Ukraine: in Mariupol, inhabitants marked by the conflicts in the Donbass
Audio 01:17
In Mariupol, the district of Vostochny, has almost no stigma left, eight years later, on February 20, 2022. © RFI
Text by: RFI Follow
4 mins
Mariupol, the last major city in the east controlled by Kiev, on the shores of the Sea of Azov, is considered strategic.
It could be among the most threatened in the event of a Russian offensive.
It is located only about twenty kilometers from the front line.
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This Sunday, residents of Mariupol marked the 8th anniversary of the tragic events of the Maidan revolution.
The prayer for the dead resounds on the Place de la Liberté.
Clergy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, soldiers, local authorities and ordinary citizens came to pay homage to the dozens of victims of the pro-European revolution in Maidan.
Eight years later, the country has been cut off from Crimea and part of the Donbass, and the specter of a major conflict with Russia is in everyone's mind.
In Mariupol, wreaths of roses laid in Freedom Square in tribute to the victims of Maidan eight years ago.
© RFI
Elisaveta Piskous, now a student, left Donetsk when she was eleven years old: "
Unfortunately, Ukraine is less strong, but we hope that this time we will manage to resist and that we will not lose more other territories, like we lost the Donetsk region and Crimea.
And I hope that one day the Donetsk region will again become our territory.
»
Location of Mariupol, Ukraine.
© RFI
Traditional scarf around the head, Lioudmila Galbaï, pensioner and member of the small chorus which animated the ceremony, at the sides of the bishop and priests, does not share this opinion: “
The people of Donestk and Luhansk are already far from us mentally.
I don't know what future we have with these inhabitants.
»
The threat of recognition of the separatist territories brandished by Moscow would mark the end of the Minsk process, which is precisely aimed at a return under Ukrainian sovereignty of the self-proclaimed republics of Donbass.
►Also read: In Ukraine, the front line ignites in the Donbass, the population between concern and resignation
In Vostochny, the trauma of the 2015 bombings
For now, the Mariupol region remains relatively untouched by rising tensions, although residents have heard more intense gunfire in recent days.
The strategic city, industrial port of the Sea of Azov, is about twenty kilometers from the front line.
In 2015, an eastern part of the city was bombed.
Thirty-two people had been killed and the material damage had been very important.
In this district, parents walk their children, saleswomen wait for the customer, seated in front of their stalls… a calm day around the market in the Vostochny district, 12 km from the front.
Anatoli, retired, sunbathes on a bench.
“
The other day, it hit so hard that the windows and the walls shook.
It comes and goes.
We got used to it.
But I don't think there will be an escalation, they're just trying to scare each other.
»
In Vostochny, there are now very few scars left from
the deadly bombings of 2015
.
If the trauma of the attack is still vivid, the inhabitants do not panic in the face of rising tensions.
Anna Androtchuk, a local journalist, did not see any mass exodus from the neighborhood.
“
This district of Vostochny has become accustomed to these echoes.
Around 4 a.m., the sound of the shelling wakes me up, I listen and go back to sleep.
I didn't prepare an "emergency bag", I just picked up my identity papers and that was it.
People don't know what to expect, what to do… but panicking is definitely not a solution.
“No panic, but a hope: to find the life of eight years ago, without threat at the gates of the city.
In Mariupol, residents going to the Vostoschny market, February 20, 2022. © RFI
►Also listen: Great report - Mariupol dreams of showcase Donbass
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