Written by Nikolaus von Twickel<\/p>\n
Summary<\/strong><\/p>\n In the Donetsk \u201ePeople\u2019s Republic\u201c two aides to separatist MPs are believed to have been abducted by \u201cDNR\u201d police on espionage charges, in what appears to be an internal power struggle, prompting their party to ask why the label \u201cUkrainian Spy\u201d serves as pretext for reprisals against dissenters. Meanwhile, the \u201cDNR\u201d admits fuel shortages one month after they began and promises to send trams to Russia.<\/p>\n Trouble brewing for Svobodny Donbass<\/strong><\/p>\n In Donetsk, the quasi-oppositional Svobodny Donbass (Free Donbass) movement said last week that the aides of its chairman and one of its deputies were abducted, apparently by police.<\/p>\n The movement said in a statement<\/a> on May 31 that it was unclear who was behind the abductions which took place on May 16, but that days later members of the \u201cDNR\u201d Interior \u201cMinistry\u2019s\u201d organized crime unit showed up at the missing men\u2019s apartments, telling their relatives that they had committed treason and worked for Ukrainian intelligence.<\/p>\n The policemen also seized grenades and ammunition from the apartments, which, according to the statement, they had actually brought with them in order to accuse the abducted of a serious crime. According to unofficial sources, the victims were badly beaten, the statement continues.<\/p>\n While abductions with accusations of spying for Ukraine are thought to be commonplace in both \u201cPeople\u2019s Republics\u201d, the victims have usually been bloggers, journalists and other activists critical of separatist leaders. It is extremely rare for officially sanctioned political players to raise the subject in public.<\/p>\n But the abducted men, Artyom Kudryavets and Artur Gamara, are both boxers and work for members of the Donetsk \u201cPeople\u2019s Republic\u2019s\u201d de-facto parliament. Gamara is an aide to Svobodny Donbass deputy Sergei Kovalchuk, Kudravets works for Yevgeny Orlov<\/a>, who, apart from being a deputy, is chairman of the movement.<\/p>\n The Svobodny Donbass statement is titled \u201cThe Ukrainian Spy label as a pretext for reprisals against dissenters in the DNR\u201d, which may actually serve as an accurate description for the political context of numerous recent arrests in both Donetsk and Luhansk.<\/p>\n Svobodny Donbass functions as a quasi-opposition party in the \u201cDNR\u201d, having 30 out of 94 seats in the de-facto parliament \u2013 the other 64 members belong to the governing Donetsk Republic movement. Both \u201cPeople\u2019s Republics\u201d have two political movements who do not call themselves parties, apparently in an attempt to break with the corrupt past of Ukrainian politics.<\/p>\n However, neither parliaments nor opposition parties in both the \u201cDNR\u201d and \u201cLNR\u201d are believed to possess any real influence and Svobodny Donbass has always shown steadfast support for the separatists\u2019 pro-Russian ideals. It does, however, occasionally criticize the current authorities.<\/p>\n The abductions also come one month after a power struggle inside the movement surfaced. On April 21, Svobodny Donbass abruptly canceled a convention in Donetsk, officially because of a fire drill. However, in social media posts collected<\/a> by the Ukrainian \u201cNovosti Donbassa\u201d news site, activists accused former separatist leader Pavel Gubarev of attempting to bring Svobodny Donbass under his control in the run-up to the separatist leadership election this autumn.<\/p>\n A new date for the convention has not been set. An announcement<\/a> on Svobodny Donbass\u2019 website merely says that it will be held \u201cin short time\u201d. Gubarev said in a video interview<\/a> published on 4 June that he had not decided whether to stand in an election or not.<\/p>\n A former Santa-for-hire (he ran a children\u2019s party agency<\/a>), Gubarev shot to fame in March 2014 when he led the early pro-Russian protests as \u201cpeople\u2019s governor\u201d in Donetsk. But he was soon arrested and imprisoned by Ukrainian authorities. After his release in May he was sidelined from the separatist leadership, but his wife Yekaterina<\/a> became a deputy for Svobdny Donbass.<\/p>\n The Gubarevs have occasionally clashed with the \u201cDNR\u201d leadership. In October, Yekaterina Gubareva published<\/a> video footage showing that armed men were trying to arrest her in Donetsk. Gubareva said that the men were from the Income \u201cMinistry\u201d, which is run by Alexander Timofeyev, a close ally of \u201cDNR\u201d leader Alexander Zakharchenko.<\/p>\n \u201cDNR\u201d leader admits fuel shortages<\/strong><\/p>\n Svobodny Donbass leader Orlov was also the first to predict the fuel shortages that hit the separatist-held areas since early May (see Newsletter 27<\/a>). After separatist officials and media did not mention the long lines of cars waiting at petrol stations for one month, \u201cDNR\u201d leader Zakharchenko finally addressed the problem on June 5.<\/p>\n During a press briefing in Donetsk, Zakharchenko said<\/a> that the problem had been caused by \u201cbungling\u201d and that those responsible would be found. \u201cDon\u2019t worry, there will be fuel, the situation will improve,\u201d he said. He added, however, that the root cause was Russia\u2019s decision to lift a ban on raising prices.<\/p>\n Fuel shortages and price hikes for available supplies have been reported from both Donetsk and Luhansk (see Newsletter 30<\/a>). However, \u201cLNR\u201d leaders have not commented on the topic so far. Instead, the Luhansk separatists\u2019 main news site lug-info.com published an analysis<\/a> saying that petrol prices were lower than in Ukraine.<\/p>\n Ten tramways promised for Donetsk<\/strong><\/p>\n While the separatists\u2019 promises to reorient the economy to Russia because of the economic blockade with Ukraine have not borne much fruit, \u201cDNR\u201d Industry and Trade \u201cminister\u201d Alexei Granovsky promised<\/a> on June 5 that a plant in Donetsk would produce ten tramways, the first of which would hit the tracks this autumn. Later, Granovsky said<\/a>, the plant should try to sell trams to Russia.<\/p>\n Granovsky did not say, how the \u201cDNR\u201d would officially export manufactured goods to Russia. This has reportedly been impossible so far because Russia cannot legally import goods from a country that it does not recognize. A lacking basic requirement is a common certification standard.<\/p>\n