Aleksandr Zakharchenko – On love, death, war and life

Exclusive interview of the Head of the Donetsk People’s Republic for “Ukraina.ru” internet resource

– How did the war start for you?

— You know, it started in a pretty banal way – with internet news. I watched the situation in Kiev in the end of 2013. Then I actually left for Kiev to see with my own eyes what was going on there. And I realized that that war started.

– When you returned home, you found yourself on the front line. What does a person feel, when he has to stand upright and shoot?

— I will tell you honestly, there was no fearlessness and recklessness. I am an ordinary human being. Ordinary people get scared. It’s scary, when bullets whistle overhead — you have a great problem standing up. Those, who experienced it, will understand me. The first three steps are the most difficult ones, and then the reflexes kick in. You must have heard the good old commandos slogan: “no one but us”. You realize that there’s no one but you, and rush forward! Gritting your teeth, clenching the fists, you go forward, because there is no other way. Someone has to do it.

– You mentioned fear. Are you afraid of dying?

— No. You see, when you are in the front line, the fear of death gets dull. Only one scare remains: that if you are killed, you will not succeed in what you are doing. This is, perhaps, the principal feeling.

– What about the loss of friends and comrades? There are different kinds of fear, aren’t there?

— You seem to be trying to single out its constituent parts. The fear of losing friends and comrades, who are in the rear – this fear, on the contrary, urges you to move forward, whatever the outcome. You see, here one fear replaces the other fear. The task is fulfilled. The enemy is defeated. And as for the consequences – well, the consequences are different for different people.

– Do you remember your first battle?

— I do. It was in the Lugansk region. After that battle I set down and became aware of a very frightening thing. I realized that the enemy would not stop, that it would go on. However, looking at those people, who tried to kill me just half an hour before, I saw them as the same young guys, 25 year old, perhaps a bit older than my own son, and I was horrified by the thought that they were also Slavs. Then I realized who we fight against. The horror was in the fact that it was possible to fool those people, to dope them in such a way. That was a horrible feeling indeed. To be frank, I pitied them.

– You wore a T-shirt to one of the press-conferences with the quote “Oplot [“Stronghold” – the name of a People’s Militia unit, headed by Zakharchenko] — live keenly”. What does “living keenly” mean? Where does the Force lie, bro?

— It lies in the Truth. First of all, “living keenly” is the way every male should live. You see, one cannot be half-way pregnant or be a semi-male. A man should live keenly. Not in the sense that a man should be a muscle-bound person – he should have a masculine backbone. If a person has a backbone – not only a man, but a woman as well — they’ve got stamina. The stamina is more important than physical strength, because the stamina breaks every barrier.  Physical strength has a definite limit, and stamina is limitless. This limitless force is life itself. Only the force should be righteous.

– In Shakhtersk you united the units into a single army. Many people claim that it was in Shakhtersk (and not in Snezhnoye, e.g.) that you experienced certain upheaval: you encouraged the militiamen and inspired them in fighting… What happened then?

— It was a critical point there in Shakhtersk at the time. After the enemy captured the town of Slavyansk, Shakhtersk became the stronghold we could not afford losing. If we did lose the town of Shakhtersk and were not able to recapture it at once, there would have never existed any Donetsk People’s Republic as such. The enemy had amassed the critical force, having pulled up all the reserves, everything they could consolidate. In the first days of Shakhtersk defence the enemy outnumbered us tenfold. Under such circumstances we had just to make the people see that there are moments, when one’s goal in life should be nothing more, but gaining freedom. Even by your death you are fighting for life. That is, by your death you are changing the course of life. That was why I had to stand upright, not to duck the enemy’s fire, walk in between the trenches. Thing is, when the guys see that the commander walks upright and does not duck, they begin to follow his example. Each of them finds the courage in their souls that had to surface. It was then when I woke up the courage in them that they are displaying now. It had to be done, although I had been scared myself.
– Who do you consider your enemies?

— If you mean those Ukrainian soldiers that are on the other side of the front – they are mere children. Each time I talk to captives, I can watch them arriving at understanding of real state of things here in the course of 2-3 days and changing their point of view. The real enemies are the castigators, who attacked our land, the mercenaries, the United States of America that provoked the conflict in Ukraine and the corrupt scum that bears the name of Ukrainian authorities.

– And what do the captives generally tell?

— They tell that they thought only apes lived here, that the city is in ruins, and we are robbing the last remaining civilians amidst the rabble. They thought there were Russian soldiers, terrorists, half-drunk “padded jackets” and “Colorado beetles” here… Nevertheless, when they see a beautiful city, which is tidied up, in which people stroll along the streets and children are playing their outlook changes. Although, you know, there is another problem: when they send them here, they are told they’d be given a mine and 50 slaves here. This is what they are coming here for. They crave land and slaves.

– Just in several hundred meter distance from the front line people are still living. Entire families refuse to abandon their homes.

— In order for you to understand, I should say that the mentality of my countrymen is quite different. Margaret Thatcher once said that the psychology of a miner is similar to the psychology of a soldier. They both constantly risk their lives. The feeling is adherent to these people. Imagine that I left for a mine this morning – it can happen so that I will fail to come back. You know everything about gas blasts. The recent one was in the Zasyadko mine. Our women and children also see things in a somewhat different light. We are a bit different. Kuzbass (coal mine basin in Siberia) dwellers will understand us, sailors will understand us. That is, the people who realize that death is only in one-step distance from them. Only one wave, one blast and one bullet separate their life from the end. They are soldiers deep down. And this psychology will not even let them leave their homes.

– According to the last reports from the front line, Ukraine is trying to wreck the Minsk Agreement. Can you list the provisions of the accord that are being violated by Kiev? What is the goal that Ukrainian authorities pursue by such actions?

— Ukraine is not trying, it is wrecking. All the provisions are being violated: the ceasefire regime, the withdrawal of heavy artillery, economic issues, political issues. In fact, the Minsk Agreement in the form, in which it was signed by Poroshenko, was meant for the curbing of our offensive. That is, he tried to transfer the conflict from the military context to the political dimension in order to freeze it, to increase the personnel, to train and arm it, etc. At the moment the process is nearing completion. They have consolidated forces, thus, they no longer need the Minsk Agreement. Provocations are going to occur again and again. Eventually they will grow into full-scale hostilities. Until the moment when we trap them into the next pocket, Kiev will not recognize any Minsk agreements.
– According to your instinct, when will the full-scale hostilities start?

— I as the head of the state have access to all the intelligence data we’ve got, and I should say they can start any moment. The forces and means they have consolidated allow them to carry out operational tactic tasks, though not the strategic ones, of course, and start actions any moment. That was proved by the Maryinka events. No one expected them to start an offensive that night. We got ready for it, we carried out a developing attack. Nevertheless we did not expect such a full-scale assault. In the course of four days before it they tried to find our soft spots and carry out developing attacks. We got ready. We consolidated the forces necessary to rebuff the enemy at all times. In my opinion, we defended out territory with flying colours. We wrecked the enemy’s offensive.

– Has the Novorossiya project been frozen or not? Certain politicians consider Donetsk and Lugansk parts of Ukraine, and that the followers of Novorossiya idea will try to reach their goal with the help of a constitutional reform in Ukraine. What is behind such claims, in your opinion?

— We are looking forward the implementation of this project and we will keep on doing this. Those who make such claims have the right to their own vision. You should realize that we are building this project with our own hands and paying for it with our own blood, in contrast to those people, who claim that it was frozen, terminated or whatever. For us it is one of the main goals we are fighting for. I will not tell you right now what it should look like. I will not go into the details of our vision, or speculate about abstract notions. I know that it ought to exist and it will exist. Everything else will become clear eventually, and we will talk it over once this Novorossiya comes into existence. We will discuss the territories it will include, the plans it will implement and what issues it will tackle in political context.

– Is Novorossiya possible in composition of Ukraine?

— No. I am puzzled by the ability of journalists to snatch quotes out of their context. It is evident that there are politicians who are entitled to certain statements and those, who are not entitled to any. I will not tell you whether I am entitled to anything. I will say the following: I do not see either myself or my side of the conflict in composition of Ukraine, as well as in composition of any other country. I see us as equal partners. Yes, I see us as good neigbours or simply neigbours. Yes, I see Novorossiya as a strong state, but I do not see Novorossiya in composition of Ukraine. That is, Novorossiya can exist as a transformed Ukraine. It surely can. I am one hundred per cent sure that what had happened in Donetsk can any moment burst out in Odessa, Kiev, Kharkov, Mukachevo [Transcarpathian region of Ukraine]. They have already proclaimed themselves the Mikachevo People’s Republic. Pay attention to what is going on in Lviv. The way we will communicate with these republics, the agreements we will make with them is a matter for the future. Nevertheless, sooner or later it will happen. Ukraine as a state is at the end of its resource, and it became clear after the first air raids on Donetsk and Lugansk. Everything that followed was the agony of the statehood. A new state is being born right now – a fruit of this agony, this death of the old system. What it will be like depends on us only. However, by that moment we should be ready; we should have a strong army, well trained and hardened in battles.

Aleksandr Zakharchenko was interviewed by Darina Yevtushenko