Fear and defiance on Ukraine’s frontline: ‘We don’t like dictators here, no The Guardian.
[...] Since autumn, Russia has assembled a potential invasion force of 100,000 soldiers on Ukraine’s borders. The latest signals are ominous. The Kremlin says military exercises will take place next month in Belarus, 90 miles north of the capital, Kyiv. According to the Ukrainian government, Russian forces are covertly stationed in rebel mini-fiefdoms in the cities of Donetsk – adjacent to Mariupol – and Luhansk.
[...] He said Russian sentiment was still strong, especially among older residents. “Television plays a big role,” he said. “You can get Russian state channels for free. You have to pay for Ukrainian ones.” Lozar said most people in Mariupol vote for the opposition party of Viktor Medvedchuk, a pro-Moscow oligarch accused of treason and now under house arrest.
[...] ‘We’re afraid Russia will invade and capture Ukraine. Our army is not very ready to fight,” Chebeliuk said, speaking in fluent English. “We don’t really have Stingers or patriot missiles. We only have old Soviet rockets, many of them not in a good state. If there is a big war, I fear in the first weeks we will have many casualties.”
[...] Chebeliuk predicted that a Russian offensive would set off a partisan war. “A lot of us are ready to fight. We will resist in every city, in every village. Ukrainians hate Putin, especially in the west of our country. I hope Putin is just pretending with his threats, to get something from the west and Biden.”
[...] Russians have lived for 20 years in a dictatorship. They are happy,” she said. “We don’t like dictators here. Putin is a bit of a dreamer. He wants to be the most powerful man in the world. If he tries to make a dictatorship in Ukraine he will fail.”
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