I want to hear besieged Chernihiv, which was cut off from Kyiv but survived. I want to hear Sumy, where ordinary men from the Territorial Defense Forces defended the city. I want to hear from Kharkiv and Kherson, which have been through so much. I want to hear from Zhytomyr and Mykolaiv, Zaporizhzhia and Dnipro, Odesa and Lviv.
I want to hear from the village of Pisky-Udai, in the Poltava region, where out of 6-7 men fit for service, three are already fighting.
I don't want to hear from vatniks (steadfast jingoistic followers of Russian propaganda - ed.) and collaborators, and that's why.
There were four groups of people in the occupied territories. The first group was refugees. They left at the beginning of the invasion and live in the government-controlled territory. They fight, volunteer, and donate. They do not demand to be heard. They speak up. They speak as equals.
The second group is the patriots of Ukraine who could not leave the occupied territories. Some of them have sick parents, some do not want to leave their homes, some are too old to start life anew in a new place. They also do not demand to be heard.
But the outright collaborators and the swamp, who don't care what language they speak as long as they get two pensions, want to be heard. And there are people who pick up on these ideas and make much fuss over it. After all, we need to somehow build relationships after liberation.
“The outright collaborators and the swamp, who don't care what language they speak as long as they get two pensions, want to be heard. And there are people who pick up on these ideas and make much fuss over it. After all, we need to somehow build relationships after liberation”
I just don't understand the logic of such people: why should we build relations with Donbas at the expense of our own interests? Why should we listen to them and not them?
I am a little more than completely convinced that the time for us to hear Donbas is over. Our Ukrainian Donbas hears Ukraine and supports it. I don't understand why the pro-Russian Donbas is better and why we should listen to it, and not it to us.
The blood of Ukrainian Donbas is on the hands of the pro-Russian Donbas. Let's not forget that the vast majority of the residents of the occupied territories who were killed, tortured and simply thrown into the basement fell into the clutches of the torturers because their own neighbours handed them over.
“The blood of the Ukrainian Donbas is on the hands of the pro-Russian Donbas. Let's not forget that the vast majority of the residents of the occupied territories who were killed, tortured and simply thrown into the basement fell into the clutches of the executioners because their own neighbours handed them over”
The blood of the victims of the occupiers will scream if we are so shallow, stupid and naive as to forgive their suffering and negotiate with their executioners!
After the liberation of the occupied territories, all collaborators must be sentenced by the court. Every offence against Ukrainians must be repaid in full.
And the rest of the swamp, which doesn't care whether it's Russia or Ukraine, should look for ways to communicate with us in order to receive humanitarian aid. Let them hear us. And let them hear us well, so that we don't have to repeat twice.
“It is crucial for us not to repeat the mistakes of Kuchma's time and not to build a feudal state with mafia regions that are more equal than others”
Let them understand that there are no people of Donbas. There is one, united, people of Ukraine, where everyone is heard equally: Donbas, Chernihiv, and Sumy. And that there will never again be any preferences for Donbas at the expense of others.
And those who do not listen and prevent the Ukrainian Donbas from rebuilding its land from the occupiers should either flee with the occupiers or realise that the days when Ukraine had to listen to vatniks and collaborators are long gone.
It is crucial for us not to repeat the mistakes of Kuchma's time and not to create a feudal state with mafia regions that are more equal than others. Ukraine is a unitary state where no one will have special rights at the expense of others.
About the author: Serhiy Marchenko, labour market expert, blogger.
The editors do not always share the opinions expressed by the authors of the blogs.