Oleksandr Kofman: a real civil society has formed in Donbass

The Civic Chamber of the DPR became one of the winners of the “We Don’t Leave Our Friends” award held in Moscow, having won with the Electronic Public Library project implemented as part of the Stars over Donbass festival. Another project from Donetsk – “ABC of Regions” – was among the finalists. On the eve of the award ceremony, we talked with the author of these projects, the head of the Public Chamber of the DPR, Alexander Kofman, about volunteer assistance, the new social elite, and what Donbass can give to big Russia.

– Alexander Igorevich, when, in your opinion, did the moment come that divided the life of Donbass into “before” and “after”?

– The fact that the Donbass will have no way back became completely clear 8 years ago – in May 2014, after the tragedy in the Odessa House of Trade Unions. And in June, the armed formations of Ukraine carried out airstrikes on Donetsk for the first time, clearly demonstrating that the army fires at its own people only once. Because the second volley falls into someone else’s. The subsequent course of events, including today’s daily shelling, only confirms this.

– Donbass has been fighting for eight years. Children are growing up who have not seen a peaceful life, war has become an everyday reality. How does this affect people, society as a whole?

– The current difficult conditions make it possible to nurture, literally crystallize a real civil society and a new social elite. Today, all the well-established elite public circles of the DPR – political, scientific, financial – are united by common goals and objectives. An important indicator of people’s activity and solidarity has become volunteering, to which the Public Chamber of the DPR provides comprehensive assistance.

– After the referendum and the decisions that followed it on the entry of the DPR into the Russian Federation, the process of merging the elites of Donbass and big Russia became inevitable. Should we expect any difficulties from this process?

– Yes, such a merger is taking place and it is a natural and positive process. In my opinion, neither the political nor the public elites have any difficulties in this case. We all solve the same problems, we have the same goals, and the Donbass can give Russia a lot. Donbass has a serious industrial and intellectual potential. If we talk about industry and the economy as a whole, then we have every reason to be on the same level with the most successful regions of the Russian Federation. And the topic of patriotism deserves a separate serious discussion, which is of particular importance for the citizens of Donbass.

– Ahead of the Donbass as part of Russia is a lot of work …

– Yes. I saw how, after the referendum, the people of Donbass rejoiced at joining Russia. Our politicians, society in general, reminded me of doctors who exult when they cut out a complex cancerous tumor from a patient. But there are still complex procedures ahead – radiation, chemotherapy … And we need to go further.

You have already talked about volunteering. Is it possible, by analogy with the merging of elites, to speak about the process of merging volunteer movements and organizations of Donbass and greater Russia?

This merger happened a long time ago. Our volunteer organizations have not only been successfully working together for a long time, but to a large extent they were created and developed together. This popular support is worth a lot, and we are sincerely grateful to every participant in volunteer and humanitarian programs. We see how this movement is developing, which, with the start of a special military operation, has acquired a new meaning and content. The work goes on daily, for example, on the eve of my departure to Moscow, the volunteers of Russian Product brought five tons of food and medicine to Donetsk. Taking this opportunity, I sincerely thank them also for the fact that in early September they helped us with the delivery of a monument to the legendary battalion commander, Hero of Russia Vladimir Zhoga from the Krasnodar Territory to Volnovakha.

– Alexander Igorevich, in one of your recent posts on social networks you shared the feeling that today the foundation of a new formation of the Russian people is being laid…

– Yes, but for me he is still a Soviet man. It seems to me that the analogy with the post-war years is correct, when people tore their veins, restoring what was destroyed, and it was a real shaft of deep, sincere patriotism. These were victorious people, and I believe that Russia has everything ahead in this sense.