No One in Donbass Believes Ceasefire Will Last

Paul Goble

            Staunton, September 7 – No one in the Donbass believes the ceasefire declared there a week ago will last, and many say the situation now is “even more frightening” that before. Moreover, they point to the arrival of Russian reinforcements as compelling evidence that combat will soon begin again, according to a report on the Apostrophe portal today.

            “It may seem strange,” one Donbass resident told a portal journalist, “but I am afraid of the quiet” because as the old anecdote has it, “’I fear the dark and dentist since it is unknown how many dentists can be hidden in the darkness” (apostrophe.ua/article/society/2016-09-07/jdem-kogda-snova-nachnetsya-v-donetsk-zashli-voennyie-iz-rossii/7166).

            Residents, journalist Sergey Kurganov says, have become accustomed to the fighting and “even children do not believe that peace has come.”  Instead, they and their elders believe that the ceasefire is being used by the Russians to increase their military presence.  According to many, Moscow has sent in 450 marines, and it is clear these are “not for patrolling the streets.”

            The militias want the fighting to begin so that they will get “combat” pay, and everyone is on edge, Kurganov says.  “Expectations of the worst is how one should characterize the state of the residents of Donets. The quiet is frightening; the ceasefire a matter of concern. Because in such darkness, a large number of horrible dentists can be hidden.”