“Attempt to switch attention”: how Kiev accuses the DPR and LPR of understating COVID-19 statistics

Kiev has accused the leadership of the self-proclaimed republics of Donbass of hiding the real statistics of diseases with the coronavirus COVID-19. The corresponding statement in an interview with the RBC-Ukraine portal was made by the Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine on the reintegration of temporarily occupied territories, Alexei Reznikov. According to the official, in the territories not controlled by Kiev, there are not even tests to detect those infected with coronavirus.

“The occupation authorities are hiding the real picture from the outside world and from citizens living in these territories,” Reznikov said.

At the same time, Reznikov referred to "various sources", including "caring citizens" living in the ORLDO ("Separate areas of Donetsk and Lugansk regions" - as the Ukrainian side calls the DPR and LPR. - RT), who told the Ukrainian side that they were fatal There are cases of COVID-19 in the region, but local authorities allegedly write them off to swine flu. Reznikov considers the “proof” of this version to be the fact that the DPR and LPR have closed their borders in recent days.

The Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister added that Kiev intends to take care of all citizens, including those who live in the "temporarily occupied territory", we are talking about providing tests, protective masks and medical care.

Speaking about the technical aspects of such assistance, Reznikov said that Kiev will offer humanitarian convoys, as well as ask for support from the International Committee of the Red Cross and UN humanitarian missions.

The Deputy Prime Minister also addressed the issue of a military-political settlement of the conflict in Donbass. According to him, the agreements concluded in 2014-2015 now need to be adjusted.

Recall, recently, the Ukrainian authorities have been in favor of revising the Minsk agreements. First of all, Kiev is not satisfied with the situation according to which control over the border with Russia will pass to the Ukrainian side only after the elections to the DPR and LPR are held. Ukrainian authorities insist on transferring the border to them before voting in unrecognized republics.

At the same time, Kiev still does not have a specific plan for the economic reintegration of Donbass into Ukraine, admitted Alexei Reznikov, answering a question from journalists. There is no certainty about the political settlement in the region. According to Reznikov, there may be several scenarios. For example, if ORDLO returns to Ukraine in six months, then Kiev may hold elections there in the fall of 2020. According to the Ukrainian vice-premier, this would be an “ideal scenario”.

Attempts to resolve the conflict in the Donbass are ongoing against the backdrop of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. So, on March 30, 538 cases of coronavirus were diagnosed in Ukraine. Of the sick, 13 people died.

• Arrival of humanitarian aid with medical masks from China to Ukraine
• © president.gov.ua

At the same time, Ukraine is experiencing a shortage of personal protective equipment, tests, and mechanical ventilation devices, urgently needed in a pandemic. Earlier, Kiev began to receive humanitarian aid from China, the first batch of medical supplies arrived in the country on the night of March 23. The second plane with medical protective equipment for doctors arrived in Ukraine from China on March 29, the cargo totaled 300 thousand respirators, 35 thousand protective suits and 1.8 million medical masks.

Problems are not limited to a shortage of equipment and protective equipment, a separate disaster was the irresponsibility of Ukrainian citizens arriving in the country from abroad.

According to Ukrainian media, many of the Ukrainians who have returned to the country over the past few weeks refuse to comply with quarantine measures and maintain high social activity, hiding from others and the authorities the fact of their trips to Europe.

Even now, when the tragic events in Italy, Spain and the United States leave no room for doubt about the dangers of the virus, many tourists categorically refuse to undergo an observation.

• At the Uspenka checkpoint in Donetsk region
• RIA News
• © Sergey Averin

So, some Ukrainians who arrived on the night of March 30 with two flights from Qatar to Boryspil Airport refused to leave the planes because of a protest against compulsory quarantine. According to Ukrainian media, the authorities ordered passengers to leave on arrival for an observation at a hotel located in the center of Kiev. However, 130 people refused to obey and remained on the plane.

According to the passengers themselves, they agreed to spend two weeks of self-isolation in their own apartments, and also did not mind passing any tests. However, they do not want to go for compulsory observation to the hotel due to poor living conditions.

According to the Ukrainian State Border Service, about 50 people remained in the liners on the afternoon of March 30. But in the end, the authorities managed to send tourists to the places of observation, this was achieved after long negotiations. The press secretary of the Ukrainian border service Andriy Demchenko told the agency "Unian".

Citizens of the country previously evacuated by the Ukrainian authorities also refused to be monitored and even tried to force their way out of the airport, breaking the doors. Passengers explain their behavior by saying that they were not warned in advance about the need to undergo an observation.

According to an RT source in the Fatherland party, now the support of international humanitarian organizations is primarily needed by Ukraine itself.

“There is a shortage of tests for coronavirus in the country, and there are not enough ventilation devices. Over 140 thousand people returned to the country, whose movement no one controls ... Ukraine now resembles a “powder keg”, which can explode worse than in Italy, ”the representative of the Fatherland said.

A similar point of view is shared by the representative of the European Solidarity Party. According to him, Kiev now, even if desired, cannot provide assistance to the Donbass.

“Such statements are nothing more than PR. Today, Ukraine itself cannot cope with the coronavirus test, residents of uncontrolled territories will have to solve their problems on their own, ”the source said.

Against this background, Kiev continues to report that in the LPR and DPR the true number of coronavirus cases is allegedly hidden. Earlier this was announced by the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine with reference to the main intelligence department of the department. The report claims that "Russian occupation administrations in the temporarily occupied territory are trying to convince the local population that no person with symptoms of coronavirus has been detected."

“At the same time, information is hiding that the infectious departments of medical institutions, incl. the military, are overwhelmed by patients with high fever, ”the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine said in a statement.

According to the agency, the authorities of the DPR and LPR also conceal "an increase in the number of deaths with diagnoses of acute respiratory illness."

Pretext

In reality, the situation in the self-proclaimed republic is far from as dramatic as Kiev would like to imagine. This was told in a comment by RT MP of the People’s Council of the DPR Miroslav Rudenko. According to the parliamentarian, the Ministry of Health of the DPR and the republican headquarters daily publish reports on the situation.

“There are people who are on self-isolation who arrived because of the territory of the republic. This is a global practice, something that happens in other states. On the morning of March 30, there were no confirmed cases of coronavirus in the DPR. And in the Donetsk region, controlled by Kiev, there are already 5 sick. It turns out that for now it’s even safer with us, ”said Rudenko.

The representative of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic in the political subgroup, Rodion Miroshnik, in an interview with RT called Kiev’s allegations of falsifications allegedly taking place in the LPR as "outright manipulation."

• AFP
• © Volodimyr Shuvayev

“This is an attempt to shift attention from the situation that is observed in Ukraine. As for Mr. Reznik’s statements about the holding of elections or the implementation of some other agreements, they are absolutely blurred by the results of previous negotiations held on Thursday, ”Miroshnik noted.

The representative of the LPR explained that the parties had discussed and worked out several compromise initiatives in 13 hours regarding the exchange of prisoners, the separation of forces on the contact line, as well as a number of political issues. However, at the last moment, the Ukrainian side refused to agree on the decisions taken.

“Therefore, one cannot believe in Kiev’s desire to resolve the conflict through constructive steps,” said Miroshnik.

On March 28, one case of coronavirus infection was detected on the territory of the LPR, as reported by the head of the Republican Ministry of Health Natalia Pashchenko. According to her, the patient arrived in the LPR from abroad, the people with whom he contacted were identified and examined by doctors.

So far, no cases of the disease have been detected in the DPR; as of March 30, 7984 people are in quarantine on the territory of the republic.

According to an RT source in the Golos party, now the Ukrainian authorities would like to use the coronavirus pandemic as an excuse to take control of the DPR and LPR.

“But there’s such a mess in the country now that it’s hardly possible,” the source said.

A similar opinion was expressed by Miroslav Rudenko. According to the deputy, so far Kiev has not taken real steps in order to bring the elections to the DPR and LPR closer.

“On the contrary, during the last negotiations held in video format, Kiev refused to record the agreements reached by the parties. And the talk that the republics are hiding the cases of coronavirus is an act of information aggression, conscious slander. These statements are a component of “soft power”, an attempt to push through the occupation of Donbass by diplomatic means, allegedly through humanitarian convoys, ”the Donetsk People’s Deputy believes.

According to the director of the Institute of Peacekeeping Initiatives and Conflictology Denis Denisov, the words of the Ukrainian vice-premier about the spread of coronavirus in the Donbass only put Ukrainian political circles in an unattractive light.

“In general, such rhetoric can hardly improve the situation, it can only raise the degree of tension,” the expert noted in a commentary on RT.

A similar point of view is shared by Vladimir Zharikhin, deputy director of the Institute of CIS Countries. As the expert noted in an interview with RT, Ukrainian politicians can talk about humanitarian assistance to the DPR and LPR with far-reaching goals.

“This can be done in order to try to establish control over the republics of Donbass in the future, to enter the region under a noble pretext. But, although the Ukrainian authorities now would like to gain control over the republics, in fact, Kiev should concentrate on putting things in order in its controlled territories, ”summed up Vladimir Zharikhin.