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https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/07/bakhmut-ukraine-was-destroyed-by-russia-but-the-town-lives-on-through-its-newspaper-vpered>
"Before Bakhmut became famous internationally as a battleground, it was known
inside Ukraine for salt, sparkling wine fermented in an old alabaster mine and
roses that lined its streets. That physical town is gone now, its buildings in
ruins, its streets a no man’s land of makeshift cemeteries laced with mines.
Russian troops destroyed it as they claimed it, inch by inch, in a slow
campaign between the summers of 2022 and 2023.
Ukrainian resistance turned this Donbas town into a byword for courage. The
last few bottles rescued from the winery sell online for more than French
vintages, their prices charged by nostalgia and patriotism.
That reputation is a source of pride but little practical help to its 80,000
residents who scattered west to other cities and town as the fighting raged.
For more than a year, in their new homes, they have been grappling with a
question facing increasing numbers of Ukrainians. What happens to a community
that may never be able to go home?
As Donald Trump prepares to move into the White House, promising to end the war
in “24 hours”, Ukrainian dreams of recovering and rebuilding areas occupied by
Russia are fading. Any deal is expected to include conceding territory.
For many Bakhmutians now living in exile, the answer is not – or not only –
“move on”. A small provincial town on the edges of the steppe, freezing in
winter and boiling in summer, it nonetheless inspires passionate loyalty.
They have replanted the rose bushes that were driven to safety as Russian
forces advanced, celebrated town festivals in public and reopened their
hospital – equipped with evacuated equipment – in the Kyiv satellite town of
Irpin.
They still gather at Bakhmut “hubs” across the country, painted in town colours
and draped with its flag, where local government officials dispense aid and
advice in cramped rooms, and read the century-old paper
Vpered, or
Ahead.
“Bakhmut is not buildings or bricks, Bakhmut is people. Even though the town
ceased to exist in physical form, it lives on in the community, in our paper,”
said
Vpered editor Svitlana Ovcharenko.
After an eight-month halt at the start of the war, they now print 6,000 copies
a week for distribution across Ukraine.
Each edition juggles memory, mourning and an attempt at hope. Bakhmut’s past is
celebrated with a newly popular history column, and its dead in a remembrance
section, but the paper also urges readers not to get lost in grief for
everything taken from them."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
