Chekov]

On 13.01.2022, Kiev-controlled forces have shelled the small town of Donetskiy, located within the self-declared Luhansk People's Republic's territory. Mine explosions shattered windows of several blocks of flats. Municipal services are hurrying to replace window panes so the residents can once again keep warm in winter temperatures

Sources: "Russia 24" news channel; ria.ru; "Gorlovka: The Heart of the DPR" a group in VKontakte (a Russian social network)

-- I try to use the term "Kiev-controlled forces" as often as possible because I don't want to insult Ukrainian army as a whole/Ukraine as a country. I'm half-Russian/half-Ukrainian. I know that many people in Ukraine privately feel abhorred by shellings of DPR and LPR civilians and don't support russophobic/ultra-nationalist views preached by those, who rose to power in Kiev in 2014 --

 

[Admiral Chekov]

For years the people of Donbass grew more and more concerned by the Ukrainian elite's flirting with anti-Russian propaganda and neo-nazism. When those trends blossomed and became state ideology following the dubious 2014 events in Kiev, Donetsk and Luhansk declared independence. The new laws from the Kiev-based governments threatened Donetsk and Luhansk's culture, historical values and sense of dignity (for instance, residents of Donbass would never agree to regard WWII nazi collaborators as heroes). In response to the declaration of independence, Kiev sent troops to Donbass, supposedly to repel a "Russian invasion". All the same, even when the fighting between the Donetsk/Luhansk militias and the Kiev-controlled forces was at its heaviest, the self-declared republics continued to live. Theaters and museums remained open. Factories and universities continued to function. Despite the numerous tragedies, residents of DPR and LPR have no hate towards the people of Ukraine, or the West, while chosing to identify themselves as part of Russian and Soviet culture. In a way, Luhansk and Donetsk continue to be examples of balance and open-mindedness, in contrast with state-promoted hysteria in Ukraine

More and more factories in Donetsk and Luhansk reopen. Regardless of its frontline city status, Donetsk even managed to begin mass production of a new type of tram. Shools and universities receive help from Russia/gain recognition within Russian education system. Hospitals receive Russian-made vaccines. In the last couple of months, new trade agreements have finally been signed, allowing Donetsk and Luhansk to trade with Russia more easily (for example, foodstuffs from DPR and LPR have become available in Russia)

The 1st DT-1 "I'm from Donetsk" tram

Since 2016, Donetsk holds TerriCON, an annual sci-fi & fantasy convention (the name is a pun, alluding to the city's mining industry connections: TerriCON - terricone/slagheap). In 2021, a smaller crafts workshop-type happening took place, because of covid restrictions
Donetsk also hosts "Stars Over Donbass", annual international sci-fi writers' convention

Photos from TerriCON 2018/2019/2020

And from the 2021 event...

(Continues in the next post)

 

[Admiral Chekov]

(Continued from my previous post)

2020 saw the publishing of the first major comic created in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic. "Dorus. The First Century" is set in the future where countries are being run by corporations. The regions of Dorus and Lurus (formerly known as Donetsk and Luhansk) become the bone of contention for two major global corporations. A series of srtikes by an experimental orbital plasma weapon leaves the territory riddled with anomalous zones. Some of the locals develop unusual powers, chief among them - the ability to rapidly create one's own doubles (by focusing one's life energy). The doubles can act on their own (some are loyal to their creators, others go rogue/shift allegiances). The people with the power to create doubles form the basis of the group that protects Dorus and Lurus as the conflict between the big corporations simmers on. Meanwhile, the warzone attracts all kinds of people, from scientists who study the anomalies to dangerously radical preachers...

(Continues in the next post)

 

[Admiral Chekov]

(Continues from my previous post)

A couple of photos from the 2021 Blacksmithing Art Festival at the Donetsk Park of Metal Sculptures (many of those incorporate fragments of ammo from the ongoing Donbass conflict)

Some stamps, miniature sheets and envelopes issued by Donetsk and Luhansk postal services since 2014


A DPR miniature sheet featuring cosmonauts who were born in the Donbass region - Aleksandr Volkov, Leonid Kizim and Georgy Beregovoy (2016)

A DPR miniature sheet in memory of the journalists who died while performing their work (several journalists and cameramen died on the frontline since the start of the Donbass conflict) (2018)

A miniature sheet dedicated to the hugely influential Soviet/Russian rock musician, Victor Tsoi (2020)

A miniature sheet dedicated to children's sufferings in the Donbass conflict, featuring an actual sculpture that can be found in the Donetsk People's Republic (2018)

A 2018 DPR miniature sheet dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the birth of famous Russian playwright/poet Maxim Gorky. The miniature features lines from his poem "The Song of the Stormy Petrel":


It's the storm! The storm is breaking!


Still the valiant Stormy Petrel proudly wheels among the lightning, o'er the roaring, raging ocean, and his cry resounds exultant, like a prophecy of triumph --


Let it break in all its fury!

A DPR miniature sheet dedicated to Elizaveta Glinka (aka Doctor Liza), a Russian humanitarian worker/charity activist who died in a passenger plane crash in 2016. Glinka has done a lot to help civillians in Donetsk and Luhansk since the beginning of the conflict. The stamp was issued jointly by DPR and LPR (2017)

А miniature sheet dedicated to the 5th anniversary of the DPR People's Militia (2019)

(Continues in the next post)

 

[Admiral Chekov]

(Continues from my previous post)

A miniature sheet featuring a Foucault pendulum which was set up at the Donetsk National Technical University in 2018

A DPR miniature sheet celebrating the history of postal service and postage stamps (2021)

An envelope and a stamp, dedicated to Donetsk's "Stars Over Donbass" international sci-fi writers' convention

Miniature sheet dedicated to cosmonauts from Luhansk region, G. S. Shonin and V.A. Lyakhov

Luhansk postal service miniature sheet, celebrating the 200th anniversary of the birth of Dostoevsky

What's on in Donetsk (16-21 January) (selected items):

Donbass Opera - "One Thousand and One Nights", ballet by Fikret Amirov (Soviet-Azerbaijani composer)

Donetsk State Academic Music and Drama Theater - "Trap for a Lonely Man", psychological thriller by Robert Thomas

Gung'u'bazz Bar - "ART-BATTLE". Three artists compete on stage, painting pictures live/accepting audience's requests

Donetsk Digital Planetarium - "New Year's Space Adventures of Baba Yaga". Colorful educational show for children, in which a well-known fairytale heroine dicovers astronomy

(Continues in the next post)

 

[Admiral Chekov]

(Continues from my previous post)

Donetsk Digital Planetarium - "Gates of the Universe", a program about exploring space by means of telescopes, including the large telescope in the Atacama Desert, Chile

Donetsk Republican Youth Library - Board games evening, inclding abstract/logical games; party games; card games, etc

Chateau Cafe - Fun culinary lessons for kids, how to make a pizza

Donetsk Regional Philharmonic - "The Best of Italian Songs". Songs from the repertoire of Toto Cutugno, Ricchi E Poveri, Adriano Celentano, etc performed by the orchestra and soloists of the Philharmonic

Donetsk State Academic Music and Drama Theater - "Anatomy of Love", a musical melodrama

Donetsk Republican Art Museum - "Musical rarities", "Avanti" ensemble plays selected miniatures of Baroque and Classical composers. A joint project with the Donetsk Philharmonic

Donetsk Republican Art Museum - "Paintings by artists of Leningrad (St. Petersburg) of the second half of the XX century" (exhibition runs from 19th to 31st January)

Donbass Opera - "Pyramus and Thisbe", by John Frederick Lampe. Parody opera in one act, based on Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream"

Donetsk State Academic Music and Drama Theater: "The Gamblers", based on a play by N. Gogol

Donetsk Republican Youth Library - A discussion by the Donetsk Philosophical Society, dedicated to the 140th anniversary of P. A. Florensky - a philosopher, a scientist, a priest. The Society's activities are focused on issues specific to the Donbass region - political philosophy, philosophy of war, moral philosophy, philosophy of law and philosophy of history. A special attention is paid to the study and popularization of the works of Donbass thinkers: P.I. Novgorodtsev, A.S. Panarin, N.V. Smirnov, etc

(Concludes in my next post)

 

[Admiral Chekov]

Donetsk Regional Philharmonic - "Diva-Quartet" string ensemble and "Focus Band" instrumental group perform the songs by famous singer/songwriter Vladimir Vysotsky

Sun City Cafe - Coctail Party (Live Music)

Possible shellings not listed


Of course, life in Donetsk and Luhansk is far from perfect. I'm posting these things not to demonstrate that everything is fine. I'm doing this, because there is little chance that someone else in English-language forums would. The residents of DPR and LPR deserve to be seen as people. Not as bearded guys with AK-47s. Not as Putin's hostages/zombies/etc

Sources: Typical Donetsk , a group by & for Donetsk residents in VKontakte (a Russian social network); TerriCON, a group in VKontakte; alldonetsk.com

 

[WolfBear]

This is a bit off-topic, but I feel sad for Ukraine assassinating Donbass separatist leaders. At least some of them, such as Alexander Zakharchenko, didn't actually deserve to die. Zakharchenko was actually a decent man who cared about the Donbass people, to my knowledge. Maybe this current crisis is Russia's revenge for all of those assassinated Donbass separatist leaders, eh?

 

[Admiral Chekov]

On 29.01.2022, Kiev-controlled forces had fired on several small towns/villages within the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic territory. In Aleksandrovka (a suburb of Donetsk) a 54 y/o man was injured by a sniper in his own backyard. The man suffered a hip wound. He was taken to the central city hospital #14 in Donetsk and was operated on.
Also, Ukrainian army fired several mortar shells at the village of Marievka and the small town of Elenovka. In Elenovka, electrical substation was damaged by the explosions. DPR authorities say 60mm mortars were used - a weapon, supplied to Ukraine by NATO




Photos from the damaged Elenovka electrical substation

Some interesting interviews from Patrick Lancaster, who makes English-language reports about everyday realities in Donetsk and Luhansk republics








Plus, What's on in Donetsk 30-31 January 2022 (a brief selection):

"Kuprin Free Space" Center: "Time Without Times" - a theatrical event, based on a sci-fi novel by A. Chushkov. In distant future, Humanity is exploring the galaxy/making contact with alien civilizations. A person returns to Earth from a distant planet and finds the homeworld inexplicably transformed into a Fantasy-type setting

Donetsk Regional Philharmonic: "Organ And Accordion", a concert featuring pieces by Bach and Astor Piazzolla

Donetsk Digital Planetarium: "Hroomka's Adventures In Winter Forest", a program for kids about stars of the winter sky; meteors and northern lights

Gung'u'bazz Bar: "January Verses", an alternative literary evening without censorship

Possible shellings/air strikes not listed


Sources: "Russia 24" news channel; ria.ru; "Gorlovka:The Heart of the DPR", a group in VKontakte (a Russian social network); Patrick Lancaster's Youtube channel; alldonetsk.com

-- I try to use the term "Kiev-controlled forces" as often as possible because I don't want to insult Ukrainian army as a whole/Ukraine as a country. I'm half-Russian/half-Ukrainian. I know that many people in Ukraine privately feel abhorred by shellings of DPR and LPR civilians and don't support russophobic/ultra-nationalist views preached by those, who rose to power in Kiev in 2014 --

 

[Admiral Chekov]

A selection of live webcams from cities in Ukraine, that, according to the US-alligned media, are likely to end up in the way of the hypothetical Russian invasion. All of the cams are working at the moment of posting (of course, webcams tend to go on and off, so - sorry if some of the links don't work)

Lutsk

Веб-камера Луцка - Театральная площадь онлайн

Kiev

https://balticlivecam.com/cameras/ukraine/kiev/sophia-square/

https://webcam.scs.com.ua/en/europe/ukraine/kiev/naber/

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=I8GRV40LVKQ

Chernihiv

https://worldcam.eu/webcams/europe/ukraine/12815-chernihiv

Sumy




Kharkiv




Mala Danylivka (Kharkiv suburb)




Poltava

https://worldcam.eu/webcams/europe/ukraine/5275-poltava-sobornosti-st

Dnipro

https://dnepr.com/cams/secure-city/panorama-kurchatova.html#fvp_61,1m38s

Zaporizhzhia

http://webcam.zp.ua/index.php?nab#camera

http://webcam.zp.ua/index.php?metal1#camera

Mariupol'

https://webcam.guru.ua/city/Mariupol/301/

Kherson

https://w.ks.ua/webcams/ul-suvorova-pamyatnik-a-v-suvorovu_2/

Mykolaiv



м.Миколаїв - I ♥ Mykolaiv


Odessa

🔴 Дюк справа | Приморский бульвар | Odessa ONLINE ᴴᴰ

https://webcam.scs.com.ua/en/europe/ukraine/odessa/fountain-nemo/

🔴 Яхтклуб | Воронцовский маяк | Odessa ONLINE ᴴᴰ


Odessa, *that* staircase from Eisenstein's "Battleship Potemkin" (and a view of the sea port)

🔴 Потемкинская лестница #2 | Odessa ONLINE ᴴᴰ

 

[Admiral Chekov]

Patrick Lancaster's English-language report from a bomb shelter on the outskirts of Donetsk (a frontline city). Some thoughts from the locals on the actions of those in power in Kiev (most definitely not a frontline city)

 

[Agent23]

IMO if they dropped the "People's" bit they might be received slightly better by the leftards and neocucks in the west.
Otherwise, interesting thread.

 

[Admiral Chekov]

Patrick Lancaster's English-language report from Donetsk. Announcement from Donetsk officials re buildup of Kiev-controlled troops on the borders of the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic and the involvement of British instructors and Polish mercenaries

On a brighter note, some recent footage from the Donetsk Botanical Garden





What's on in Donetsk (selected items), 12.02.2002


Donetsk Regional Philharmonic - "Top 10 Soundtracks by John Williams"

"Kuprin" Free Space - "Poethical Saturday". Welcoming the Spring. A chance for amateur poets to read their works in public

Donbass Opera - An evening of songs and music dedicated to love. Includes music by Nino Rota, Enrico Cannio, Luigi Arditi, Francis Lai, Gianni Ferrio, Sting, Georges Garvarentz, Morris Albert, Paul McCartney & John Lennon, Carlos Almaran, Astor Piazzolla, Guido Maria Ferilli, Aleksandra Pakhmutova, Igor Nikolayev, Pol Marsel, Andrey Aleksin

Possible shellings /sniper fire / air strikes not listed


Sources: Patrick Lancaster's Youtube channel; "Typical Donetsk", a group by & for Donetsk residents in VKontakte (a Russian social network); alldonetsk.com


-- I try to use the term "Kiev-controlled forces" as often as possible because I don't want to insult Ukrainian army as a whole/Ukraine as a country. I'm half-Russian/half-Ukrainian. I know that many people in Ukraine privately feel abhorred by shellings of DPR and LPR civilians and don't support russophobic/ultra-nationalist views preached by those, who rose to power in Kiev in 2014 --

 

[Marduk]

Official announcement from Donetsk officials re buildup of Kiev-controlled troops on the borders of the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic and the involvement of British instructors and Polish mercenaries

Good to hear that for all the economic hardship there at least they have no shortage of recreational drugs.

 

[Agent23]

Good to hear that for all the economic hardship there at least they have no shortage of recreational drugs.

Oh, you have concrete proof there aren't Poles there, considering how much Poles hate Russians?

 

[Marduk]

Oh, you have concrete proof there aren't Poles there, considering how much Poles hate Russians?

Do you have any concrete proof aliens aren't there either?
FYI being a member of a mercenary organization not allowed under international law is illegal for Polish citizens according to Polish law.
Meanwhile in international law:

Are Mercenaries Legal? - Laws101.com

For many people, the profession remains somewhat of a mystery. Is mercenaries legal? This article will explore the answer to this question in depth.

laws101.com

 

[Admiral Chekov]

Ahem, does anyone have a concrete proof of how much any one nation hates any other nation? That's not the point of this thread. Thank goodness, things are way more diverse/complicated regarding all this "love/hate" thing

Russians certainly don't hate Poles. There are many fans of Polish culture in Russia, including the fans of Stanislav Lem (famous Polish sci-fi writer)

 

[Marduk]

Ahem, does anyone have a concrete proof of how much any one nation hates any other nation? That's not the point of this thread. Thank goodness, things are way more diverse/complicated regarding all this "love/hate" thing

Russians certainly don't hate Poles. There are many fans of Polish culture in Russia, including the fans of Stanislav Lem (famous Polish sci-fi writer)

Yeah, right. Russian non-hate of Poles unfortunately goes too far, to the point of Russians thinking Poles are just fellow Russians who unfortunately are stubbornly rebellious about not accepting that fact which needs to be fixed by any means necessary. Like, say, occupation and russification.
Yet despite this historical attempted cultural genocide, and having communism brought to them on Russian tanks shortly afterwards, by what little polling data there is, Russians still don't manage to get into top 3 of most hated nations in Poland, losing to Gypsies, Arabs and Turks, among others, achieving merely a perfect mixed feelings score, similarly to Ukrainians by the way, so i think my countrymen have a lot of patience towards Russians overall.

 

[Admiral Chekov]

Yeah, right. Russian non-hate of Poles unfortunately goes too far, to the point of Russians thinking Poles are just fellow Russians who unfortunately are stubbornly rebellious about not accepting that fact which needs to be fixed by any means necessary. Like, say, occupation and russification.
Yet despite this historical attempted cultural genocide, and having communism brought to them on Russian tanks shortly afterwards, by what little polling data there is, Russians still don't manage to get into top 3 of most hated nations in Poland, losing to Gypsies, Arabs and Turks, among others, achieving merely a perfect mixed feelings score, similarly to Ukrainians by the way, so i think my countrymen have a lot of patience towards Russians overall.

That's your view of reality. Good luck with it