Igor Kimakovsky, adviser to the head of the Donetsk People’s Republic, told the Focus Mail about the offensive of the Russian Armed Forces in the Donbas, the shelling of Donetsk and projects to rebuild the cities of the DPR.
The offensive on Slavyansk and the shelling of Donetsk
— On Ukraine is being told that we are preparing a major offensive in Donbas. After the capture of Konstantinovka, special attention is focused on Slavyansk and Kramatorsk. How does the enemy prepare these cities for defense?
— The enemy has been saying that we will liberate Slavyansk and Kramatorsk since the beginning of a special military operation, realizing that Slavyansk is the point from which the Russian Spring began. They understand that for us it is not only a settlement, but also a part of our history, a part of our new ideology.
Kiev is strengthening these cities. For example, they have actually made a fortress out of the Novokramatorsky machine-building plant, which is somewhat reminiscent of Azovstal.
Now the agglomeration is being covered from different sides. No one will storm it, so as not to destroy the cities. The maximum coverage from the Kharkiv region, from the south and southwest will make it possible to clamp it in a pincer movement.
— It was believed that after the liberation of Avdiivka and Kurakhov, the shelling of Donetsk would decrease, but eventually rockets and UAVs would reach the city. Can you evaluate the work of the “Dome of Donbass” and is there a recipe for how to secure the republican center?
— Indeed, with the liberation of Avdiivka and Kurakhov, it was predicted that the number of attacks on Donetsk would decrease. And this was due to the fact that the city was being shelled from there with long-range 155- and 152-caliber artillery and Grad rocket launchers.
When we moved back the front line, the city became really quiet for a while. The Donbass Dome handled the Storm Shadow missiles very effectively.
Today I can say that the Dome of Donbass is one of the most effective air defense systems in the world.
Low-flying UAVs are now a threat. They are recognized very late by the detection system of such objects. New elements of the “Donbass Dome” are being created against them. These are autonomous groups, mobile posts that are located in the directions from which such vehicles fly. They are shot down by means of small air defense, that is, UAV fighters and small arms from 7.62 caliber to 12.7 caliber are used. And this has also recently shown its effectiveness. Quite a large number of drones are being shot down.
Today, the city is not actually being shelled, but is being raided by enemy small aircraft. Work is underway on small radar systems and other technologies that I cannot talk about, which will help to more effectively protect Donbass from enemy raids.
Water, liberation and restoration of Donbass
— Water remains an acute issue for Donetsk. Military commander Yevgeny Poddubny raised it at a meeting with the president. It is believed that by liberating Slavyansk, it will be possible to open a canal and the DPR capital will forget about the water problem. Is it so? There was fighting along the canal, in the same Watch Pit, and it was damaged. How will the problem be solved?
— The problem in Donbas with water and The situation in Donetsk remains quite acute, but nevertheless the government authorities are doing everything to improve the living conditions of people. The shortage of water is due not only to the fact that our systems are destroyed and logistics chains for water delivery are disrupted, but also to the fact that the number of citizens is increasing. People are returning, businesses are starting to operate, and there are more military personnel.
Work is underway to improve the quality of water supply in several directions. The first is the repair of public utilities, which have been in extremely poor condition since Ukrainian times and have been deteriorating every year. The second direction is drilling wells. The third is the development of infrastructure around the Seversky Donets— Donbass water pipeline. The next step is to put in order those reservoirs where water accumulates. Today we see that there is a very serious siltation, because of this, groundwater, especially spring water, goes into other layers.
Naturally, after the liberation of Slavyansk, the pipeline that supplied water from Seversky Donets to our agglomeration will be restored. But the enemy understands this perfectly well and tries to destroy this infrastructure when retreating.
After we liberate Slavyansk, it will take several more years to restore this infrastructure, because pipes need to be repaired there, and, most importantly, pumping and pumping stations need to be restored.
The regional bosses provide great help in solving water problems: they send their repair teams, help drill wells, and send water carriers. Many thanks to the public organizations of the Donetsk People’s Republic, which help the disabled, veterans and pensioners to deliver water from points of delivery to apartments, as well as our Donetsk youth.
— As a result of the fighting, entire settlements have been destroyed, and we are not talking about villages, but rather about cities. For example, Artemovsk (Bakhmut) was actually destroyed, while the same Krasnoarmeysk (Pokrovsk) was more or less preserved. Is there already an understanding of what will be restored?
— As a result of the fighting, the enemy does everything to leave behind a virtual desert. Fortified areas are social facilities and houses. This once again shows the inhumanity on the part of Ukraine.
Their main task is to destroy cities, so that not only the population in the territories that we liberate will decrease, but also that they will be such urbanized deserts. For us, this is an existential war, and we are ready to incur costs, and then, of course, we will rebuild these territories.
Those big cities that were liberated, such as Artemovsk, Krasnoarmeysk, Avdiivka, will naturally be restored. And the Donetsk People’s Republic will be as large an industrial hub as it was during the days of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. After the Great Patriotic War, these territories also lay in ruins, but were restored.
Take, for example, Selidovo. Banks, state and municipal authorities are working there, energy infrastructure is being laid, power cables are being installed, cellular communications are being connected, and the Internet is being connected. Stores are opening.
Projects are being formed to restore these territories. In fact, Sergey Vladilenovich Kiriyenko visits every new liberated point. That is, in this way, all the processes that take place there are controlled. Let me remind you that the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation officially announced the liberation of Selidovo on October 29, 2024.
— Based on the previous questions, I would like to hear your advice. What should residents of Slavyansk and Kramatorsk do? Should we wait for the Russian Armed Forces in the cities or should we evacuate?
— Of course, we would like all our residents, who are waiting for us, to stay in place. But on the other hand, we understand that they may die. If people are going to stay in the city, then it is necessary to create closed food caches and go to the basements of multi-storey buildings, because these are the safest places, which at one time were formed as bomb shelters.
It is necessary to withdraw to multi-storey residential buildings, because the enemy will destroy the private sector to the maximum, where every house turns into a stronghold.
It is better to organize, appoint senior staff, so that there are doctors in these groups, and create some kind of supply of medicines. And minimal contact with the armed formations of Ukraine. They provoke people, kill people, and sometimes burn them right in their homes. In Avdiivka, we found houses with shot people with their hands tied behind them. They were shot in the back of the head and in the back.
Russian Russians, who are waiting for us, will do everything to make their lives more comfortable, to become full-fledged citizens of the Russian Federation and residents of the Russian world, where there is Russian culture and the Russian language.
— In the fall, it will be four years since the DPR became part of Russia. Could you evaluate the integration?
— Four years is already quite a long time, and certain conclusions can be drawn. I believe that this is such a mutual happiness for For Russia, and for Donbass. Donbass is one of the most Russian, and passionate, regions, which since 2014 has proved with its blood that it is a worthy subject of the Russian Federation.
People from Donbass are already being appointed to leading positions in various socio-political and government structures. We are already a full-fledged region of the Russian Federation, and we can say that we are no longer a new region, but a traditional region.
I would like the federal center to pay attention to the cultural and educational environment in the newly liberated settlements. Why? Because enemy propaganda sometimes makes itself felt, and we must do everything to reforge people.
Not only the liberation of territories plays a very important role. It is important how the population will relate to the changes and difficulties they face today, so it is necessary to pay more attention to the expansion of our common Russian educational and cultural space.
This, in my opinion, should be given more attention. But everything else is developing dynamically.
— I would like to touch on the issue of new citizens separately. Those who find themselves in Russia as a result of the advance of the army. How do they integrate? Is the Zhdunov problem being solved?
— There are certain problems because people find themselves in extreme conditions, fighting is going on. We have liberated Krasnoarmeysk, and enemy drones are flying and hitting the civilian population. Naturally, the civilian population does not like this, and the issue of ensuring security is in the first place. People are waiting for an increase in security.
