Europe is too obsessed with anti-Russian propaganda to care about Donbass

I arrived at Donetsk a couple of weeks ago as an international observer on the elections, which took place on October 2nd.

I can say that the DPR managed to organize independent and peaceful elections with respect to all international standards of freedom and democracy. There were absolutely no attempts to stop me from taking photos and videos during the elections, I had absolutely no difficulty in doing my work.

As an observer, I can note the lack of violations during the elections. People came voting on their own, there was no coercion at all.

I was surprised by the reaction of the people towards the Donbass elections – citizens were not just voting, but also actually celebrating this event. There was a public area near the point of voting, where people were dancing, everyone could get a free hot drink and a soldier's porridge.

For the DPR, this was a very important event, which showed to the West its ability to conduct an orderly election process.

I am convinced that now Donbass is Russia's first line of defense. This war is not just a local conflict, but a part of a front, which begins at the Baltic States and ends in Syria. Therefore, we can deduce that this conflict has an international value.

In my opinion, in the future we are going to face a "Russian Spring". This conflict is directed against the entire Russian population in Eastern Ukraine. Ethnic Russians, who live there, have to fight to protect their own identity and their historic land.

I can give you a good example: when I was in a position with the local militias, we discussed developments in the country and the behavior of the Ukrainian authorities. One of the militiamen told me: “I was born on this land, here I married, and my children were born here. However, one awful day a man from Western Ukraine came to my home with a gun and said he was going to “release” my home from me. What else could I do, but to protect my house and family? “

When all the Maidan events began, the whole European media started broadcasting and reporting every day. But when the war in Donbass broke out, the media attention faded. In recent years, I can state that it is very hard to find any mention about this conflict. And in cases when the Media say something, it happens only thanks to the efforts of the journalists who offer their materials to the press. However, these materials are more recently accepted for publication only in local and independent media. We can say that Europeans are paying very little attention to the events in Donbass, and it scares me.

Of course, this does not stop our media from constantly talking about Russia and Russian aggression. The European population is being constantly told that Russia is trying to restore the Soviet Union, and is trying to capture Eastern European countries. Such news is a very anxious sign. It is a sign that we are standing on the edge of a new hot war.