They follow the news with concern. Ukrainian expatriates in Indre-et-Loire fear war in their country, threatened by Russia. On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized the independence of the separatist territories of Lugansk and Donetsk, in the east of the country. Natalia and Viktor, a Ukrainian-Russian couple, settled in Tours since 2019 with their four children, fear to relive the clashes of 2014.
“If there is war, I fear that my brothers will be mobilized”
Eight years ago, pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian troops were already clashing in the Donbass, this region in eastern Ukraine and on the Russian border. “My cousins were mobilized there and many were injured”, recalls Natalia. His sister also lived in the Luhansk region. “She and her family moved to northern Ukraine, near Belarus. She still remembers those tanks, those explosions. Now she is afraid it will happen again.”
Natalia is obviously worried about her family. “If there is war, I fear that my brothers will be mobilized. Many people have already suffered, many have died. How many more lives?”, sighs the mother. Her husband, Viktor, also thinks of his friends. : “I wrote a message yesterday to a friend who lives on the border. He is not quiet”.
The fear that it will be worse than in 2014
Life in the Donbass has already been complicated since 2014. “Economically, for food, for work, for health, everything is difficult… What is happening there is simply tragic”notes Viktor sadly. He fears it will be even worse today. “There are a lot of Russian military and Putin is very aggressive. He thinks he is the king.”
For the couple, war seems inevitable. He has no doubts about Vladimir Putin’s intentions: “He won’t stop at Donbass, he wants to take all of central and southern Ukraine, along with Kiev. He wants to create a new Soviet Union”.