How they live in a double village, when houses to the left of the road are Ukraine, and to the right is Russia

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

What do you see in this photo? An ordinary street in an ordinary Russian town.. Or, no, an ordinary street in an ordinary Ukrainian town. Or, nevertheless, Russian? No, Ukrainian. No … Yes, everything is both simple and incredible at the same time! One side of this street is Russia and the other is Ukraine!

This place is amazing in every sense, it is strange to everyone. Two urban-type settlements, separated by a border running along the Moscow-Adler railway line. In fact, it is a single village, which it has always been. The village of Chertkovo in the Rostov region of the Russian Federation and the village of Melovoe in the Luhansk region of Ukraine.

1. This is how the map looks roughly. It shows the places where the photos were taken.

2. The place is very strange. At least because despite the fact that the two countries are strongly with each other.. well, at least in the past they interacted, many travelers and just people from both countries go to each other, very few people come here, almost none of my friends are here was.

At the same time, the Russian Chertkovo is located on the country's busiest railway line, from here you can go by direct train to Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sochi and many other cities almost at any time of the day. Ukrainian Cretaceous is located in the wildest hole, from the point of view of Ukrainian geography it is really a bearish corner. 4 hours on a dead minibus on bumpy roads to get from the new regional center of the Luhansk region - Severodonetsk (before, about the same it was necessary to go from Luhansk). You can come here several times a day.

Here is such a strange combination: on the one hand, a complete hole, on the other - the most intense railway artery in the country.

3. Both villages are very small, each can be bypassed in an hour and a half. The border passes mainly by rail: everything to the south-west of the line is Ukraine, to the north-east is Russia. Arriving by bus to Melovoe, you immediately get straight to her. Here we are at the site of the bus station, but that bridge across the tracks is already the territory of another country.

3. Directly across the bridge is the Chertkovo station, where most of the trains going to the Caucasus stop. She can be seen very well from here. Therefore, it is very difficult to answer the question - is Melovoe on the railway? Yes and no. Formally, you can cross the border and leave by train. But it’s impossible to leave here for any Ukrainian city! It turns out that the people of Melovka, who listen to the sound of the carriage wheels around the clock, and observe numerous passenger trains, in most cases will not use them.

4. The bridge has an interesting story. It has the status of a local crossing; only residents of adjacent areas can cross here. And earlier, according to local stories, it was not necessary to walk through it at all - those with a stroller pushed right across the paths, violating both the law on illegal border crossing and the ban on walking along the paths. With the aggravation of relations, Ukraine complicated the rules for the entry of Russians, which in this case resulted in a ban on the passage of Chertkov residents across the bridge, and Russia, in response, for some reason erected a fence along the border. There was no such fence before. Now, accordingly, the bridge is working, but only Mellov residents can walk across it.

5. Let's see how Cretaceous looks like. In general, it doesn't look very important. Directly at the bus station of mini-markets and a Soviet-style department store. Previously, not only Chertkov residents, but also residents of all the surrounding areas of usovism, came here en masse for cheap Ukrainian products.

6. Roads in Cretaceous are traditionally killed for the country.

7. There is a monastery.

8. In general, in the Cretaceous Ukraine is practically not felt at all. Well, that's exactly the same as in the central part of the country or, scary to say, in the West. You walk here and wonder - is there really Beregovo, Rakhiv, Lvov, Kolomyia in the same country. A completely different world.

9. Monument of the Second World War. It became even more interesting - are there any monuments to the "Heavenly Hundred" and ATO? Somehow their presence seems completely impossible.

10. Index. However, the street is most likely called differently. There are no tablets left, and new ones have not yet been hung. I found this one by a miracle.

11. Life in ads. In both languages.

12. "The best people of the Melovsky district".

13. House of communication. Red brick from the Soviet era. When, I suppose, there was no difference at all between the different sides of the railway, and such a brick-laid inscription could only identify one part from the other.

14. Stores that have survived from the Soviet era.

15. Local history museum. I went there and talked in detail with the worker. I asked her about local realities:

- Tell me, is there a monument to Lenin in Melovoe?

- No, it was, but it was removed. We have a law on decommunization, we are implementing it.

- Well, yes. It's just that Ukraine is somehow quite faintly felt here. I've been to many places now: in central Ukraine, in eastern Ukraine, here everything is somehow different. But do you have monuments to the "Heavenly Hundred", "ATO"?

- No, we haven't done it yet. You understand that we have a specific area, none of ours was there on the Maidan. And it is planned to make a memorial for the ATO veterans, so we are now preparing a stand here in the museum.

16. Along the border in both directions stretches the main street of the Melovoy - Friendship of Nations. It looks inconspicuous. You will never think that those overhead pylons on the left in the background are a different country.

17. Here, the usual private sector. Just imagine that you have a site. But along one edge there is a real state border! Over there, by the way, is the water tower of the Chertkovo station.

18. There are tablets from time to time.

19. The most interesting fact is that the railway is not always a border. In some places, Russia reaches the western side. So, in particular, the elevator and the meat processing plant, clearly visible from the piece of iron, are Russian territory. So if you walk along the street of Friendship of Narodov, then you will just run into the Cherkov meat-packing plant. It goes without saying that you don't have to go there, but you have to turn off.

20. We leave on the parallel Rabochaya street. On the left is the fence of the Chertkov meat-packing plant, which is also the border of the two largest European countries. Further more interesting.

21. After the elevator ends, turn left towards the railway. paths another street departs. This is Merry Lane. It is interesting that formally it continues on the other side of the railway. Here, the alley looks something like this!

22. The border goes right down the middle of the lane! Here I am in Ukraine, and the house in front of me is Russia! And there is no way to go into it. Don't ask for some water or anything else.

23. The inscription is, of course, on the Russian side. On the Russian side of the thorn was a border guard, talking to some guy and looking at me unkindly. However, I reasoned that he could not do anything to me since I was not on his side.

24. See how interesting the border line is. Right between the sites. Here I lived for myself, and one fine day they gave you a thorn. And now you don't even go to your neighbor for matches.. And imagine that it is quite real, that in order to go for matches or onions, you will need to get a visa … Indeed, here it is, the Berlin Wall of the new era.

25. A resident of this house can travel to Europe without a visa, but a resident of what is farther away with a black roof cannot. The thorn, by the way, was also set by Russia, although, it seems, it is Ukraine that is trying to fence itself off from us.

26. Met at one of the houses. And this is the Ukrainian side. Those. it's some kind of intruder. And walk a little thorn in a different way - a well-bred law-abiding citizen.

27. Further, there is again a street with Ukrainian houses. Through the openings, you can see Russian Railways trains passing every 15-20 minutes.

28. The street again runs into the territory of Russia, but there are no thorns anymore. There is MPS Street, a Russian enclave of two houses. Residents of these houses, in order to get to the main part of Chertkov, have to go through the territory of Ukraine. Literally now, right at the time of writing a post, while reading the transport forum in parallel, I accidentally stumbled upon a report on how they were being resettled from there.

29. Well, we will return to the center of the village. Oschadbank and Great and Autocratic in the background.

30. After walking along the outskirts of the Melovoy, passing parallel border streets, I returned to the market square. And next to it there is such an unremarkable parking lot, about which I initially did not suspect anything.

31. The bottom line is that this site is also Russia! Strictly speaking, you cannot enter it. And here is the poster that hangs there, which I photographed, but the contents of which I did not pay attention to. It is written in Ukrainian, and I didn’t read it carefully, but in vain..

32. I thought it was just about the fact that on the other side of the railway - Russia, but no! It is here that Russia also enters this side of the highway. And if you walk along Druzhby Narodov Street to the north-west of the market, then on one side of the street there will be Russia, and on the other - Ukraine! Here I am walking along the left side of the street, and I do not suspect that my homeland is already here, on the right side. The fence is already Russian!

33. Stepnoy lane, resting on a special passage to the main part of Chertkov for Chertkov residents living on this side.

34. A road sign with a clearly Russian texture (which I also did not pay attention to right away), in Ukraine there is no such background (despite the fact that the Russian language on official posters, although rarely, happens) and the font is slightly different.

35. The fact that the signs "state border of Ukraine" suddenly began to go on the left side of the road, surprised me at first, but I thought that, well, probably they were mistaken.

36. And here it is, Peoples' Friendship Street in all its glory! Residents of the houses on the right can officially use Yandex, Contact, 1C, read this post without a VPN. And the residents of the houses on the left are prohibited from doing this. From the photo, however, it is not completely clear to the end of which of the people present in the photo is what is allowed and what is not.

37. The same elevator, which is clearly visible from the train.

38. Actually, I wanted to buy delicious Ukrainian beer, juice and, in general, some food for the lane. But not everything I wanted was found in a department store near the market. And I decided to go to this store. And then, I look at you! Chertkovo! Only then did I begin to see clearly!

39. Of course, only Russian goods are on sale there, and, of course, for rubles. Moreover, the choice is very meager. Pay attention to the address. There is only one street, the name is the same and the numbering is through, only the countries are different!

39a. Druzhby Narodov house 39 is Ukraine, and house 94 is Russia!

40. I already had such that I moved to another country and did not immediately understand it. It was on the border between Brazil and Uruguay in the city of Chui. I didn’t think I would end up in Russia so accidentally!

41. And, of course, the question. What the hell, in general, are all these stupid boundaries? Why can't we make the border between Russia and Ukraine the same as between Brazil and Uruguay? Our countries are even closer to each other. In principle, until 2014, this was something like that. But even then, not quite. Now, Druzhby Narodov Street is probably the last place where you can calmly and conditionally legally pass from one country to another..

42. A bus stop painted in patriotic frenzy in the colors of the national flag. If the same stop had been on the other side of the street, it would have looked completely different.

43. In Melovoe my documents were checked 2 times. The first time was when I was still near the parking lot with a signpost. The car stops, a man comes out, presents his ID..

- Hello, State Border Service of Ukraine. May I have your documents? Otherwise, you’ve been walking here and there all day, taking pictures of something. Have you entered us legally? Okay. Happy road.

The second time after leaving the Chertkov shop. The "nine" with the Ukrainian flag stops.

- Good afternoon, State Border Service of Ukraine. Show your documents, please.

- Yes, that's it. Your colleagues just checked me out. I'm already going to the border crossing.

- And, so, the passport of the Russian Federation, there is an entry stamp. Look, well, you are formally with us, please, go to the border checkpoint along this side of the street, you cannot cross it. Until you have crossed the border, you have no right to be there. Don't be like the way you run back and forth across the road. And now there is every reason to attract you for illegal crossing. And yours, too, can find fault.

- Yes, do you need it? I didn’t think, I believed that since there is no thorn or a wall, it means that it’s all Ukraine. And the border along the railway. passes. I just wanted to buy food, I thought it was a Ukrainian store.

- No, you see. There is also a street, a carriageway. It cannot be fenced off. Okay, good luck to you! There is a shop near the border crossing, where you can buy food.

44. A reasonable question that interested me is the life of Chertkovo-Melovoy in the light of recent relations between countries. And then I, again, questioned the museum worker Svetlana in detail.

- Well, what can I say, of course it is felt. It got much worse. Previously, Chertkovo bought everything from us, people from all over the region came to us, and from all the neighboring ones, even from Millerovo, they went. Well, ours is cheap here, and the food is natural. We lived as one family. And now, behold, they are not allowed in, and we, of course, suffer greatly from this. It is completely unprofitable for us here.

- Do you yourself go to Chertkovo?

- Yes, of course, from time to time I go there, I have relatives and friends there. But, you know, lately I don't really like going there - as soon as they get drunk, these conversations begin right away, I'm tired of them. Apparently you still feel that you have your own country, we have our own country.

- Was it calm here in 2014? Didn't the fighting come here?

- No, it didn't come here. But once we were well shot like that. And it was really scary. Who could fire? Well, it's clear who, if Russia is on all three sides. We have nowhere to go … And no one believes us! Nothing was shown in the news about Melovoe, neither in one nor in the other. I call my relatives in Kiev, I say that I saw it myself, and they "well, it can't be like that." We've been through a lot here. Certainly not like in Lugansk, or Stanytsia, there was generally horror. But all the border guards drove through us, who were squeezed out of the border posts by the separatists. They all came to us through Russian territory. It was hard to look at them, in what condition they were brought here.

45. Well, and, in fact, we approached the border crossing. All Russians and all Ukrainians cross the border here, except for the inhabitants of the Melovoe. Third-country nationals travel to other border crossings, the closest one being in Kharkov. This one is interstate. Go from the center to here about 1.7 km.

46. The Ukrainian border guard asks me why I am crossing here, because it’s more comfortable to eat. We get an exit stamp, we go to the Russian side. We pass directly under the railway bridge. Yes, these crossings are also clearly visible from the train.

47. On the Russian side, there is a fortification in front of the checkpoint. I wonder why is it here? It is clear that the Ukrainians in paranoia put them at home, but what are we afraid of ??

48. And, having passed the Russian border, we find ourselves in Chertkovo.

49. There are wonderful steppe landscapes all around!

50. In principle, it seems like an ordinary, unremarkable village. But immediately the feeling that something is not right.

51. Signpost to the passage from the Russian side.

52. The atmosphere here is already completely different than in the Cretaceous. In some trifles it is felt, which cannot be conveyed, but then you understand that there is Ukraine, and here is Russia.

53. MFC against the background of a rare signboard.

54. However, objectively speaking, after 3 weeks of Ukraine, the first thing that catches your eye in Chertkovo is neatness and neatness.

55. A tile, flower beds - and this is in a substandard regional center! In Ukraine, this will not happen in every regional center!

56. Memorial of the Second World War. Well-groomed and cleaned. Compare to the one on the other side of the railroad!

57. Such posters are already unthinkable literally 100 meters from this place.

58. As well as the St. George ribbons.

59. Commentators like to write to me that in "Russia you can find the same amount of shit." Well, of course you can. But here are just two regional centers taken at random. Adjacent to each other. Here is just the center of Chertkov, and above you saw the center of the Cretaceous. I assure you, there will not be such tiles, flowers and markings in any place.

60. By the way, this is how the main street of Melovoy looks like. Not trash, of course, but much more modest.. I think that the main Cherkovskaya street looked like that 15-20 years ago.

61. Administration building. Renovated, the area is tiled. I do not want to breed any propaganda, but the facts are stupid in front of you. Again, after dozens of Ukrainian cities, this is what immediately catches the eye.

62. Let's go to the railway. the station.

63. Russian part of the border crossing over the bridge.

64. Local humor.

65. Water tower. The same one that we saw in the distance from the street of Friendship of Nations.

66. Amazing. A couple of hours ago I saw this inscription from Ukraine, and now right there.

67. Now let's look from Russia to Ukraine. In principle, this is done by all the curious passengers traveling to the south of the train.

68. However, it’s not so interesting to walk around Chertkov. Everything on the eastern side of the railway is already very far from the border line. Ukraine is already faintly visible here and not particularly felt. Even if you walk along the piece of iron, you will see Russia from the other side too.

69. Border guards who let the residents of Chertkov live on the western side. Of course, approaching the border from the Russian side is much more difficult and fraught with problems. In principle, Ukraine does not have the concept of "border zone".

70. After the drama that I saw on the other side of the railway, the reality here is not so impressive. Therefore, after wandering for 40 minutes, I bought a train ticket and left for Moscow.

71. And here, in fact, the station of the South-Eastern Railway, located on the territory of Ukraine. And unlike the Cretaceous, not on the border, but strongly inside it.

72. In fact, there the piece of iron comes to Ukraine already 2 times. After Zorinovka he goes to Russia, and comes back for a little longer. there is still one very small stop. In general, the signs "State Border of Ukraine" regularly flicker now to the left or to the right of the railway. canvases.

73. The second run ends when the train passes the Hartmashevka station. This is already the Voronezh region.

74. This is how you really see enough propaganda, and you will believe, in "different peoples", that "Europeans" live on this side of the piece of iron, and "Putin's fans, genetic slaves, from whom it is better to stay away".

75. Residents of the odd side of Druzhby Narodov Street should stop communicating with their neighbors from the even side of Druzhby Narodov Street, Vyatrovich believes. It's just that, on different sides, genetically different peoples live, between which, as everyone knows, there is nothing in common.

76. Perhaps, Chertkovo - Melovoe is one of the strongest impressions of the whole trip. Well, besides, a double settlement between our country and the most discussed last 3 years country, where the border went straight through houses, and in some places - along a double solid, where you can safely cross it illegally, without even knowing about it. Well, plus, such an unusual logistic combination - God-forgotten wilderness, and the central highway. In general, it is rather surprising that I and other lovers of similar places did not have the idea to come here earlier.

77. One way or another, all this splendor will soon disappear. The bypass of Ukraine, which was talked about so much, and which at the time of my visit was still at its final stage, but still not ready, has now been opened. And very soon the trains will stop going through Chertkovo. In this connection, the place, although it will remain so unusual, will lose some of its charm. When the caravans of Russian trains are not near the people of Mellov, it will not be quite right. Well, the residents of Chertkov are slowly being resettled from the western side of the railway to the eastern.

78. And I will end with a wish to all of you, located on the Cherkov side. Melovtsy, Chertkovtsy, Ukrainians, Russians, just..

I hope that what the main street of these two villages is named after will come as soon as possible.