Скачать или смотреть Donetsk residents reluctant to leave despite war threat

(17 Dec 2021) Despite the tensions between Ukraine and Russia and troop build-up near the conflict zone in Donbas, residents who still live in rebel-controlled areas are not rushing to leave their houses.
Standing in the middle of the Kiyevsky neighbourhood in  almost ruined by continuous shellings, Vladimir Churikov, a resident of this outskirt of Donetsk, told the AP that "people are already used to gunshots."  
"They don't pay attention to it anymore," he added.  
His neighbour Piotr Zaichkovsky, who also lives quite close to the former airport, one of the hottest spots in the past, also doesn't see a reason to abandon his homeland, although his daughter moved to Vladivostok. He has "nothing to do there."  
Nikolay, a miner, told the AP he doesn't have fears because he doesn't believe a full-scale fight would renew.  
More than 14,000 people have been killed in fighting that has ravaged the region and driven more than 2 million people from their homes in eastern Ukraine.
A 2015 peace agreement signed in Minsk, Belarus that was brokered by France and Germany ended large-scale battles, but frequent skirmishes have continued and efforts to reach a political settlement have failed.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe that monitors the shaky cease-fire in eastern Ukraine has recently reported an increasing number of skirmishes, and Russia and Ukraine have traded blame for the truce violations.
A recent Russian troop concentration near Ukraine has fuelled Ukrainian and Western fears of a Russian invasion, and Washington and its allies have warned Moscow that it will pay a high price if it attacks its neighbour.
Moscow has denied having such an intention and accused Ukraine of making plans to reclaim control of the rebel east by force, the claim Ukraine has rejected.
Amid the tensions, Russian President Vladimir Putin has urged the West to provide guarantees precluding NATO's expansion to Ukraine and the deployment of alliance troops and weapons there, something he has described as a "red line" for Moscow.

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