Russia-backed separatists in Ukraine in disarray amid infighting and violence

LA Times ^ | Oct 1, 2018 | Mansur Mirovalev

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More than four years after they took up arms against the Ukrainian government and seized a southeastern chunk of the country, pro-Russian separatists appear no closer to their dream of making their enclaves part of Russia.

More than 10,000 people were killed in the resulting war, most in that first year, and both Russian and local support for the separatists has waned as various separatist warlords competed for control of coal mining, factories, the food supply and humanitarian aid from Russia and the West.

More than 2 million people have fled to central Ukraine or Russia.

No Western journalists have been allowed to visit Donbass since 2015, but former residents, human rights activists and Ukrainian officials described a deteriorating security situation.

Shootouts occur daily despite a 2014 cease-fire.

Many residents lack healthcare and live in houses that have been damaged by artillery and lack access to running water and electricity. The lucky ones work for the separatist authorities and earn less than $100 a month. Others survive on potatoes from their gardens.

On Sunday, three children were killed and one wounded by a landmine in the town of Horlivka, a separatist news agency reported.

Those casualties came a day after four people were wounded in an explosion at a Communist Party headquarters in Donetsk.

And at least 117 people in the town of Makeevka were poisoned recently after magnesium was mistakenly used to treat tap water instead of chlorine.

For those who fled Donbass, each such news report is a reminder of what they lost because of the war.

“My heart aches every time I hear about Donetsk, because the separatists turned it into a new Gaza Strip,” said Valentin Koloborodov.

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