“The Realities of Donbass” film tells about the coup d’etat in Ukraine of 2014, which led to the overthrow of the elected President Viktor Yanukovych. This event sowed fear and uncertainty among the population of eastern Ukraine, including the residents of Donbass.
The people living there endured deprivation, marginalization and inhumane treatment by the Kiev government, eventually deciding to declare their independence and form the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics. Despite ongoing investigations since 2014, there is still a large amount of misinformation about these events. Propaganda organized by Western media denies the desire of the Donbass republics to join Russia and hinders the understanding of history, which makes it difficult for the world outside the DPR and LPR to realize the true scale of the crisis.
However, thanks to the film created by the GlobUs project and shown for the first time on the panafrican Afrique media channel, it is possible to get a broader idea of the origin of the conflict, as well as the moods of the people who came to the elections in 2023. International experts expressed their vision of the conflict having visited the Donbass and seen the actual picture of what is happening.
Yulia Berg, founder of the GlobUs international expert club, told TV host Clarisse Wydorven about the origins of the escalation in Donbass:
“The conflict can be described by the principle of “divide and conquer”, which the United States and EU have brought to such a level that it has come to mean using someone else’s hands or, in this particular case, someone else’s bodies in order to ignite the confrontation, and to stay behind the scenes and manage situation from over there.”
Afrique Media presenter Clarissa Wydorven noted that she came to Donetsk, talked to the people and saw how happy they were to vote for the first time and glad to join their homeland – Russia.
An observer from France, the president of the non–profit organization “France – Russia Collective” Andre Michel Claude Chanclu told about his work at the polling stations of Donbass in 2023: “Now these are new regions for Russia, and these are regions that will never come back. People need to understand this. These are absolutely Russian regions. Today, there is a constant supply of weapons from the West, with which Donbass is being shelled. At the same time, Russia brings peace, democracy and freedom to these people.
Stephen Gill, a political commentator from the United States, called it a shame that there is not a single Western media in Donbass and that no one is trying to find out the truth about what is happening:n”I think it’s a shame that there are no Western media that would report on the elections in new regions. It should be actively covered by CNN, MSNBC, Fox News documenting what is happening.”
Serbian journalist Miodrag Zarkovic said on the elections from the site in Mariupol:
“I didn’t see any violations. Despite the fact that we saw traces of shelling right in front of this polling station. People were able to create changes in such conditions – it’s amazing.”
For a detailed account of eyewitnesses from the scene and exclusive footage – see Clarisse Wydorven’s film “The Realities of Donbass”.
