Ukraine, Italian in Donetsk: “For many here it is a liberation, they bomb relentlessly”

“Around here there are those who laugh, for many people it is a liberation because they have been waiting for the Russians for a long time”. This is the testimony collected by the Adnkronos of an Italian in Donetsk, the capital of the homonymous pro-Russian separatist Republic which, together with that of Luhansk, was recognized by President Vladimir Putin on Monday evening, a move that anticipated the attack on a large scale unleashed in the night. “Many in Donetsk hope that the attack could be a signal of the end of the war and that a definitive point will be put to this situation. On the other hand, eight years are long”, says the Italian referring to the conflict that broke out in 2014 with the annexation of Crimea by Russia. The situation in the city is tense but all in all “calm”, even if “since tonight in the surrounding areas the bombings have been going on relentlessly”, continues our compatriot, who prefers to remain anonymous. The Italian explains that he will remain in Donestsk “because especially in these cases it is impossible to move” and that he did not expect such an operation from Russia. “They are destroying all the air and military bases, they entered from Belarus and the sea. I believe that for the Ukrainians there is little chance and in fact the military at the border did nothing to resist”, he declares, arguing that in his opinion “a once the air bases are destroyed (the Russians, ed) they will take the two “separatist” regions. Fear? “For the moment, no, it was worse when the missiles arrived from the other side (from the Ukrainian forces, ed): when there are fights, the bullets have no eyes – concludes the Italian -, we hold on and pray to God”.