#9 (91) September 2015 Why Moscow is swapping The upcoming The chronicles of Ukraine's separatist leaders new wave of privatization separation from the Soviet Union WWW.UKRAINIANWEEK.COM Featuring selected content from The Economist FOR FREE DISTRIBUTION coNteNTS | 3 BRIEFING SOCIETY 5 The DNR Game: 28 Archetypes of the Donbas War: Opportunists 2, Idealists 0 How the locals see themselves How self-declared republics after more than a year of the conflict are preparing to return to Ukraine 29 Aliens Versus Predator: 7 Grenade Out of Nowhere? Kateryna Barabash on the verdict Yuriy Makarov on what caused to Oleh Sentsov as evidence the August 31 violence of atrophied social intelligence POLITICS NEIGHBOURS 8 Send in the Clones: 30 Sprechen Sie Power? In the run-up to nationwide What makes German hip again local elections this fall, 33 Leonidas Donskis on political the President’s team leadership of our time is working to counter 34 Philippe de Lara on the nature competing parties with of Soviet and Russian colonialism political clones HISTORY ECONOMICS 36 The Independence Imperative: 10 Ambiguous Debt Restructuring: The chronicles of Ukraine’s How good the deal separation from the Soviet Union with Ukraine’s private 42 Tymur Bobrovsky: creditors is "We had a chance to present what 12 Big Sale Coming Up: has been preserved in Chersonese as Reform of public property unique heritage of the world scale" management and plans Ukraine’s top archeologist on of massive privatization mechanisms to protect cultural and FOCUS historical heritage in the annexed Crimea and frontline areas 17 East and West Together: The specifics of smuggling 46 Leopold of Arabia: in Ukraine’s borderline regions A Lviv-born thinker and politician of the Islamic world 20 Life in the Borderlands: What challenges Ukraine’s CULTURE & ARTS border oblasts will face with 50 GogolFest, Jazz Under decentralization Stars and Art of War: 24 Trade Under Fire: The Ukrainian Week offers Smuggling to and fro a selection of events to attend occupied parts of the Donbas in September E-mail [email protected] www.ukrainianweek.com Tel. (044) 351-13-87 The Ukrainian Week № 9 (91) September 2015 Editors address 37 Mashynobudivna str., Kyiv, 03067, Ukraine Founder ECEM Media GmbH. Publisher ECEM Media GmbH Print run 15 000. Free distribution Address Austria, Am Gestade,1, 1010 Vienna Our partner State registration certificate КВ № 19823-9623ПР 19.03.2013 Chief Editor Dmytro Krapyvenko Editors Anna Korbut, Lidia Wolanskyj, Shaun Williams № 9 (91) September 2015 | THE UKRAINIAN WEEK THE UKRAINIAN WEEK | № 9 (91) September 2015 BRIefING The DNR Game: Opportunists 2, Idealists 0 Denys Kazanskyi hen one of the nominal leaders of DNR, Andriy Purgin, was removed from power and arrested, some media called this a “state coup,” despite the patent absurdity of such a Wphrasing. Not only is DNR not a state, but even within the context of this entity, there was no overthrow, coup or putsch. Purgin, who was immediately shipped from the “people’s council” building to the infamous detention and torture basement, did not determine the policies of the Donetsk Republic,” he was never its leader or its mili- tary commander, and he never made any decisions. In contrast to Denys Pushylin, who is now speaker of the “DNR people’s council,” Purgin was a fairly well known individual in Donetsk—at least among Donetsk residents who were pro-Russian in orientation. Together with like-minded supporters, he set up a community organization called phoто by ар by phoто № 9 (91) September 2015 | THE UKRAINIAN WEEK 6 | BRIEFING | DONbaS “Donetsk Republic” back in 2005, an organization that Word was that they had even managed to have ballots promoted the idea of separating Donbas from Ukraine. printed for the purpose. Its membership was extremely small but nonetheless The idea of a referendum was most strongly promot- colorful. Journalists loved to go to any street event that ed by Purgin. According to some information, his last trip included this group. Ill-dressed and seedy-looking, Pur- to St. Petersburg, after which he found himself ousted gin would typically make some extravagant announce- from the speaker’s seat, was related to negotiations about ments and hand out all kinds of cheap fliers with titles this vote. It’s well known that in Russia there is a so- like “The Russian World Order” or cards with “DFR- called “party of war” whose members are calling for the Donetsk Federated Republic,” in which, in addition to “Ukrainian question” to be settled by military forces: to Donetsk and Luhansk, he included Dnipropetrovsk, invade all the way to Kyiv, to conquer all of the southeast Kharkiv and Kherson, for some reason. of Ukraine and annex it to Russia, and to recognize the At some point, Purgin and his supporters came pseudo-republics. Purgin apparently was also counting up with the concept of today’s DNR, including a flag on the support of these hawks, but the Kremlin was not and coat of arms. Of all of the separatist leaders in kindly disposed towards such independent actions. Donetsk today, Purgin was undoubtedly the idea In fact, the former leader of the DNR militants, Rus- man. He believed in DNR when talk about the inde- sian Aleksandr Borodai told the BBC that Purgin never pendence of Donbas still sounded like the ranting of did anything like this and pretty much toed the line, while a schizophrenic. Who would have imagined that his the reason for his dismissal was an old squabble with dream would eventually come true and turn into a Pushylin. Other Russian fans of DNR reject this inter- monster that would eventually devour him? pretation. “Without Moscow’s say-so, of course Purgin The man who took Purgin’s place after his scandal- wouldn’t have been replaced by Pushylin,” one Russian ous removal, Denys Pushylin, is a different animal al- blogger, Boris Rozhyn, commented events in Donetsk. together. Even a year before the anti-Ukrainian insur- “It was pretty obvious from the synchronized reports on rection in Donbas, he had no thought of separatism. In federal media that press support for the changeover is be- 2013, he was actively working to make money through ing provided at the necessary level, including some light the MMM pyramidal scheme, which about sums up but persistent PR for Pushylin. The handlers obviously where he comes from. Obviously, Pushylin joined the see him as the most malleable and convenient person separatists when he saw that something pretty seri- because of his lack of strong principles and a murky past ous was developing in Donbas and that he could make that is easy to hold over him.” decent money on it. Until the spring of 2014, he had never been seen at a pro-Russian rally. It turns out that for the Russian scenario in Don- THE CURRENT LeadeRSHIP of THE two RepubLICS, bas, an unprincipled con artist was more useful than WHO HAVE ALL coMPROMISed THEMSELVES, an old, weirdo idealist. Initially, while Russian opera- tors got the fires of war going and threatened to trample WILL LIkeLY be RepLaced BY MORE NeutRAL Ukraine, Purgin and Pushylin worked just fine on the INDIVIduaLS betteR SUIted to DIALOG WITH KYIV, same team, the former believing in what he was doing, SO THE RepubLICS caN be MORE eaSILY INteGRated the later obviously looking for the main chance. When back INto UKRAINE the time came to wrap up the incursion and come to terms with Ukraine, Purgin turned out to be unneces- sary and even problematic, while Pushylin, the cynical underling with no ideology to get in the way also had It’s likely that basic agreement between Ukraine no moral qualms to keep him from following orders, no and Russia about how to regulate the conflict in Don- matter how openly heinous, coming from the Kremlin. bas has already been reached and the Kremlin is now Moreover, the removal of Purgin was quite under- arranging the most appropriate reorganization of the handed. At first they tried not to let him back to sep- puppet leadership of DNR for this situation. The latest aratist-controlled territory and to force him to stay in statements from the occupation administration and the Russia, as had been done with many other “disgraced” relative quiet on the front confirm this. It’s entirely pos- DNR and LNR activists. Only Purgin refused to sub- sible that the current leadership of the two republics, mit to his fate and managed to get to Donetsk. Of who have all compromised themselves, will be replaced course, he was unable to get all the way to the capital in the future by more neutral individuals better suited because his car was blocked in Makiyivka by DNR po- to dialog with Kyiv, so that the republics can be more lice car and the dismissed speaker was arrested. That easily integrated back into Ukraine. Most likely, these same evening, meeting in the Donetsk ODA building will be people from what’s left of the Kluyev, Akhmetov, under the muzzles of machine-gun toting fighters, the Yefremov and Yanukovych clans in Donetsk. “people’s council” dismissed Purgin without much ado Russia will thus continue its efforts to implant the and appointed Pushylin to replace him. artificial republics onto a Ukrainian body politic that is According to insiders, the reason why Andriy Pur- already sickly even without them. What’s not clear at this gin was toppled was his unwillingness to see the oc- time is what this will do to Ukraine. Two outcomes are cupied territories reintegrated into Ukraine. To this possible: the “people’s republics” will become Ukraine’s hardcore, genuine ukrainophobe, the idea of closer Transdnistria—de facto not under Ukraine’s control, but ties with Ukraine after all that has happened in the economically closely tied to it; or a Ukrainian Chech- last year was simply sacrilegious.