A contact subgroup for political issues of the settlement of the situation in Donbas started its work in Minsk. Today it will discuss suggestions on the law on elections in the region, which have been presented by the coordinator of the subgroup, Pierre Morel. The previous round of the Minsk talks on Ukraine took place on January 20th. Terms of mine lifting of lands and reconstruction of important civil facilities were adopted till March 21st. However, considering the general situation in the conflict zone, experts predict the two most probable scenarios – deep and unconvertible freezing of the conflict or renewal of hostilities in Donbas, which is a threat of escalation of the confrontation.
Georgy Fedorov, Member of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation, shares the second view: “We actually receive signals about the continuing repression of so-called ‘left’ activists. In fact, a number of political forces, which are not represented in parliament, anywhere, have been defeated. The Communist Party is also destroyed. There is a process of so-called de-Sovietization. In fact, people are persecuted for ideological reasons that are contrary to the general line of the Ukrainian leadership on nationalism. The same, by the way, applies to the processes we've seen in the Baltic countries after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and we are also well aware where they have led to.”
From the very beginning of the conflict, the association of ‘Law against Fascism’ decided to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights to protect those people who are de facto affected by this military operation. At this stage, we have more than 1000 claims filed in the European Court of Human Rights. The majority of appeals have been taken into consideration. We are working with the Investigating Committee and human rights organizations in Ukraine and in Donetsk. At our headquarters de facto it turned out that we have about 17 thousand of those in Ukraine, in Donetsk,” Fedorov says.
He is pessimistic about the further events: “Sooner or later, unfortunately, a war will occur. The authorities now in Ukraine are just waiting for the moment. These so-called volunteer battalions (who are in fact Nazis) have not gone away. Accordingly, the revanchist moods there are very serious. We see that the structure of the state has been created to regain Crimea. Subversive work is being carried out not only in Crimea. It is a kind of shift change, and when the war occurs, it will be a matter of time, and the curators from the United States and other European structures will launch this mechanism when they will need it.”
