On June 11 I had the honor and privilege of meeting Ivan Prikhodko, the Mayor of Gorlovka, a city located some 50 kilometers north of Donetsk that has been on the frontlines of the conflict that has ravaged the Donbas region since early 2014. “Hizzoner” kindly agreed to sit down for an interview.
Gorlovka is very much a frontline city, subjected to daily attacks by the Ukrainian armed forces using drones, artillery, and rocket fire. In April, the Ukrainian armed forces began bragging about how they had brought the city of Gorlovka under what they called the “fire control” of their drone operators, striking vehicles and transportation infrastructure in the city they claim was used for military purposes.
The city has been under incessant attack ever since.
This is the daily reality confronting Gorlovka’s Mayor.
And it has been his reality since 2014, when Ukraine announced the initiation of an “anti-terror operation” targeting all the Russian-speaking population of the Donbas.
In this interview, Ivan Prikhodko talks about the origins of a conflict that continues to ravage his city, providing deep insights into the mindset and spirit of not himself, but the people of the Donbas.
It is a deeply human conversation, one that everyone interested in the events transpiring in the Donbas today should hear.
And if you listen closely, you will not only understand the iron will that drives the people of Donbas, but also their humanity.
This war will end one day.
And it will take leaders such as Ivan Prikhodko to heal the wounds of this conflict and lead the people of the Donbas into a better future.
