"Late Saturday.. [Petro Poroshenko] issued a decree he hopes will bring the people of the [separatist-controlled] industrial region to their senses: ordering the withdrawal of all state services, including funding for hospitals and schools, from rebel-held areas by next weekend. He has also ordered the central bank to cut the separatists off from Ukraine’s banking and credit-card system." [Source]
Some consider this is a gamble and will cause residents of separatist-controlled regions to hate the Kyiv authorities even more. But as humanitarian conditions deteriorate further these residents have no-one else to turn to but to the DNR and LNR thugs who control every aspect of their lives. They will be the ones who will inevitably feel that ire of desperate residents, and there are signs this is already happening.
Here are parts of a new report from Liga.net
In Sverdlovsk locals have rebelled against LNR - media
The militants are trying to quell the unrest. Witnesses reported sounds of gunfire but, despite this, more people continue to come to the square
November 17 - During the first half of the day citizens began spontaneously organized a meeting in Sverdlovsk. They were dissatisfied with the actions of representatives of terrorist LNR.
According to inhabitants of the city, about 500 people gathered outside the building of the local executive committee, where one of the LNR ruling headquarters is located.. There were questions about salaries (state employees have not received money for an extended period), social benefits, and ration cards promised by the head of the "republic".
The participants of the meeting, having been driven to despair, were not afraid to openly show their dissatisfaction in city's adjacent House of Culture (also occupied by militants).
The gates of the military recruiting office, where militants are billeted had blue and yellow paint poured on them.
The militants are trying to quell the unrest; witnesses reported hearing gunfire. But, despite the presence of armed militants more people arrived in the square in front of the executive committee building. By 13:30, there were more than a thousand.
Similarly, in Yenakiyevo a 'mums and kids' protest took place inside the city council building. They were demanding money, which is supposedly due to arrive from Russia. They were told humanitarian aid from Russia and cash was imminent but the truly angry mums were in no way satisfied with the DNR promises. see videos here
The DNR/LNR meatheads and their Kremlin sponsor do not accept that with power comes responsibility for the millions of people living in areas they control. This is their part of the 'bargain' they have made...
How Luhansk and Donetsk oblast residents react to their dire circumstances in the weeks and months to come will be a significant factor in this Russo-Ukrainian hybrid war.
If you understand Russian please watch this video filmed by a Horlivka resident who shows how separatists are firing on infrastructure in his city. He calls the separatists losers, the dregs of society who have wrecked his home town in the name of so-called 'Russkiy Mir
[From one of the best twitter feeds on Ukraine, https://twitter.com/Conflict_Report]
There are reports of great problems for the authorities on 'the other side of the lines' too..
And Putin always has the option of invading under the pretext of alleviating a humanitarian disaster that DNR and LNR will have been, to a large degree, responsible for.
p.s. The weather forecast for Luhansk this week is daily max of -1 or -2 centigrade....
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