The food blockade of Crimea is almost three months old. It was started by Crimean Tatar activists, representatives of the Right Sector, the Aidar battalion, the Azov regiment, and other patriotic movements. The state remains rather weak in its response to this civic initiative. It was only very recently that chairman of the Mejlis Refat Chubarov said that the government was preparing a decree on limiting supply of certain goods to the peninsula. Meanwhile, participants of the blockade are not going to leave their posts.
RESULTS
Once very much alive, the road to Crimea running through Chonhar is empty now. It is off-season in Crimean resorts, and the blockade and the location having turned into what is effectively Ukraine’s border with the Russian-annexed peninsula do not help either... The headquarters of the blockade’s organizers are near a former border checkpoint. The checkpoint features concrete blocks, cutting the road in a checkerboard pattern. Similar blocks have been placed to create something like firing positions. Camouflaged activists in helmets and bullet-proof vests inspect each car which moves to Crimea and in the opposite direction. Powerful generators, large stocks of foodstuffs, in short, everything that can be profitably sold in Crimea these days, are not allowed into the peninsula.
“We understand that our country is not very pleased with this action. While Crimea is occupied but remains a free economic zone, it offers a good opportunity to conduct illegal business with the other side,” spokesman of the Right Sector Oleksii Byk said. “We, however, see this military-political operation as the first phase of returning Crimea to Ukraine. We have already achieved some results. While we are here, Russians ferry food across the Kerch Strait rather than military equipment. Similarly, the energy blockade has forced Russian troops in the peninsula to spend resources on powering nearby settlements.”
PUBLIC RESPONSE
People who are not required by law but actually have to open the trunks of their cars for the blockaders to check, respond to it differently. Some call it a new Makhnovshchina [anarchist rebellion in Ukraine in the 1910s. – Ed.], dissatisfied with the fact that those involved are unknown uniformed guys rather than the authorities. The activists’ highhandedness has repeatedly been covered in the local media, too. Some complain of rough treatment suffered in the activists’ hands, illegal confiscation of food and personal effects. Others agree with such security measures and are willing to tolerate the inconvenience.
Valentyna Yakina is from Dnipropetrovsk. She was carrying food for her son, who was treated in the Pirogov Sanatorium. She showed documents to that effect. On inspection, the blockaders found three 18-kilogram bags of potatoes in her car, whereas the limit is set at 50 kilogram per vehicle. The car was then pulled off for extra inspection. “We are in a hopeless situation. My son has a spinal cord injury. He was previously treated in Sloviansk. Now that the resort is closed there, there is only Crimea left for him,” the woman explained. “I understand that these guys want to restore order. It probably should be done. While I carry potatoes, some may have weapons in their car’s trunk.” The presence of journalists and cameras sped up Yakina’s passage. Potato bags were not pulled out for weighting, since the protesters believed the woman’s words.
AT THE BLOCKADERS’ SOUTHERN POST, ALL TRAVELERS FROM CRIMEA ARE MET WITH UKRAINIAN AND CRIMEAN TATAR PATRIOTIC SYMBOLS. “MAYBE SOMEONE IS IRRITATED BY OUR ‘FATHER BANDERA,’ BUT IT LETS THEM KNOW THEY ARE IN UKRAINE NOW,” RIGHT SECTOR ACTIVISTS JOKE / Photo by the author
One of the participants of the blockade stood out in his professional military uniform and spoke with distinctive accent. We asked where he came from. “I am from Belarus. Having tired of giving advice on the Internet, I decided to support Ukrainian patriots by actions,” the man with callsign Siabr told us. “I have not been to the Donbas front yet, but am ready to go, if they will call for volunteers. We want to stop traders and smugglers profiting from the Crimean situation. For example, why does a family living in a regular house need two five-kilowatt generators? Of course, it is a business. We stand here unpaid, fighting for our ideals. People often offer us money to pass without inspection. They get even more thoroughly inspected in such cases.”
A ZONE OF UNCOMFORT
A few kilometers from the blockaders’ checkpoint, one can see the official Chonhar checkpoint. In late November, border guards and customs officials moved it closer to the administrative border. They say the decision came due to the desire to make border crossing more comfortable for citizens, in particular to reduce the distance they had to cover on foot over the no man’s land between positions of Ukrainian and Russian security forces. Currently, there are no long queues at the official checkpoint.
“At the new site, we have increased the number of lanes for traffic in both directions and set apart a covered walkway for pedestrians,” assistant chief for media relations of the State Border Service’s Southern Regional Command Maksym Soroka told us. “Every day, about three thousand people pass through this checkpoint. In general, the situation is calm. Still, we are strengthening security measures, increase patrols at checkpoints and in the maritime part of the administrative border. The civic blockade does not interfere with our work. We cooperate with the activists, exchange information with them.”
The idea to establish service zones at checkpoints has been discussed for a long time as well. However, people still lack access even to decent toilets, much less rest areas. It is so despite regional and district authorities feeding journalists tales of future comfort since summer. The Ministry of Infrastructure even sent a commission down there in August. Then, there was a covered terminal in place, where one could drink coffee, hide from frost, if it was not too strong, and... nothing else. Moreover, the terminal was built by a private entrepreneur who got permission to conduct his own business here. The government, meanwhile, did nothing at all to create truly comfortable conditions there, at least at the time of our visit.
