in the Donbass, the arrival of Russian troops indifferent to the inhabitants of the small village of Adamska

Vladimir Putin now recognizes the sovereignty of the pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine over the entire Lugansk and Donetsk regions, not just the areas under their control. The exact borders will have to be drawn during talks between the two breakaway republics and Ukraine, the Russian president said. Among the territories potentially concerned is the municipality of Adamska, a small village of less than 100 inhabitants surmounted by a flashy monastery.

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This Donbass village is home to only a few peasant families. The small houses are guarded by dogs. “Of course I’m scaredconfides Tamara who is willing to talk about her situation. We have lived our lives, but we have children, grandchildren and we are especially afraid for them. But what can we do?”

“They have been trying to negotiate for eight years. There were 13,000 deaths, but why? The Ukrainian government is completely off the mark… All this evil, why?”

Tamara, resident of Adamska

at franceinfo

Her husband raises his voice and interrupts her, he doesn’t particularly want her to talk about the misery that surrounds them. A little further down the village, there is Marta who remembers the bombings in 2014 very well. She is not afraid to see Russian soldiers in her village: “Why would I worry? In Crimea for example, people live normally, maybe even better! So, in the Donbass, it’s the same situation! Why panic?

“Why in 2014, the journalists did not come? It exploded everywhere, it was terror. So many people have been killed. There, you feel absolutely nothing.”

Marta, resident of Adamska

at franceinfo

Most of the inhabitants of this village were born during the time of the former USSR and do not feel Ukrainian or Russian. This is the case of Yevgeni, a former peasant who receives a pension of 80 euros per month. “I don’t see the difference between living on the Russian side or on the Ukrainian sidehe explains. In both cases, there are corrupt and bandits. On both sides, I see inequalities, there is no difference! Over there, there are oligarchs. Here there are oligarchs. There is poverty there. Here there is poverty. Why would you want me to leave?” Obviously, this way of seeing things is far from being shared by the majority of Ukrainians, but it exists without hiding in this remote village of Donbass.