On June 10 I had the honor and privilege of interviewing the Governor of the Lugansk People’s Republic, Leonid Pasechnik.
This was an interview conducted in wartime conditions, and as such is shorter than it would have been under normal circumstances.
The interview is shortened further by the fact that specific security protocols that should have been suspended during the recording were left on for the first few minutes of the interview, making the recording unusable from a broadcast perspective.
Such are the hazards of wartime journalism in the modern age.
What we lost was some discussion about the personal background of the man who has led Lugansk since 2017, and who was part of the Lugansk independence movement from the very beginning, in 2014.
What we got was fascinating insight into the thinking of Lugansk’s leader about what drives the people of Lugansk in their struggle to be independent from Ukraine, the nature of the threat posed to the Russian people collectively by Ukrainian nationalism,and the harsh realities of war.
The interview closes with words of hope regarding the prospects of peace and friendship between Russia and the United States.
