Follow the money in Donetsk

On Saturday, France 24 ran a report filmed in Donetsk, investigating who is arming the separatists of the self-declared republic and who is financing the reconstruction in the area.

Disinformation central to the conflict
The reporter interviewed separatist forces, politicians and civilians and she concludes that Moscow’s involvement is obvious, not just on the battlefield, but also in other sectors of society. The report highlights how disinformation remains a central part of the conflict, vividly illustrated by the Donbass news agency “Doni“.

For example, the France 24 reporter was able to record an overheard conversation in which the Doni reporter suggests that the soldiers dress up some people in Ukrainian uniforms to pretend to be the Ukrainian army attacking the rebels. The civilian population in the area has no access to independent media, but rely solely on the Russian state run media.

Russian trucks in the streets of Donetsk
The separatist also claim that their weapons are “trophies” from Ukraine’s armed forces, which had been picked up after clashes won by the separatists. The interviewed fighter fails to explain how these weapons are picked up since the conflict rarely sees direct contact, being mainly an artillery war.

France 24’s investigation shows that Russian “Ural” army trucks are frequently seen on the streets of Donetsk and the separatist forces have been receiving professional training since 2014. Furthermore, someone is paying the separatist fighters 270 EUR a month, which is about four times the monthly salary of civilians in Donetsk.

Furthermore, there is a massive reconstruction programme ongoing, local company coordinates the work but sends the request to Russia. When asked about the funding, the coordinator answers “I understand you want to ask about that but I don’t think the financing party would want us to talk about that”.