Russia helped us fight the coronavirus — Denis Pushilin

The DPR is fully stocked with COVID-19 test systems, Head of the Donetsk People’s Republic Denis Pushilin stated in an interview with the Vzglyad newspaper.

— Mr. Pushilin, you admitted that the Republic lacked masks, protective overalls and medical equipment not so long ago. How is this problem being addressed?

— I think that no state in the world was ready for the panic buying of medical masks. We, like many other countries, have launched our own production of personal protective gear. Enterprises are already making masks. Also, Filtr, a factory in Gorlovka, produces respirators.

Protection means are provided to medical workers first of all, as their safety in the fight against the infection is our first concern. We have enough disinfectants and antiseptics, they are produced by local manufacturers, and they cope with the roaring demand.

As for lung ventilators, we have a count of patients who needed them at the moment. We have got a stockpile. But we, what is called, have had a look in our trunk and are urgently restoring what was inoperative.

— Does Russia help the Republic fight the coronavirus? And in what way is the testing process in the DPR arranged?

— The Republic Sanitary and Epidemiological Service’s Laboratory for Especially Dangerous Infections is fully stocked with COVID-19 test systems. The Russian Federation helped us, and thank you very much for that.
Medical workers of health care institutions and hospitals engaged in the treatment of patients with COVID-19 take samples from all those who need medical examination. The samples are delivered to the laboratory within the shortest possible time, it carries out the testing for free. The results are issued within one working day.

— On May 7, Pablo Mateu, a representative of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Ukraine, called on Kiev to open the border with the Donbass republics. According to him, many aged residents of the republics cannot get Ukrainian pensions after the imposition of restrictions due to COVID-19. How do you assess this UN initiative? And will the border remain closed on your side as long as there is an epidemic running rampant in Ukraine?

— Our pensioners who did the paperwork and get pension there cannot use it after the introduction of quarantine in Ukraine. And it is not only about the closed borders. There is an enhanced quarantine in Ukraine, because of which people aged over 60 are not allowed to leave their homes. Thus, even if Ukraine opens its borders, pensioners will not be able to move there without violating the quarantine restrictions.

To be fair, I would like to note that Kiev has temporarily removed the requirement for our pensioners to undergo verification every 60 days in connection with the coronavirus. That is, the pension should accrue. I hope that its recipients will eventually be able to use it.

Citizens of the Republic aged over 65 also have to self-isolate. This category of population is known to be most vulnerable to severe cases of the illness. Therefore, opening checkpoints on the border with Ukraine, while there is an epidemic running rampant there, as you yourself put it, would be extremely imprudent.

— Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov expressed the hope that the economic blockade of Donbass would be lifted as soon as possible after the meeting of the Normandy Four on April 30. In your opinion, to what extent are large Ukrainian businesses interested in this? How strong are the Kiev lobbyists favoring such scenario?

— The Ukrainians themselves have suffered because the blockade. Many remember the pompous meetings of ships with expensive coal from the ocean in Ukrainian ports. Their goal is to show that they can do without supplies from our mines. Of course, Ukrainian business has suffered from the blockade, its representatives, no doubt, would not mind to come back to our territory.

But no matter how strong the lobbyists of this scenario are, it is unlikely. One of the reasons is the Minsk Agreements. Economic interaction is prescribed there, but it cannot happen until the legal status of the DPR and the LPR is enshrined in the Ukrainian legislation. And Kiev, as you know, is not going for it. Therefore, all talks on this subject are groundless.

— Andrey Yermak, the head of Zelensky’s office, recently promised to “achieve peace in Donbas” by the end of the year, otherwise some “plan B” will be applied. What “plans” can be expected from a neighboring country, given that the combat efficiency of the AFU has increased during the war in Donbass, according to the U.S. Global Firepower?

— What has undoubtedly increased in the Ukrainian armed groups is the number of crimes against the civilian population of Donbass. Since early May, five children have been wounded by Ukrainian shells! On the eve, militants again shelled Gorlovka with 120mm mortars. As the result, two cell-phone transmitter stations were damaged and more than three hundred subscribers were left without communication.

On the same day, a repair brigade of the Donetsk railway miraculously survived, they were targeted (despite wearing orange overalls!) by the AFU. The repair workers managed to hide behind the embankment, thanks to which there were no victims.

Based on the escalation at the delimitation line, as well as a series of public statements by Ukrainian politicians, who were far from the essence of the Minsk Agreements, Ukraine is already acting according to a plan different from the Complex of Measures. At the same time, as a foggy veil, Kiev discusses the composition of representatives at the talks with us and the sequence of implementation of the Minsk Agreements, leaving aside the topic of responsibility for the failure to fulfill its obligations.

— The Donetsk People’s Republic celebrated its sixth anniversary this week. How do you assess the path you have passed and the current condition of the statehood of the Donetsk People’s Republic? What has been achieved? What problems, besides the pandemic, do you consider the most acute?

— The issue of the pandemic has managed to make mouth sore. However, the way countries deal with the coronavirus characterizes them in terms of stability and readiness of state institutions to face serious non-standard challenges. We manage to keep the epidemiological situation under control. All our authorities act in a coordinated manner, which is also a judgment of their performance to some extent.

But in the fight against the coronavirus, before and after it, the subject of our increased attention is the economy. The non-recognition, blockade, unfavorable global market condition in terms of coal and metal, given our economy structure, alas, leave not too wide a field for maneuver.

Last year we paid much attention to the agro-industrial complex, made a step towards agricultural producers, and it brought the results. We got a good harvest of grains and provided the Republic with bread. This is important for maintaining social prices.

We also have to reform the economy. We have planned a serious amount of work to restore housing destroyed by the war. The worn-out state of the housing and public utilities is also a subject of efforts.

Much work remains to be done. But it will not frighten Donbass. We like to work.