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| At Ukraine’s Perilous Border, Law Is Dispensed by Men in Masks | At Ukraine’s Perilous Border, Law Is Dispensed by Men in Masks |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| KRASNYY LUCH, Ukraine — Just over the bridge here, near a crumbling blue electric station, a white sign with plain blue letters informs travelers that they are about to enter foreign territory: “Luhansk People’s Republic, Independent State.” | KRASNYY LUCH, Ukraine — Just over the bridge here, near a crumbling blue electric station, a white sign with plain blue letters informs travelers that they are about to enter foreign territory: “Luhansk People’s Republic, Independent State.” |
| What happened next for a group of journalists here on Saturday is a small piece of the new reality that is eastern Ukraine. A swarm of masked men, some in sweatpants, others in dirty jeans, held their guns aloft as they peered into the car windows. They first asked for documents, then to look in the trunk. Some time later they asked everyone to get out of the car. | What happened next for a group of journalists here on Saturday is a small piece of the new reality that is eastern Ukraine. A swarm of masked men, some in sweatpants, others in dirty jeans, held their guns aloft as they peered into the car windows. They first asked for documents, then to look in the trunk. Some time later they asked everyone to get out of the car. |
| One of the men said he worked for the state security service. Some of the others seemed to be coal miners, a destitute lot angry at their bitter post-Soviet circumstances, but who they were stayed hidden. | One of the men said he worked for the state security service. Some of the others seemed to be coal miners, a destitute lot angry at their bitter post-Soviet circumstances, but who they were stayed hidden. |
| One thing was clear: After the men confiscated the journalists’ phones and installed a man with a ski mask and assault rifle in the car, the vehicle was going to go exactly where he said. | One thing was clear: After the men confiscated the journalists’ phones and installed a man with a ski mask and assault rifle in the car, the vehicle was going to go exactly where he said. |
| Luhansk is Ukraine’s easternmost province, fitting snugly along Russia’s border like a clenched fist. But to enter through its southern flank is in fact to leave Ukraine for a perilous world where men in masks decide the fate of anyone who happens to pass by their pile of tires and slab of concrete. It is a lawless expanse where dying coal mines and joblessness feed an insurgency that has taken on a life of its own, with spies, conspiracies and hostages. | Luhansk is Ukraine’s easternmost province, fitting snugly along Russia’s border like a clenched fist. But to enter through its southern flank is in fact to leave Ukraine for a perilous world where men in masks decide the fate of anyone who happens to pass by their pile of tires and slab of concrete. It is a lawless expanse where dying coal mines and joblessness feed an insurgency that has taken on a life of its own, with spies, conspiracies and hostages. |
| It is important for another reason. Its more than 100 miles of squiggly border with Russia have proven remarkably porous in recent weeks, with reports of fighters and supplies crossing into Ukraine with relative ease. The southern portion of the region has a history of contraband. The destitution and joblessness here have driven a lively smuggling business going back years. | It is important for another reason. Its more than 100 miles of squiggly border with Russia have proven remarkably porous in recent weeks, with reports of fighters and supplies crossing into Ukraine with relative ease. The southern portion of the region has a history of contraband. The destitution and joblessness here have driven a lively smuggling business going back years. |
| This presents one of the most fundamental problems for Ukraine as it grapples with unrest in its east made worse by fighters from Russia. Protecting a border is one of the most basic elements of a functioning state. Without that protection, Luhansk, or at least parts of it, could devolve into a lawless buffer zone between Russia and Ukraine. | This presents one of the most fundamental problems for Ukraine as it grapples with unrest in its east made worse by fighters from Russia. Protecting a border is one of the most basic elements of a functioning state. Without that protection, Luhansk, or at least parts of it, could devolve into a lawless buffer zone between Russia and Ukraine. |
| On Saturday in Krasnyy Luch (translation: Red Light), that process seemed to be in full swing. The journalists had made the trip after a weary Ukrainian border guard recounted a battle in Dyakovo, a few miles from the Russian border. | On Saturday in Krasnyy Luch (translation: Red Light), that process seemed to be in full swing. The journalists had made the trip after a weary Ukrainian border guard recounted a battle in Dyakovo, a few miles from the Russian border. |
| Checkpoints dotted the bumpy road through the neighboring region of Donetsk, but most were run by men who ate seeds or chatted and had little interest in inspecting cars. Many had donation boxes out, like in church, collecting for the fight against Kiev. One had a mannequin’s torso and head, wearing a Soviet Army hat with a red visor, on a pile of sandbags. | |
| This checkpoint was different. A man with black sweatpants, a red face and hard eyes accused the journalists of photographing them with their phones. (That was not the case.) He was suspicious of one, an ethnic Ukrainian who is French, saying she sounded like she was from the Baltics. (One of the many persistent conspiracies is that Lithuanian women wearing white tights are working against Russians as snipers.) | This checkpoint was different. A man with black sweatpants, a red face and hard eyes accused the journalists of photographing them with their phones. (That was not the case.) He was suspicious of one, an ethnic Ukrainian who is French, saying she sounded like she was from the Baltics. (One of the many persistent conspiracies is that Lithuanian women wearing white tights are working against Russians as snipers.) |
| He was also tired. He said the men had been fighting the night before with the Ukrainian military, had taken losses and had not slept much. I thought of the tired Ukrainian border guard and wondered if it was the same fight. | |
| Protestations just made the man angrier, and he proclaimed at one point that he would not hesitate to shoot because he had “nothing to lose.” He announced they would need to take the journalists to a place he ominously called “korobka,” Russian for “box.” | Protestations just made the man angrier, and he proclaimed at one point that he would not hesitate to shoot because he had “nothing to lose.” He announced they would need to take the journalists to a place he ominously called “korobka,” Russian for “box.” |
| He directed a man with a large automatic rifle, wearing a balaclava showing only his eyes, to get into the car, and it took off. The man settled into the back seat, his gun pointed upward awkwardly. Offered almonds, he declined politely. He told everyone to surrender their phones and refused to let the driver call a friend. | |
| His name was Alexander. He had a 15-year-old daughter. The 23 years that had elapsed since the fall of the Soviet Union — he knew exactly how many it had been without doing the math — had brought excruciating decline and economic disaster. When told his land was beautiful, but the road was bad, he said, “All my life.” | His name was Alexander. He had a 15-year-old daughter. The 23 years that had elapsed since the fall of the Soviet Union — he knew exactly how many it had been without doing the math — had brought excruciating decline and economic disaster. When told his land was beautiful, but the road was bad, he said, “All my life.” |
| The ride took nearly half an hour and passed a young girl in a frilly green dress and a man walking into the woods. He looked like a soldier, but Alexander said he was going to gather mushrooms. He suggested returning when the war was over to pick some. As the car overtook a bus, some passengers stared; the car must have looked strange with Alexander, whose window was open, sitting up straight in the back seat. | The ride took nearly half an hour and passed a young girl in a frilly green dress and a man walking into the woods. He looked like a soldier, but Alexander said he was going to gather mushrooms. He suggested returning when the war was over to pick some. As the car overtook a bus, some passengers stared; the car must have looked strange with Alexander, whose window was open, sitting up straight in the back seat. |
| The destination: the main government building of Antratsyt, a town named for anthracite, or hard coal. The parking lot was buzzing with at least four military trucks and a dozen or so armed men. It felt like a border city complete with outlaws and illicit trade. It had been hours since the last sign of a Ukrainian flag. | The destination: the main government building of Antratsyt, a town named for anthracite, or hard coal. The parking lot was buzzing with at least four military trucks and a dozen or so armed men. It felt like a border city complete with outlaws and illicit trade. It had been hours since the last sign of a Ukrainian flag. |
| A Cossack commander in a traditional sheepskin hat looked briefly at the journalists’ documents and immediately ordered their release. Who was he, and how was he connected to the men at the checkpoint? There was no telling. A car full of escorts led the journalists back out of hostile territory. The men waved when the cars reached the last checkpoint. The journalists waved back. |