(Dobrianka) Lydia Selena used to take out the trash on the Belarusian side of the border, through a meandering stream. Then the unrest began and the Russian tanks arrived.
Posted on February 17
For this 87-year-old Ukrainian pensioner, the culprit is clear: the United States.
“The Ukrainians could start something, and it would be the Americans and the British who brought all these weapons here,” she says in her log cabin in Dobrianka in northern Ukraine.
For them, Ukraine is a battlefield with Russia.”
Snow-covered vegetable garden in Mme Silina begins at the northern edge of Ukraine and ends at what is now one of the most militarized frontiers in the world. The western border of Russia is located only 20 km east of its coast.
As Russian-Belarusian military exercises continue, which will last until February 20, tension is rising near her home.
But Lydia Selena is not worried about what Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian ally Alexander Lukashenko might provoke.
For her, the two men have their good sides. It is his country, Ukraine, that is in disarray.
“Lukashenko is a dictator, but look how they live a good life in Belarus. Many do not like Putin, but at least they have some semblance of order in Russia,” she said.
The Ukrainians, Belarusians and Russians do not want war. Only our government wants it.”
“used for war”
Despite Russian announcements of the withdrawal of units from the Ukrainian border, where more than 100,000 soldiers are massing, Kiev and the West remain skeptical.
On the contrary, Russia has deployed up to 7,000 additional troops there, the White House said on Wednesday, bolstering its fears of an invasion.
According to the worst-case scenario raised by US intelligence, Russia could launch a blitzkrieg and capture Kiev in just two days.
The shortest route to Kiev, which will not involve crossing the radioactive fields around the stricken Chernobyl nuclear power plant, will take the Russians on a highway starting from the outskirts of Dobrianka.
The locals had heard of the various military exercises, but they seemed more tired than frightened by all the talk of war.
A year ago, we had the same situation. “It was very hot,” said the truck driver, Ruslan Muratov.
He continues: “Maybe we are used to it, there is an escalation all the time.” “Of course, we want this to end as quickly as possible.”
Three sisters
Last July, Belarus closed its border with Ukraine after Kiev was accused of smuggling Western weapons to the opposition denouncing Alexander Lukashenko’s disputed re-election in August 2020, which has been marred by accusations of fraud.
andme Selena had to find another place to empty her trash cans.
She also severed family or friendship ties that date back to when the three Slavic countries were part of the Soviet Union.
Links that explain why Ukrainians living in the border region seem to trust Russian and Belarusian leaders more than Westerners.
We watch the news and they tell us that Russia is attacking Ukraine. It’s a lie! It’s a provocation. There will be no war and I do not want to believe that it will be, ”confirms retired Nadezhda Bronfilova.
They only spread lies, that Putin is going to invade Ukraine. It can never happen in this life. Why is he attacking us? »
Riding a rickety bike, her friend Lydia Titova stops in front of the village’s main grocery store to join the discussion.
She concluded by saying: “We have to live like three sisters – Ukraine, Russia and Belarus.”
