You have no idea what tin is. How war changed life in my city

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

You cannot prepare for war in advance. Today you are an ordinary schoolboy - you flirt with classmates and think about which university you will go to. And tomorrow you hide in the basement, hoping that the shell won't reach here. I was 17 when the turmoil began: I saw live how a thriving metropolis with a population of one million turned into a half-empty box of concrete.

The place where I was born and live is now called differently, depending on ideological preferences. I call it Donetsk. I will not pretend to be a political analyst and will not give any kind of assessment - this is boring, vulgar and generally useless. But I have stories - how a familiar civilization collapses when a war comes to the city, and then what to do next. After all, the corpses are carried away, but life goes on: people work, go to the cinema, meet, get married. And … change beyond recognition.

Over the years of the war, I have developed a habit of thinking several times before taking out my smartphone and taking pictures, even in the busy city center. A careless photograph of a building of government importance will almost certainly arouse the interest of the police, and with it an unpleasant conversation: who are you, why are you photographing strategically important objects. And this is just one of a thousand nuances that are covered in a city scorched by war. The rest are in this text.

SIM cards - one at a time

The situation with communications in the Donetsk region is reminiscent of a long journey on a flailing time machine: here we, together with the whole world, are moving towards a brighter future, and p-times! - creaks, sparks, screams, curses - we return to the era before mobile phones.

Now everything is fine with the Internet: at home 100 megabits, on a smartphone, bearable 3G and a relatively stable connection. But six months ago, it was not funny at all. One gloomy winter morning, everyone saw with horror the inscription "no network" on their gadgets. Interruptions happened before, so there was no panic until the government's appeal was published: the towers of the Ukrainian operator Vodafone were broken, no one was going to restore them.

One of the tumbled down cell towers

By the way, other providers stopped working even earlier, and the only alternative was Phoenix - a damp and unstable connection from a government office. Phoenix's problem was that SIM-cards are not sold in stores - only in post offices. Lucky for those who in advance, assuming a similar development of events, bought a SIM card "Phoenix". The rest had to stand in long lines, and from about six in the morning. The lines are exemplary, in the best traditions: with constant scandals, the issuance of serial numbers and showdowns of the format "woman, have a conscience, I am with a child!" There were not enough cards for everyone, someone came to the department for several days in a row. As if that weren't enough - speculators got involved. They would take a bunch of sim cards and resell them at a triple markup. Only a month later, the issuance of cards began to be tightly regulated - one per hand and according to the passport.

To talk on the phone, people went outside

However, the suffering did not end with the receipt of the SIM-card - it was just beginning. To talk on the phone through "Phoenix", you had to taxi to the window or go out into the street. Otherwise, the tube will not be the voice of a living person, but experimental techno, beating on the ears with industrial noise and indistinct scraps of phrases. But this was not the main difficulty.

It was not possible to call Vodafone from Phoenix and vice versa. Therefore, the connection with elderly relatives from the conditional Kiev, who had never heard of IP-telephony, was safely cut off. And also "Phoenix" could not be tied to electronic wallets - the services simply believed that such a number did not exist.

But in some places on the outskirts of Donetsk there are still a few points, to which the Ukrainian operator “finished off”. This gave birth to another idea for a harsh start-up: drivers organized expeditions to such "places of power", for which people happily paid in order to talk with loved ones and receive a notification from the Ukrainian bank about the accrued pension.

Apartment in the center for seven thousand rubles

The scary thing: it turns out that insurance payments do not apply to damage from war. Usually you don’t think about it - well, what kind of war could there be? Even an earthquake or a sudden UFO visit is expected sooner. However, a conflict happened, and the first shells are flying, cutting through the air and residential buildings. The owners of their own apartments realized that they were at risk of losing them and began to sell real estate for ridiculous money, buying something more modest in other megacities.

A lot of people left Donetsk. There are no official statistics, but according to my personal feelings - not less than forty percent, and most likely more. Our rent has dropped dramatically, as have local salaries. A good one-room apartment in the center with excellent renovation can be easily rented for seven thousand rubles.

Diplomas for everyone

The DPR is a special dimension: it contains something that does not seem to exist officially. For example, universities. When the war began, large universities moved to cities controlled by Ukraine: DonNU - to Vinnitsa, DNMU - to Kramatorsk.

But physically they did not disappear anywhere - the buildings were still there. And the teachers and deans who remained in Donetsk continued to work, accepting the new bosses and the word "Republican" in the name of the educational institution.

The diploma of Donetsk universities is not quoted anywhere - even in Russia

It is logical to assume that the most ambitious employees will not remain in the unrecognized republic, but will move to Ukraine - to build a career in an official university with an international license and a clear algorithm for professional growth. This is how the first serious problem of education in Donetsk appeared - the lack of personnel and highly qualified specialists.

The destroyed building of Donetsk University

The positions of deans and managers were taken by people who, five years ago, could not even dream of such a position. And the teachers were students of the magistracy of 20-25 years old, who have zero professional experience in their specialty.

There are also difficulties with students: at least half of school graduates leave for Russia or Ukraine, the luckiest ones go even further. There are very few people willing to study at local universities, but the audience needs to be filled with someone so that the professors are not left without a salary. Requirements for applicants are decreasing, there is almost no competition - to get a higher education in Donetsk, you only need a desire.

But the main problem is different. The student, having honestly studied for several years, plans to pick up a diploma and start making money. But it's not that simple. Documents of local educational institutions are not quoted outside the republic - even in Russia, not to mention Europe. This means that graduates who decide to work in their specialty will have to look for vacancies exclusively in their hometown or region.

Bars - until curfew

Although Donetsk was not the center of party life before the war, several legendary bars and clubs in the center were open around the clock. Now they have closed, and those who remain are barely surviving - a curfew is in effect. A month ago, this meant that after 23 o'clock it was impossible to be on the street, even in your yard. Compliance with this rule is monitored by patrols - by car and on foot. Those who did not manage to get home on time will have an unpleasant rest of the night: they will be taken to the department and held until the morning. Now the curfew has been reduced to 01:00.

One of the nightclubs in Donetsk

Several years ago, when the law was just passed, nightclubs got out: for example, at eleven in the evening they locked their doors, not letting out guests until the morning. Either the visitors did not like the idea, or the fire inspection - in any case, it had to be abandoned.

I worked as a sales agent for 7 thousand rubles

So the former centers of night parties are now more like matinees in kindergarten - by ten in the evening all parties are over, sober clients go home. It is especially sad for high school students: at their graduation they do not have the opportunity to follow the old tradition and meet the dawn with drunk classmates.

Salary - eight thousand

In calm times, Donbass was one of the most financially secure regions of Ukraine - only Kiev and Kharkov could compete with it in terms of the average salary. Suffice it to say that Donetsk residents saw Rihanna and Beyoncé live in their city - world-class stars regularly came to the Donbass Arena stadium, which for a long time was considered the best in Eastern Europe.

The fact is that many current billionaires were born in Donbass, who invested serious funds in the development of their native metropolis: they opened public spaces, paid grants to talented students and supported charitable foundations. Even the concerts of American celebrities were not a business project, but something like a gesture of gratitude to the city - the ridiculous ticket price could not cover the crazy costs of organizing the event, let alone any profit.

Today, with a cost of living comparable to the Russian province, Donetsk residents earn even less. At the age of 18 I was a sales agent and received 7-8 thousand rubles - such a salary is considered worthy in the absence of experience. Sometimes I find myself on the vacancies of orderlies or laboratory assistants with a salary of 4-5 thousand. How to live on that kind of money is not very clear. This is one of the main reasons why young guys with ambition do their best to get away.

Police with a Kalashnikov assault rifle

A person who first arrived in the capital of the DPR is unlikely to immediately see serious differences from a standard Russian city. Soldiers do not march on the sidewalks, and tanks on the central streets are more an exception to the rule than a common thing. However, the newcomers do not know about such a thing as the "laws of wartime." It is a set of privileges and additional powers for military and police officers, implying that they can "act according to circumstances" without adhering to instructions.

Again: there is a war, the need for emergency measures is clear. On the other hand, some of the patrol officers abuse this measure, using the entire arsenal of additional powers. In broad daylight, you can be searched - simply because you are a teenager and you may well have a bag of something forbidden in your pockets.

To come to Rostov, you need to spend five hours

Otherwise, local law enforcement officers are not particularly different from their Russian or Ukrainian counterparts. Except for their appearance: instead of police uniforms, they wear camouflage, and instead of a holster on a belt - a Kalashnikov assault rifle.

No airports and train stations

An airport worth 800 million dollars was built in my city for the European Championships. One of the best, if not the best in the country. It looked cool and worked great - passing 3,100 passengers per hour. Boryspil in Kiev, for example, serves 2.5 times less.

Ruins of Donetsk airport

Now the airport has been destroyed, and residents of Donetsk are going to Rostov. There are 200 kilometers between cities, but the road takes four to five hours due to two checkpoints, and it costs at least a thousand rubles one way.

But airplanes are not so offensive. Still, if you have money for an air ticket, there will be a couple of thousand "extra" rubles. Much more annoying with trains. Ukraine is a country where it is very cheap and comfortable to travel by rail. Thanks again to Euro 2012. A journey of 700 kilometers from the east of the country to Kiev will cost $ 20 - for a ticket to the first class of the Hyundai high-speed train. But the residents of Donetsk did not have time to enjoy this gift from above - the station was over. It was also renovated two years before the war.

The nearest station a hundred kilometers away is no big deal, right? How to say. If you like going through checkpoints, standing in lines, answering questions from sleepy military men and using roadside toilet booths, then yes, that's nothing. As a result, the 100-kilometer Donetsk-Konstantinovka section will require as much time and money as the 700-km Konstantinovka-Kiev route.

But, perhaps, the most exotic attribute of such a trip is a pass to leave for Ukraine. It is, fortunately, free of charge - on the official website of the SBU. It is necessary to fill out a questionnaire, which indicates passport data, the purpose of the trip and the period of stay outside the combat zone. Issued up to ten working days, the pass needs to be renewed every year. With a cold mind, I understand the need for such a measure. But when you think that you, a person of the XXI century, need to report to someone in order to go to a neighboring city, you take a terrible anger.

Donbass "McDonald's"

To be honest, before the war I was very proud of my beliefs about consumerism: I bought clothes in second-hand shops, walked with a push-button black-and-white telephone and preferred shopping with hands to chain hypermarkets with vulgar slogans.

"McDonald's dropped all points in panic."

But when all international networks are closed at once in the city, even the hardest anti-capitalist will win. Apple, Zara, Bershka, Colin’s, McDonalds, Nike, Adidas, Puma - we no longer officially have these brands. But not actually - there were private entrepreneurs who carry goods from stocks and sell here more expensive than new collections. True, there is always a chance that a thing will be counterfeit - I personally have met a hack fake Nike in the largest shopping center.

And we also have the famous DonMak fast food chain with an absurdly ridiculous story: hostilities began, the real McDonald's in panic dropped dots and left the region. Yes, so quickly that all the equipment and furniture remained in place. The premises were abandoned for a couple of years, until some enterprising businessman decided to revive everyone's favorite "Mac" with a new sauce. This is how DonMak appeared to the world, which, as it were, is not McDonald's, but is trying very hard to be like it: in the kitchen, the interior and the concept as a whole.

How to get two pensions at once

Banks also closed their branches: Ukrainian, Russian, international. ATMs don't work, you can't use a card, you can't take a loan. Let me remind you that the war began when I was 17 - so I first got a plastic card when I was 20.

In the DPR, they pay little, so the guys, including me, are switching to remote work or freelancing. How do they get money if there are no ATM machines? During the war, cash-out points grew in cities that work with Sberbank and electronic wallets Qiwi and WebMoney. To pick up your hard-earned money, you need to come to such a point, transfer rubles to her account, and get cash in your hands. Minus the commission - from five to ten percent.

By the way, speaking about the “entrepreneurial spirit” of the local population, pensioners take advantage of the fact that the Donetsk region and Ukraine do not have direct access to each other's bases. Therefore, old women are happy to receive both pensions, Ukrainian and republican.

Online shopping - through the driver

Okay, we don't have chain stores or internet banking. What follows from this? That's right, online shopping is also a problem. All branches of the postal services of Ukraine were closed a few years ago, and courier companies do not come here. Large chains like Rozetka, for example, write this when placing an order: “We temporarily do not deliver to Donetsk region”.

Taxi drivers turned into a revered caste - people trusted them with all their money

There are, of course, local online sites, but they are not encouraging with their assortment. And again the "military skill" comes to the rescue of finding a way out in dead-end situations. The delivery problem is solved as follows:

1. You contact any of the hundreds of drivers who regularly take people to Ukraine.

2. You take his data and agree on where it is convenient for him to pick up the parcel.

3. During the order, you enter his data instead of yours.

4. A week later, you receive an order, pay a couple of hundred rubles to a person for the trouble and enjoy the scarce product.

Thus, taxi drivers plying between Donetsk and Ukraine have become a very important and revered caste - a kind of guides to the big world. Despite the difficult and stressful work (try to drive five days a week for 12 hours), they are always well-mannered and honest. This is probably why Donetsk residents trust them with serious sums, which they transfer to relatives in other regions. Here you are obviously waiting for a story about the theft and disappearance of drivers, but no - I have not heard anything like it.

What happened to me

When you are seventeen, you take with enthusiasm and interest any political unrest in your country, without thinking about the possible consequences. As George Carlin said, "You hope that at some point it gets WORSE."

Honestly, I did not find the first attacks - my father took the whole family out to sea for several months. On September the fourteenth we were returning home, and for the first time I saw the checkpoints and soldiers with weapons. We were stopped by the Ukrainian military and checked our documents. After three hundred meters - already the DPR. One of the soldiers told us: “You guys are home, huh? Let's go, just faster, otherwise the Grads will work on us now."

Father pressed the pedal to the floor, mother turned pale. And I could not imagine how those young guys with whom we talked three minutes ago will now kill each other. Not to intimidate or beat the face - it is natural to kill, preferably for sure. I heard falling shells, then screams. At that moment I realized that now it is definitely possible to use the word "war".

I can rediscover life in civilization

For several years I have lost the habit of a peaceful life: there are no more night walks, clogged grocery shelves and fireworks in the evenings. Sometimes I feel wild. And I like it damn well. There is an opportunity to rediscover the delights of everyday city life, again to enjoy the basic things that ordinary people no longer cling to.

Once I was traveling by train to the capital of another country. On board there was a decent wi-fi, which at times "sagged" on deserted sections of the path. At one of these moments, my neighbor, working hard at his laptop, began to sigh meaningfully and nervously beat the buttons. After a few minutes, he gave up trying, leaned back in his chair and tragically summed up: "tin."

Idiot, I thought. "You have no idea what tin is."