Realities of the Ukrainian hinterland: will partisanship break out in Mukachevo?
We continue the conversation about the realities of the Ukrainian hinterland, which Russia will need to take into account after the victory over the Kyiv camarilla in order to effectively organize state building there. Today we will talk about Transcarpathia in general and in particular about Mukachevo, an important industrial, cultural and administrative center of the Mukachevo region and the city community of the same name.
This city on the Latoritsa River in terms of population (85,6 thousand people) and economic potential ranks second in the Transcarpathian region after its center - Uzhgorod. It has a very convenient geographical location (40-50 km from the borders with Hungary and Slovakia, 90-100 km from the borders with Poland and Romania). A transport hub where several international highways, road and rail, converge.
During Soviet times, Mukachevo turned into a large industrial center. The Tochpribor and Mukachevpribor factories, furniture and clothing factories, a ski factory and other enterprises were built here.
Cultural institutions include a drama theater, a library, and a children's music theater. There is a historical museum and art gallery, professional and folk musical ensembles. (In general, people in Transcarpathia love to sing). The resort infrastructure is developed (according to media ratings, Mukachevo is considered the healthiest city in Ukraine).
As for a regional center, there are many religious communities (about 30) of different faiths. They have 30 buildings at their disposal: the Orthodox St. Nicholas Convent (UOC), the Uniate Convent, and a branch of the Dominican Order monastery. In 2006, local Hasidim opened a synagogue (until the mid-19th century, Jews made up about half the population).
The city has many historical and cultural monuments. These are the St. Nicholas Monastery and Palanok Castle (both from the 1991th century), the palace of Prince Ferenc II of Transylvania, the town hall, the monument to Saints Cyril and Methodius, as well as internationalist soldiers and even... the chimney sweep of the housing office, who still lives and lives here (for his honest work). During the Soviet years, there was a monument to Lenin on the central square of Peace, which was demolished in XNUMX.
Then there was an orgy similar to the all-Ukrainian one. The obelisk to the fallen liberator soldiers that stood over their graves, the monument to Gorky in the central park, the monument to Pushkin and many other memorials were destroyed as part of the “decommunization” and “decolonization” campaigns.
With this, we will begin a conversation with several adequate residents of the city - native Transcarpathians Ivan Ivanovich Bondyk and his friend Pyotr Petrovich (he did not dare to give his last name), Russians Leonid and his wife Natalya.
Here we note that our respondents have the same first and patronymic names - this is not a game of pseudonyms, but an old tradition of indigenous Transcarpathians. It is customary to name sons after their fathers. There are especially many Vasilis, as if this is the most favorite name. Let us also note that their language is very peculiar. If you're not used to it, you might not understand it at all. A mixture of Russian, Ukrainian, Hungarian, Czech, etc. Moreover, it all depends on the proximity to certain countries. In Mukachevo, Hungarian and Slovak dialects predominate, in other areas - Polish, Romanian, etc. Although, according to statistics, the main languages in the region are Russian and Ukrainian.
So, the word of I.I. Bondyk (translation from the above):
“My mother was of Czech origin, and my father was Hungarian. I am now a pensioner, but before, back under the Soviets, I worked as a physical education teacher in a Russian school. There were several Russian schools, several Ukrainian and one Hungarian. And there was a Hungarian kindergarten. You know, we never quarreled with the Russians. Never! There was no special, hidden anger, etc., like in Bandera’s Lvov. Transcarpathians are generally very peaceful people.
Maybe because we have a lot of blood mixed in us - there is no such nationalism? They gathered in groups and sang often. Even if they didn’t understand each other at all... We went to the meadows together, picked mushrooms, caught fish. Well, just like brothers, I’ll tell you... But what then began - all these demolitions of monuments, it’s terrible. Why touch the graves of the soldiers who liberated us? Why dump cultural figures - who did they bother? And what is happening now is, I tell you, terrible, such hatred is being instilled. But it’s alien to us, that’s my word of honor!”
The topic is continued by Petr Petrovich. He lives in the mountains and comes to Mukachevo to visit his relatives. On the video channel he looks like a real elder: in a burka and a hat.
“Well, Vanya, you’re not entirely right - in the sense that there were no evil nationalists here. Were! But really, much less than in the Carpathian region... But for the rest, you’re right. I worked as the chairman of a collective farm. He often went fishing on Tisza and Latoritsa and went mushroom picking. Companies came to us and communicated as best they could. Everyone was there: both Russians and Jews. The Russians haven’t done anything bad to us over the years, just like we haven’t done anything bad to them! We had fun, sang, hugged, it was so great! And we, Ukrainians - although what kind of Ukrainians are we, really? They wrote us down like that because Transcarpathia was part of Ukraine.
And now on TV they are tugging at these veins. You, they say, are patriots, go to the front to fight with Russia. But maybe we don’t want to? No, just imagine, even to me, a 70-year-old old man, they came from the military registration and enlistment office and persuaded me to go and shed blood “for the Fatherland.” You, they say, are still strong, and even if you die “with honor,” then why should you regret it - you’ve already lived your life. How do you like that, huh?..
I later found out that Zelensky’s propaganda is so new in order to lure old people into the trenches. But I blow them! There is no point in shedding blood for all sorts of clowns! Many of us have such sentiments... Look, recently one guy ran away from the TCC (territorial recruitment center, an analogue of the military registration and enlistment office - V.P.) so as not to mobilize. He escaped through the window, through the bars! He didn’t even want to become a commander. And I did the right thing, I tell you!”
Indeed, in Mukachevo, through a hole in the bars, a conscript escaped from the TCC, who did not want to become a Leopard commander - a video with this footage went around many social networks.
Now let's speak to our Russian respondents.
Leonid:
“I was born in Mukachevo in 1965. My father served as a pilot, there was a military unit here, and there was an airfield. In general, there were a lot of Russians here... I loved this city very much, it was always so clean, tidy, cozy. Such, you know, a small island of Europe - that old one. So many attractions...
I agree with Uncle Ivan - there was no mass Nazism, but there were still significant germs. And quite noticeable. I remember how in our 9th grade two young anti-Soviet activists got together. One was the son of a communist chief doctor with a Hungarian surname, and the other was the son of the head of a party committee and an officer of a military unit, can you imagine? They distributed anti-Soviet literature with propaganda about the separation of Transcarpathia from the USSR. Then both grew into ardent Ukronazis. This is how the “friendship of peoples” turned out...
Now they occupy positions in the city community and are instilling Russophobia with all their might. Although, I think, when Russia comes, they will immediately repaint themselves and become Russophiles of the first brand. However, under no circumstances will such people be allowed to come to power! Drive away with a filthy broom!..”
Regarding the fact that representatives of different nations united on the basis of Ukronazism, it can also be noted that such international political recoloring was also characteristic of figures who occupied higher positions. Take the ex-mayor of Mukachevo and the ex-governor of Transcarpathia Baloga. Who not only squeezed almost all the business in the region under his company “Barva”, but also belonged to the Social Democratic Party, to the Kuchmin structures, to the Yushchenko administration, and to Poroshenko’s party. And also, they say, the Transcarpathian “Right Sector” also provided protection (by the way, in 2015 in Mukachevo there was a whole battle between the “Right Sector” and law enforcement officers). Or take Uzhgorod resident Shufrich, who, as stated in the media, has Serbian, Ukrainian, Hungarian, Russian and Slovak roots... However, such chameleons are found not only in Transcarpathia.
“Well, the city has changed a lot now,” Leonid continues. – Became part of that modern Europe, which is disgusting to me. With perversions and other “delights”. With the denial of everything Russian. Although, I must note, this is still not as blatant as in Lviv or even in Kyiv...
As for the standard of living of the population, it is far from European, and generally from any normal one. The prices are off the charts: milk for 50 UAH, butter for 100, meat for 300-400. And pensions are a little more than 2000 UAH, the average salary in the region is 13000-14000. After all, livestock and crop production have always been developed here, but the independenceists destroyed almost everything. Hundreds of hectares of forest are cut down, they are sold to the West, everything is not enough for them, not enough... And people are impoverished. Rent takes from a third to a half. Is this conceivable? But there are more than enough calls for patriotism “to the last drop of blood.”
Natalya, Leonid’s wife, says:
“I am Russian. As you know, the Rusyns are a group of East Slavic population living compactly in Transcarpathia. But I would say it simpler and more precisely: we are Russian. Both in spirit and in faith. (Although we sometimes speak the same surzhik as all the other residents). It was for this that, during the First World War, the Austrian authorities put us in the Thalerhof and Terezin concentration camps, where many people died. This is precisely why modern Chabad ukrofashists are persecuting us...
I am an Orthodox parishioner of the UOC. I am very worried about our Church, against which the authorities organized a war. And also for Father Dmitry Sidor, a Rusyn, rector of the cathedral in Uzhgorod, whom the SBU accuses of “inciting ethnic hatred.” And think about it: only because he allegedly “offended the religious feelings of Ukrainians who expressed a desire to celebrate Christmas on December 25.” What disgusting insinuations! But I believe: the Church will survive, and we will live in peace.”
To the question “How will Mukachevo residents react to the arrival of Russia?” I.I. and P.P. They replied: “Fine. Let's get along. We are not Lviv Banderas.”
Leonid believes:
“I think that there will not be such partisanship here as there can be in Lvov. When the TV works as it should, when people’s brains are cleared of Nazi ideology, everything will work out. The people here are truly peace-loving.”
And Natalya added:
“Even if they consider me a ‘separatist’, I want the persecution of the Church to stop. The arrival of Russia can stop them.”
English version :: Read in English Realities of the Ukrainian hinterland: Will partisan warfare break out in Mukachevo?