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How far will Vladimir Putin go? The Ukrainian city of Sloviansk, located 50 km from the front line, fuels all fears. And for good reason: the exact borders of the now independent territories have not yet been drawn.
On the front line, in Niu-York, on the Ukrainian side, the detonations are permanent this Wednesday February 23. Soldiers watch for exploding shell fire and wonder if Vladimir Putin will extend his influence beyond the trenches. “The Russians, I believe they will come. But they will not do this work themselves. They will send their allies, the pro-Russian separatists”said a soldier.
The city of Sloviansk, populated by 100,000 inhabitants, 50 kilometers from the front line, is coveted by Vladimir Putin, who considers this territory as an integral part of the pro-Russian separatist republics. Ukrainian youth are mobilized there. “If the Russians come here to lay down their flags, we will have to leave. They will never allow us to live here again”testifies a young Ukrainian woman.
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Already in 2014, the pro-Russians had briefly seized the city. The deputy mayor, Yurvi Pidlisnyi, is appalled at the idea of reliving this occupation. “Of course, I’m scared. And the whole city, all the inhabitants like me are scared”, he confides. Despite the threat, life goes on in Sloviansk, a city “modern” and “industrial”unlike localities closer to the front line.