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| Discontent in Eastern Ukraine Leads to Rare Public Protest | Discontent in Eastern Ukraine Leads to Rare Public Protest |
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| MOSCOW — Residents of two frequently shelled neighborhoods in Donetsk in eastern Ukraine staged a public antiwar protest on Monday, an exceedingly rare event in rebel-held territory. | |
| The crowd of about 500 people briefly blocked the city’s main thoroughfare, Artema Street, chanting, “Stop the war!” and “Out with everybody!” | The crowd of about 500 people briefly blocked the city’s main thoroughfare, Artema Street, chanting, “Stop the war!” and “Out with everybody!” |
| That referred to both the Ukrainian and the separatist leadership. That the separatists, and not merely the Ukrainian Army, were publicly criticized made the rally all the more unusual. | That referred to both the Ukrainian and the separatist leadership. That the separatists, and not merely the Ukrainian Army, were publicly criticized made the rally all the more unusual. |
| The Ukrainian authorities have recently erected an economic blockade of the breakaway regions, hoping it would foster internal discord, though there had been few signs of any until now. | |
| The protesters were not entirely unified in their demands. Some said they wanted the rebels to attack the Ukrainian Army, to push the front farther from their neighborhoods, while others demanded that the separatists remove artillery pieces from backyards and city streets, so as not to invite retaliatory strikes. | The protesters were not entirely unified in their demands. Some said they wanted the rebels to attack the Ukrainian Army, to push the front farther from their neighborhoods, while others demanded that the separatists remove artillery pieces from backyards and city streets, so as not to invite retaliatory strikes. |
| Some also demanded pension payments, which Kiev has suspended as part of the blockade. | Some also demanded pension payments, which Kiev has suspended as part of the blockade. |
| The protesters came mainly from the Kievsky and October Market neighborhoods, where rebel units have mortar emplacements that draw return fire from the Ukrainian Army. Despite a cease-fire brokered in February, skirmishes are common. | The protesters came mainly from the Kievsky and October Market neighborhoods, where rebel units have mortar emplacements that draw return fire from the Ukrainian Army. Despite a cease-fire brokered in February, skirmishes are common. |
| The line of contact runs between these districts of Donetsk, controlled by Russian-backed rebels, and adjacent villages controlled by Ukrainian forces. | The line of contact runs between these districts of Donetsk, controlled by Russian-backed rebels, and adjacent villages controlled by Ukrainian forces. |
| The separatist police turned out but allowed the protest to go ahead. | The separatist police turned out but allowed the protest to go ahead. |
| The Donetsk separatist leader, Aleksandr Zakharchenko, addressed the crowd to say his government was working to pay pensions more regularly. People shouted back that the fighting should stop or the separatist leadership should provide them housing farther from the front, Novaya Gazeta, the independent Russian newspaper, reported. The crowd dispersed later Monday. | |
| Though the war was ostensibly fought for their benefit, Russian-speaking residents of the breakaway east in Ukraine have borne the brunt of the violence and its economic fallout. | Though the war was ostensibly fought for their benefit, Russian-speaking residents of the breakaway east in Ukraine have borne the brunt of the violence and its economic fallout. |
| Russia and separatist leaders say the armed uprising was needed to protect Russian speakers in eastern Ukraine from a “neo-fascist” coup in the capital. But Ukrainian officials say Russia is backing the armed groups to prevent Kiev from joining NATO and the European Union, with locals paying the toll. | |
| “The atmosphere is tense” in the increasingly impoverished city of Donetsk, Enrique Menedez, a volunteer with a nongovernmental group, said in a telephone interview. “There is no stable peace, and no war.” | |
| Those hoping that Russia will quickly annex the two breakaway regions are growing frustrated, he said. “Patience is running out.” | Those hoping that Russia will quickly annex the two breakaway regions are growing frustrated, he said. “Patience is running out.” |
| In fighting on Monday, two Ukrainian soldiers were killed and 20 were wounded, according to the Ukrainian military. “The situation in the conflict zone is deteriorating,” a military spokesman, Andriy Lysenko, said at a briefing in Kiev. | |
| Since the war broke out in April 2014, fighting has killed at least 6,350 people, wounded 15,775 and displaced about two million, the United Nations says. | Since the war broke out in April 2014, fighting has killed at least 6,350 people, wounded 15,775 and displaced about two million, the United Nations says. |