Destroyed APU equipment near Severodonetsk. Archival photoRUBEZHNOE, April 22 Musician from the Severodonetsk police band Yuri Gerets became disillusioned with Ukrainian nationalism when he saw with his own eyes the attitude of the Kiev security forces towards his hometown of Rubizhne and fellow countrymen: they shelled the territories indiscriminately and killed for similarity with the Chechens. The battles for Rubizhnoye, a small town with a developed chemical industry, began in early March. On Wednesday, the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, announced that the city of Rubizhnoye had come under the final control of Russian troops, and the Russian flag was hoisted at the entrance to the city.Residents of Popasna told how the Ukrainian military fired at their houses «After the start of hostilities … (special operations of the Russian Federation for demilitarization in Ukraine — ed.) I sat, looked on the Internet for information that later turned out to be not entirely true. Discussed with colleagues … that Russia is attacking, wants to kill people, launches the Chechens,” Gerets told reporters. He wrote on social networks that it was necessary to join the territorial defense and read horror stories about the Chechens. However, soon his parents saw the Chechen military with their own eyes when they entered their house. “They said everything was fine, there was nothing to be afraid of, they patted my sister on the head, they gave me sweets,” Gerets says. On the contrary, he has become disillusioned with the Ukrainian troops and national battalions over the past month and a half. “Having dug around the city of Rubizhnoye, they began to shell our city completely indiscriminately … There were no targets (there was no talk) — they just shot at the city, I can say for sure. With my own eyes I saw devastation, dead people who could not be buried because of And the troops of the LPR and Russia helped to take people out, brought humanitarian aid, took out grandparents, whom Ukraine simply forgot about,» he said. «The Ukrainians blew up the substation so that (there would be no communication and) they would not give out their positions,» he said. Ukrainian snipers fired on civilians who were trying to run out of the burning house. “The guy was walking, he was shot in the leg by Ukrainian snipers. LPR soldiers bandaged his leg… This is what I saw,” Gerets said. Ukrainian nationalists also killed a local resident Gleb, mistaking him for a Chechen — he wore a beard. «He was buried in our yard,» the former policeman added. Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24. President Vladimir Putin called its goal «the protection of people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years.» For this, according to him, it is planned to carry out «demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine», to bring to justice all war criminals responsible for «bloody crimes against civilians» in Donbass. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Armed Forces strike only at the military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops and, as of March 25, they have completed the main tasks of the first stage — they have significantly reduced the combat potential of Ukraine. The main goal in the Russian military department was called the liberation of Donbass.
