Donbass

Angry, trenchant, and viciously satirical

Checkpoints and barricades made out of tires have been installed on the highways of the Донецьк [Donetsk] region of Донба́с [Donbass]. In the cities, administrative buildings have been seized. Groups of masked men armed with sticks and bats control the roads and search the passing transport. Using crowds of civilians as a shield, "the little green men" capture Ukrainian armoured vehicles The police and the authorities are nowhere to be seen. Cities are controlled by unidentified men in camouflage. It's like some apocalyptic movie suddenly be__came the reality and we're right in the thick of it.What began as peaceful demonstrations and comically awkward attempts at mimicking the events at Євромайдан [Euromaidan] is gradually turning into an outright uprising. Seasoned international correspondents compare the city of Слов'я́нськ [Slovyansk] with Чечня́ [Chechnya]. According to them, things are looking exactly like they did just before the Пе́рвая чече́нская война́ [first Chechen conflict] ensued: blocked streets, trucks parked across the roads, militant groups on the streets.As the death toll climbs, there's no sign that separatists intend stopping any time soon. When asked about their goals and objectives, all as one are firm: "we'll stand until the end". And to most of them, that end means separation from Ukraine.

• "Who's Behind Separatism in the Donbass?" (Denys Kazanskyi); The Ukrainian Week (May 1, 2014)

_The action of the film takes place in the Donbass, a region of Eastern Ukraine, occupied by various criminal gangs. The fighting is going on between the Сухопутні Війська [Ukrainian regular army], supported by volunteers, and separatist gangs, supported by Russian troops. It is a hybrid war, happening alongside an open armed conflict, accompanied by killings and robberies on a mass scale, and a gradual degradation of the civilian population. There is fear, deception, hatred and violence everywhere....