People's Republic militias are building a new state - The Guardian
London – Kyiv, November 11 (PolitNavigator, Vasily Ablyazimov) – British journalist Alec Luhn visited Donetsk and believes that work to build a new state is in full swing there. He wrote about this in an article in The Guardian.
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Winter and renewed fighting are looming in Donetsk and Lugansk after fast-paced elections.
New metal letters hang above the former headquarters of the Donetsk tax service and read: "Taxes and Revenues of the Government of the Donetsk People's Republic." And the inscription on one of the doors of the huge wooden door reminds: “Leave your weapons outside.” Inside, Svetlana Mikhalishina, a former private tax consultant, now heads the accounting department. In a month of work, she has already registered 2000 entrepreneurs and more than 1000 companies that have accepted the tax rules of the self-proclaimed republics. 9 out of 10 visitors already write “Donetsk People’s Republic” instead of “Ukraine” in the “address” column, she notes.
Mikhalyshina believes that the climate for business is more favorable under the rule of the militias than under the control of the coup government along the entire front line. “All those businesses that remain here support us, but those who are afraid have left us.”
However, the arrival of winter is contributing to increasing problems for Donetsk and neighboring Lugansk, which are relying on humanitarian aid and military support from Russia.
Two people's republics that took shape in seven months, not recognized by any country in the world, held government elections on Sunday. This vote was declared illegal by Kiev, Washington and Brussels. The militia leaders declared the will of the people completely legitimate and began work to create a new state, which further reduces the chances of Kyiv returning to their control the coal-mining areas on the border with Russia.
The leader of the Donetsk militia, Alexander Zakharchenko, who so easily won the election, has repeatedly emphasized that the borders of the Donetsk People's Republic should run along the administrative boundaries of the former Donetsk region and include Mariupol.
After a relatively quiet election day, intense bombing resumed on Monday near Kiev-controlled Donetsk airport. On Wednesday, a bomb exploded in a school stadium, killing two teenagers.
The Ukrainian defense minister announced on Wednesday that the number of Russian soldiers in Donetsk, Luhansk and on the border has increased sharply in recent days, with the flow of weapons and convoys picking up significantly over the weekend. However, the commander of the militia battalion located in Makeyevka and named after the police special unit “Berkut” denied the increase in military activity. “In war there is always a rotation of units. But there are no new formations,” said the commander with the call sign “Sochi.”
Alec Lun is confident that the formation of the tax service in the DPR and LPR is the main and most important step towards the real formation of real statehood of the self-proclaimed republics.
The Guardian : People's Republic militias are building a new state.