Written by Nikolaus von Twickel<\/p>\n
Summary<\/strong><\/p>\n The separatists reacted slowly to the coronavirus pandemic, despite the fact that the \u201cPeople\u2019s Republics\u201d with their ageing population and weak health sector are extremely vulnerable. The lack of coordination between Luhansk and Donetsk shows that Moscow did not bother to give instructions to its client states in Donbas.<\/p>\n Corona Pandemic begins to spread<\/strong><\/p>\n After the separatists in Donetsk and Luhansk claimed for weeks that they had no coronavirus infections, cases began to multiply in early April. \u201cLNR\u201d health minister Natalya Pashchenko said on 5 April<\/a> that three more people had contracted the virus, bringing the number of cases to four. Pashechnko added<\/a> that the newly infected had not observed self-isolation and probably spread the virus further at their workplaces. Among them was a Kindergarten worker: \u201cWe can only guess the size of (the potential) tragedy,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n The infected all live in Antratsyt and Khrustalny (Kransny Luch), two mining towns south of Luhansk. \u201cLNR\u201d authorities said on 4 April<\/a> that stringent restrictions of movement had been imposed in both cities. Separatist media reported<\/a> one day later that Antratsyt had been cordoned off by six checkpoints. In a live interview<\/a> with \u201cstate\u201d TV and radio, Pashchenko warned that the number of cases will grow because of people returning from Russia after losing their jobs there over quarantine measures because of COVID-19.<\/p>\n A similar situation unfolded in the \u201cDNR\u201d, which had only three confirmed cases by 5 April. But among them was a 62-year old man who did not self-isolate after developing a fever and went to work for three more days, health \u201cminister\u201d Olga Dolgoshapko said on 4 April. She added that the man\u2019s family and all his 30 colleagues would be hospitalized. Dolgoshapko\u2019s \u201cministry\u201d said on 5 April<\/a> that 14 people had been put under observation during the past 24 hours, seven of them in hospital.<\/p>\n Pushilin claims to be honest with numbers<\/strong><\/p>\n Ukrainian observers questioned the figures. The Eastern Human Rights Group said on 5 April<\/a> that to its information there were already 9 confirmed cases in Antratsyt alone. The SBU intelligence service even said one day earlier<\/a> that already 13 people had died of COVID-19 in the \u201cLNR\u201d. On that day, Ukraine had officially recorded 32 fatalities<\/a> of the disease.<\/p>\n The separatists denied that they were withholding information. \u201cWe are not going to hide the truth. Under a pandemic gripping the whole world that would be completely inappropriate,\u201d \u201cDNR\u201d leader Denis Pushilin said in an interview published on 3 April<\/a>.<\/p>\n While the separatists did not say how much tests they were conducting, they reported a doubling of people in self-isolation. According to<\/a> the \u201cDNR\u201d health \u201cministry\u201d, as of 5 April 12,551 people were in quarantine at home, another 131 in hospital. A week earlier, the \u201cDNR\u201d said<\/a> that 635 people were in quarantine, 103 of them in hospitals.<\/p>\n Reluctant Restrictions<\/strong><\/p>\n The first coronavirus infection was confirmed on 28 March<\/a> by the \u201cLNR\u201d, the \u201cDNR\u201d followed on 31 March<\/a>. By comparison, Ukraine<\/a> and Russia<\/a> recorded their first case<\/a>s in the first week of March. In between, life in the \u201cPeople\u2019s Republics\u201d continued more or less normal for a whole month.<\/p>\n The \u201cDNR\u201d introduced mandatory quarantine for people returning from countries with corona outbreaks on 14 March. The measure covered those entering from government-controlled areas of Ukraine but excluded Russia, where many inhabitants of the \u201cPeople\u2019s Republics\u201d work. Moreover, it is unclear whether self-isolation was effectively controlled.<\/p>\n Mandatory quarantine for everyone entering the \u201cDNR\u201d was only introduced on 27 March<\/a>. Checkpoints with government-controlled Ukraine were gradually closed – on 17 March<\/a> for those without \u201cDNR\u201d residency, from 21 March<\/a> onwards for everybody. Also closed were border crossings with Russia. (Russian citizens with registration inside Russia were allowed to exit the \u201cDNR\u201d again on 23 March<\/a>.)<\/p>\n Schools and universities were closed<\/a> on 19 March \u2013 three days after Russia<\/a> and a whole week later than Ukraine<\/a>. On the same day, the \u201cDNR\u201d banned sports events<\/a> and closed cinemas and theatres<\/a>. The \u201cLNR\u201d waited another eleven days until it introduced restrictions: On 30 March, the same day when Moscow introduced a full lockdown, schools and universities<\/a>, restaurants, non-food shops and sports facilities<\/a> in Luhansk were ordered to close completely.<\/p>\n In the \u201cDNR\u201d, by contrast, restaurants and cafes remain open until 6 pm, according to measures announced<\/a> by separatist leader Pushilin on 2 April (they also include <\/a>a mandatory curfew for all inhabitants over 65 years old). The \u201cDNR\u201d Interior \u201cMinistry\u201d said on 5 April<\/a> that police had within three days handed down more than one million roubles (12,000 euros) in fines to violators.<\/p>\n The \u201cLNR\u201d restrictions were both harsher and came into force immediately after government meetings on 27,<\/a> 30<\/a> and 31 March<\/a>, giving businesses and the public almost no time to prepare. In a sign that this caused considerable confusion, the government published corrections<\/a> and extra explanations,<\/a> and even the official LITs news site was late to announce<\/a> that bars and restaurants had to close on 28 March and did not cancel its daily listings of pub games, bowling and ice rinks for 29<\/a> and 30 March<\/a>.<\/p>\n Unlike in the \u201cDNR\u201d, where separatist leader Pushilin defended the measures in two video<\/a> addresses<\/a>, \u201cLNR\u201d leader Leonid Pasechnik kept his trademark low profile. After inspecting a hospital<\/a> in Luhansk on 25 March he only published a message on Twitter<\/a> on 1 April in which he ordered to distribute aid to people in self-isolation.<\/p>\n Checkpoints closed also for the OSCE Mission<\/strong><\/p>\n Traffic was also restricted between both \u201crepublics\u201d. According to Ukrainian media reports<\/a>, the \u201cDNR\u201d on 26 March began to let only people registered in the Luhansk region into the neighbouring \u201cLNR\u201d. On 27 and 29 March respectively, the \u201cLNR\u201d halted bus and rail services with the \u201cDNR\u201d, apparently without telling passengers<\/a>. An official announcement by the Luhansk Transport Ministry only appeared on 31 March<\/a>. On 1 April<\/a>, the DNR announced the closure of one of its two border crossings with the \u201cLNR\u201d.<\/p>\n The \u201cLNR\u201d also closed its only crossing-point with government-controlled Ukraine, at the footbridge in Stanytsia Luhanska, on 23 March<\/a>, and one day later six minor border-crossing points with Russia were closed<\/a>. But the three road checkpoints with Russia remained open.<\/p>\n Caught in the closures was the Organization for Security and Co-operation\u2019s (OSCE) Monitoring Mission, whose members were denied passage to and from the \u201cPeople\u2019s Republics\u201d between 21 and 23 March<\/a> and 3 April. Despite protests by Ukraine<\/a>, Germany, France and the United States<\/a>, neither the separatists nor Russia made public comments on this.<\/p>\n On April 3, the OSCE Mission said<\/a> that its patrols were allowed to enter the \u201cDNR\u201d at two checkpoints, one from the LNR\u201d, but with considerable delays of 3.5 and four hours respectively. The Mission had said on 1 April<\/a> that it was temporarily relocating some of its staff from non-government-controlled to government-controlled areas due to health risks.<\/p>\n Weak economies and overaged populations<\/strong><\/p>\n The separatists\u2019 reluctance to introduce restrictions cannot be explained by the late arrival of confirmed coronavirus infections. More likely their leaders were aware that the \u201cPeople\u2019s Republics\u201d cannot cope with large-scale economic shutdown. Donetsk separatist leader Pushilin admitted on 3 April<\/a> that local factories had not stopped working because the consequences of a full-blown outbreak would be more serious for the \u201cDNR\u201d than for other countries.<\/p>\n However, both \u201cPeople\u2019s Republics\u201d face a formidable dilemma, because they are extremely vulnerable to a pandemic that disproportionately affects the elderly. More than one million of their probably less than 2.5 million inhabitants are officially pensioners (662,000<\/a> in the \u201cDNR\u201d\u00a0 and more than 400,000<\/a> in the \u201cLNR\u201d), because people of working age have left in search of better incomes. Pensioners are already badly affected by the checkpoint closures because they can no longer travel to government-controlled areas to pick up Ukrainian pensions, with which they top up their \u201crepublican\u201d pensions of at least 4,800 roubles<\/a> (58 euros).<\/p>\n The spread of the pandemic in Russia and Ukraine is now forcing many of the latter to move home, which in turn raises the risk of infections. The public health sector is in disarray, and local officials have openly complained that low wage levels are fuelling brain drain. \u201cDNR\u201d-leader Pushilin admitted again on 3 April<\/a> that there is a shortage of medical workers. Health \u201cministers\u201d Dolgoshapko (\u201cDNR\u201d) and Pashchenko (LNR) said last year that each \u201crepublic\u201d has a shortage of approximately 5,000 doctors (see Newsletter 53<\/a>).<\/p>\n Few positive economic figures, Industry minister sacked<\/strong><\/p>\n The dire shape of the \u201cDNR\u201d economy was demonstrated on 17 March, when key \u201cministers\u201d gave accounts of the past year during the annual \u201cgovernment hour\u201d in the Donetsk \u201cParliament\u201d. One of the few positive figures was proclaimed by Revenue \u201cMinister\u201d Yevgeny Lavrenov who said<\/a> that 2019 saw a 6.7 per cent increase in budget revenue \u2013 but did not reveal figures of the traditionally secret budget.<\/p>\n A telling speech<\/a> was delivered by Trade and Industry \u201cMinister\u201d Eduard Armatov, in which he \u2013 at least in the publicly available version<\/a> – did not give any useful figures about the key metals industry, saying merely that output in steel and flux showed \u201cpositive dynamics\u201d, while the other sectors declined. Armatov did say that chemical industry production rose by 6.7 per cent but added that pharmaceutical production declined by 20 per cent.<\/p>\n Armatov\u2019s performance presumably failed to impress the \u201crepublican\u201d leadership as he was sacked and replaced by<\/a> his deputy Vladimir Rushak two days later.<\/p>\n Consultative Council put on hold<\/strong><\/p>\n The coronavirus crisis also overshadowed the Trilateral Contact Group talks in Minsk. During the round held by videoconference between 24 and 26 March negotiators did not finalize the controversial formation of a Consultative Council, which had triggered harsh criticism in Ukraine. Oleksiy Reznikov, a Ukrainian deputy prime minister, said on 25 March<\/a> that an agreement about the Council won\u2019t be signed as long as negotiations are held in online format and that further consultations with France and Germany were necessary.<\/p>\n The council, dubbed earlier \u201cAdvisory Board\u201d by the OSCE, is supposed to bring together 20 civil society representatives, ten appointed by the Ukrainian government and ten by the separatists. It would then advise the Contact Group\u2019s Political Working Group. Critics in Ukraine and among its allies argue that this would give too much legitimacy to the separatists (see Newsletter 72<\/a>). The next round of negotiations is scheduled<\/a> from 6 to 8 April.<\/p>\n \u201cDNR\u201d claims 1,000 applications for Russian passports per day<\/strong><\/p>\n Meanwhile, the \u201cDNR\u201d said that demand for Russian passports remains high among its inhabitants. According to the separatist \u201cmigration service\u201d there are 1,000 applications per day and this number has not gone down since the coronavirus pandemic, the DAN news site reported on 2 April<\/a>. The report said that 93,885 passports had been issued already \u2013 almost 20,000 more than the 74,716 passports reported on 11 February.<\/p>\n The LNR\u201d said on 28 March<\/a> that more than 90,000 of its inhabitants have received Russian passports, meaning that the overall number in both \u201cPeople\u2019s Republics\u201d is now close to 184,000. Despite the \u201cLNR\u201d being much smaller, the numbers are relatively higher because the Luhansk separatists began issuing their own \u201cpassports\u201d in 2015, one year earlier than the \u201cDNR\u201d.<\/p>\n However, the Luhansk separatists have been slower than their Donetsk neighbours in many other policies. Thus, an \u201cLNR\u201d parliamentary committee on 25 March<\/a> gave preliminary approval to a bill that would remove Ukrainian as a second state language from the constitution. The \u201cDNR\u201d had taken this step on 6 March (see Newsletter 72<\/a>).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Written by Nikolaus von Twickel Summary The separatists reacted slowly to the coronavirus pandemic, despite the fact that the \u201cPeople\u2019s Republics\u201d with their ageing population and weak health sector are extremely vulnerable. The lack of coordination between Luhansk and Donetsk...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[244,245],"tags":[294],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/civicmonitoring.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1911"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/civicmonitoring.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/civicmonitoring.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/civicmonitoring.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/civicmonitoring.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1911"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/civicmonitoring.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1911\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1914,"href":"https:\/\/civicmonitoring.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1911\/revisions\/1914"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/civicmonitoring.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/civicmonitoring.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/civicmonitoring.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}