On November 11, the separation of troops ended at the front near the village of Bohdanivka in Donetsk region. This is the third point after the village of Zolote and Stanitsa Luhanska, where troops were withdrawn. After the demilitarization and demining, there should be a meeting in the "Norman format": Vladimir Zelensky, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin will discuss ways to end the war in the Donbas region. As in Zolote and the Stanitsa Luhanska, the soldiers standing near Bohdanivka are dissatisfied with the separation. This is a very small village. Only eight people live here, and three of them temporarily left Bohdanivka. TheBabel's correspondent Eugene Spirin and photographer Serhiy Morgunov went to the village on November 12, spent three days in it, talked with everyone who lives there, went to military positions and learned where the troops had been led.
Militaries
The easiest way to get to Bogdanivka is through Volnovakha. This is the nearest large settlement. Most Bogdanivka located right on the boundary line. Immediately after it, a few kilometres away abandoned village of Viktorivka and a little further Petrovskoe. These settlements are already occupied by self-proclaimed "DPR" fighters. The entire area, up to the front line, is controlled by the 128th Mountain Assault Brigade, part of which is based in Volnovakha. After the separation of forces, the main part of which ended on November 11, the demining phase supposed to start on November 13. The same day a special trip for journalists to Bogdanivka was appointed. November noon, the brigade commander Yevgen Korostelov tripped a mine. So the military decided to cancel the entry to the village and to organize the meeting with the OSCE speaking person near a block-post, instead.
There was fog in Volnovakha, the train from Mariupol arrives around noon. The most part of people came here from villages nearby: someone for work, someone came for shopping at the stores and a central food market. There is a kiosk with hot pastries at the station, and military men stand near it - they eat hot dogs and drink coffee. The head of the press service of the 128th Brigade, Bogdan Petryk, promised to help us to get to Bohdanivka. We agreed to meet up in a park. Bogdan looks very tired, after the brigade commander was injured, his phone is torn from the calls of journalists. It becomes clear that the chances of getting into the village on the front line tend to zero. In the brigade, everyone is preoccupied with the wounding of the commander: he was operated on and taken to Kharkov. Lt. Petryk offers to go to the military base and wait until everything calms down by the evening.
"Head of quality control" - a sign on the door. The room inside has a table, a bed, an icon on the wall and a large poster - The Mother of God on it with the Donbas steppe on the background. It offers to pray. A man slightly over 50 y.o., with a grey bristle on his face, sits on the bed. He is a Greek Catholic priest Ivan, having his parish in the village of Seredne, somewhere between Mukachevo and Uzhhorod. And an orphanage and kindergarten in another Transcarpathian village. Priest Ivan at war since 2014. He participated in battles for the Luhansk airport and then became a chaplain of Debaltseve, where he was wounded. Now he visits the front line quite often: helps young chaplains to integrate into the army, he carries food and taking cares about soldiers and children. Priest Ivan speaks Transcarpathian Ukrainian, and it is not clear whether he is joking or serious.
“Please, sit down. At least on the bed. I believe you won’t come to visit me in my dreams. Want some coffee? By the way, I don't have it. But here are sweets. Please, take this candies. Щf course, it is not competitive with “Turo Rudi”, but… What do you mean, you don’t know what "Turo Rudi" is? You saw the war, lived so many years, and you never tried "Turo Rudi"!”
We’re eating all the candies and going out to a porch. Militaries smoking there and arguing about something. In the circle are several men, young guys and two girls.
“Have you seen this Bogdanivka with its withdrawal? This is ridiculous! One field, another field, a wood line behind, we need to move one kilometre from there. But after all, what does it change?”
The withdrawal at the “plot №3” in Bogdanivka is really unusual. The village is located on a curve demarcation line defined by the Minsk agreements in 2015. In five kilometres from the village is located another village Petrivske, controlled by Russian-led forces. Between Bogdanivka and Petrivske just several fields separated by a couple of wood lines. Ukrainian army moved from one edge of the field to another, the opposite forces did the same. The distance between them increased by a couple of kilometres.
The Land
Bogdanivka didn’t secede to the “grey zone”, Russian-led forces remained inside the village of Petrivske. The withdrawal on this site — more a political move than a practical one. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, that after withdrawal in Bogdanivka the meeting in “Norman Format” will be possible. A shortly after the President of Russian Federation Vladimir Putin claimed, that he “welcomes the withdrawal”. In fact, the positions remain within weapons range, political officers and troop strength have some extra work. Ukrainian military perceives withdrawal as a stab in the back and they don’t understand why they should be at least a metre away from their positions. What happens on the other side — in the zone of occupation, is completely unknown. According to OSCE, the Russian-led fighters did not leave their positions in the captured Petrivske.
In Volnovaha we get a chance to talk to representatives of Civil-Military Cooperation of The Armed Forces, also known as CIMIC. This is a unit of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, was created in 2014 to coordinate the military forces with local authorities and international organizations to address the issues of civilians in war. The actual task on Bogdanivka — to ensure that assistance from international organizations reaches the addressees. The main «cimic» from the 128th brigade says that very few large international organizations visiting Bogdanivka.
“It’s mostly the ICRC. They can monitor what the local population needs, gives money to buy briquettes or coal for heating. The UN mission also visiting the village. In-kind assistance is almost non-existent. But if someone does - it’s Ukrainian charities, as “Prolisok”. Once a month they pick up the residents, take them to the doctors and for pensions. With the onset of cold and rain and snow, almost no one goes there, it’s hard to get to them. Our job is to ensure that humanitarian missions have access to them. That’s all.”
Another problem of withdrawal near Bogdanivka - the land entitlements. On 28 October, the Prime Minister, Olexiy Honcharuk visited neighbouring Nikolaivka. He met the owners of the land from Nikolayevka, Rybinsk and Starognativka. More than 600 hectares of land were found to be in the area of the withdrawal or confrontational lines. This land is not cultivated, and farmers have suffered losses.
However, shareholders and tenants of land that still under cultivation and located close to the withdrawal zone, are too concerned, because if the army will move closer to Bogdanovka, they won’t be able to cultivate 470 hectares of arable land. In a place without a job, losing land and opportunity to gain a living, would be a total disaster. (As at the end of February 2020, the situation hasn’t concluded as neatly as promised. Authorities said that instead of the land entitlemens on which they built 2-3 lines of defense, they potentially give other land. But it’s stuck on the conversational level. Neither does anyone intend to amend the tax code. In other words, the land tax, which does not generate income for the owners, continues to be levied. And the land that is temporarily occupied and in the withdrawal area - is not mentioned at all).
Later in the evening, Petrick says we can still go to Bogdanivka, but the next day and with priest Ivan. While the military goes out to dinner and have a few more hours before bedtime, we linger. The chaplain brings in several onions, potatoes, sausages and lights the furnace:
“I don’t know, I wanted something homemade today. It’s certainly not the «Turu Rudi», but you’ll like it.”
Bogdan Petryk laughs:
“Like they know what “Turu Rudi” is!”
The Village
From Volnovakha to Bogdanivka is 30 kilometres and one checkpoint. In January 2015, the checkpoint was shelled from territories beyond the control of Ukraine. Multiple missiles landed next to the line of civilian vehicles. The shrapnel hit an intercity bus, as a result, 12 passengers were killed and 18 were injured. Today’s checkpoint looks more modest: several concrete block booths, «hedgehogs», concrete barriers, and at the site of the tragedy - a monument to the deceased. The word «check-point» has also been removed, now there is a plaque: «The artificial construction». The chaplain says today’s code word, but the military police officers see Petryk’s rifle.
“Have you got papers for this gun?”
Bogdan slides a military ID through the window and the badge of the Brigade’s chief of the press service.
“Everything is on it… here I am, and here’s my «kalashnikov». Besides, how can I steal someone’s AK and drive around with it? For what?”
In a few minutes, the MP passes the car. We drive by Bugas and then Mykolaivka - in 2014, the village experienced a humanitarian disaster, due to intermittent shelling and lack of infrastructure the settlement became .