Meanwhile, the armed conflict between Donbass and the Armed Forces of Ukraine has started escalating again. Despite that, factories and coal mines keep running. The foolish blockade set up by Ukraine has crossed every line. Here's the report by our war correspondent, Alexander Sladkov.

The biggest news in the Donbass this week is Russia's recognition of passports issued by the Donetsk and Lugansk Republics. There have been hopes and talks, but nobody expected this to happen right now.

- This should've happened a long time ago. Ukraine abandoned us... So why not? I don't mind. Would be my pleasure.

- Our children can complete their studies. We have legitimate passports now.

For regular people it's more than an administrative step. It's real help from a big country.

- It will allow us to cross the border without any problems, to stay in Russia without any problems.

- I feel much more secure now. Previously I was no one. I didn't belong there. And now, thank God, at least something will get better.

Actually, the week started off around the subject of the blockade. On the opposite side, Semen Semenchenko, the former commander of the nationalist Donbass Battalion and a current member of the Ukrainian Parliament, shut off the railway with the help of his people. Even before that, all four links between Ukraine and Donbass were operating at full capacity. First, the Lugansk People's Republic had been cut off from Ukraine. The coal that Kiev so desperately needs was rerouted through the DPR which was then cut off too.

24 freight trains are ready to depart to Ukraine, but the blockade doesn't leave any possibilities for them to come through. Here they are, thousands of cars filled with coal. The overpass at the Yasinovataya station offers a good view of them. The tracks, the cars, the electric locomotives all belong to the DPR while 12,340 people working here receive their payment from Ukraine. The blockade will definitely result in salary cuts or even layoffs. "Of course, it's difficult, but people are trying to survive, no matter what, and not just to survive, but to actually live their lives".

How will this blockade affect Kiev? Without coal, Ukrainian energy giants will come to a halt in a week. "It threatens the sole existence of industrial facilities under Ukrainian jurisdiction. Yenakiyeve Iron and Steel Works, Donetsk Iron and Steel Works, the Komsomolsk Ore Mining Plant and other industrial units are Ukraine's major suppliers".

It might seem like bad timing, but DPR miners are setting new records. The Donetsk People's Republic is under a blockade but here, at the Progress Mine in Torez, a new tunnel has been opened. All ground connections to Ukrainian territory that were used to transport goods manufactured in the DPR, are closed. but local people are mining ever more coal.

- Miners, brothers, say a couple of words for a reporter! Just a couple of words! Please! Tell me, has the new tunnel been opened?

– Were you there?

– Yes, it's been opened.

- What does it mean for regular people? Can you explain?

- We'll be loading more coal. We'll achieve new goals.

"We can handle the blockade, but Ukraine cannot, and I hope they never can. Two more weeks of this blockade, and Ukraine won't have any heating system or energy industry to talk about". And what about this new coal bed that's just been opened? Isn't there no one to sell the coal to? Not true. We have our own power plants and we'll happily burn all this coal in them. We'll produce electricity and supply it to our homes. Our homes will be well-lit, warm and cozy".



Almost one thousand students gathered in Donetsk on Wednesday. The rally was called "OSCE, open your eyes!"' OSCE has to tell the truth! The truth! The truth! The truth! This is a monitoring mission. We are unarmed. We are civilians. Unarmed civilians don't go to the front line. They are not a part of the conflict. They are observers. Okay, so what do you observe? You don't observe all the shelling going on in Putilovka and Spartak... You don't go there even in the daytime, when there's no shelling.

It was business as usual in the front lines this week. Soldiers kept switching between their assault rifles and shovels. A good trench gives a good chance of survival during an artillery strike.

- What's the most difficult part in all this?

- The frozen ground. The rest is easy.

- Are there any former miners here?

- I used to be a miner. The men we meet in trenches are remarkable.

This is Bakhtiyar. He came from Tashkent. Heard a call for volunteers on a trolleybus ride in Gorlovka and signed a contract in the enlistment office. He received the code name Migrant, and now he's fighting the war. People like him and call him Borya. "Why do I fight? Well, you see, Western Europe is bringing so much dirt here. It's so different from our mentality. If they move in here, they will then go to Russia and keep advancing to the east. That's how it's always been. And it will continue to be if we don't stop them".

A man from the West, from Europe, is right beside him, in the same trench. Miroslav Govatskiy, code name Polyak. "I wanted to help the young republic. Took my suitcase and came to fight. What did you have in your suitcase? My personal effects, nothing else". Miroslav has been fighting for two years. He was heavily wounded at Avdeevka, but now he's on the mend.

At the end of the week there was another rally in Donetsk to remind Kiev of the UN resolution that was passed two years ago. The resolution was on the implementation of the Minsk agreements. Their message is clear: It needs to be fulfilled. We are human beings. We want peace. We want to work. Stop picking on us! This is all Ukraine's fault, just like it says here. Here, in the central square of Donetsk several thousand citizens of the DPR have come together to remind the world that they live under terrible conditions. This war needs to end.