With the Ukrainian crisis in the international headlines, on the eve of Emmanuel Macron and Jean-Yves le Drian’s trip to Moscow, how do reporters work on the front line? Éric Biegala, senior reporter for the international editorial staff of Radio France, has returned from Ukraine. He visited several cities, from north to south, along the Russian-Ukrainian border.
The city of Kharkiv, a few kilometers from the Russian border and 400 terminals from Kiev, was the capital of the country between 1917 and 1934. It remains, even today, one of the most important cities in Ukraine.
A true economic, scientific, spatial and cultural center, here the low-intensity warfare experienced by the Donetsk region does not exist. Eric Biegala has seen it. It is a conflict of propaganda by interposed media. A conflict that the population does not seem to understand, it would almost ignore it. The war ? But between who and who exactly? For these Russian-speaking populations, the USSR is still in their minds. There is family on the other side of the border.
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And in conversations, the questions that arise in the Luhansk region are the ones that make headlines. Real risk of war? Moscow Bluff? Washington manipulation?
Éric Biegala was able to meet Ukrainian army officers on the Zolote front. It’s a rare word, it’s difficult to exchange with them, behind a microphone, and especially to stay with them for a long time. Here, at night, the Russian positions fire on the houses.
The game of posture fades. On a short interview, the officer will do the number of the military diatribe. The troops are ready and mobilized, we will fight. But over the length of the interview, the language of wood tires, and the traces of concern are revealed.
The Russian air force, that is terror. Let the Russian air force crack down! Anti-aircraft batteries are needed, they don’t have enough. And then there are the pitfalls of strategy. Above all, do not shoot at the Russians who could seize the pretext to cross the border. Didn’t the Pentagon say that Moscow is building fake video evidence that Ukrainians are attacking Russians? But can we believe the Pentagon?
It is assailed by these questions that the population of Dombass awaits the visit of Emmanuel Macron and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Yves Le Drian, tomorrow Monday, February 7, to Moscow and Kiev. Can diplomacy still work?
Éric Biegala, who was in Ukraine in 2014, believes that mentalities are changing. The dominant position in the east of the country remains pro-Russian, but pro-Russian does not mean pro-Putin. The invasion of Crimea changed everything. Vladimir Putin is perceived as an aggressor. But Russia, she remains in the hearts. The tugs are everywhere.