"We came here to win"-Pro-Russian militant in Ukraine

Kramatorsk residents and militants unsure of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's proposals to stem violence in the country's east. Deborah Lutterbeck reports.

Published

about 3 years ago

Categories

World

Topics

Europe, World

People

Deborah Lutterbeck, Petro Poroshenko, ALEXANDER MOZHAEV

Places

Ukraine, Russia, Europe, Kiev

Transcript

Inauguration day for Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko. He comes to power boosted by Western support -- but facing an immediate crisis of a separatists uprising in the east. Poroshenko is promising peace -- but some separatists in Kramatorsk are not ready to give up the fight. (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) PRO-RUSSIAN MILITANT, ALEXANDER MOZHAEV, SAYING: "All of his suggestions about laying down weapons, and the chance to go back home peacefully is not for us. We didn't come here so that we could go home; we came here to win - to return to the orthodox people what belongs to them - not just to orthodox people, to all Slavs." Poroshenko promised to visit the east with guarantees of Russian-language rights and proposals for decentralization -- an offer that comes too late for some. (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) KRAMATORSK RESIDENT, LILIA, SAYING: "We don't have the same path as Poroshenko. This can't be east and west together, especially after Kiev supported the killing of people in Slaviansk and Kramatorsk. I think east and west cannot be together." Others are keeping an open mind. (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) KRAMATORSK RESIDENT, VITALY, SAYING: "What will happen? I really don't know. We hope for the best, definitely, but we'll see." The uprising is not the only challenge facing Poroshenko. He inherits a country on the verge of bankruptcy, still dependent on Russia for natural gas and rated by watchdogs as one of the most corrupt states in Europe.