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Michael Murphy
I have recently journeyed to Russia, then on to Donetsk, in the DPR, which is the real war zone and ground zero of the Russian-Ukrainian War.
Amid the ongoing conflict in Donbass, I have just returned from Russia and the DPR. Despite public admonishments from the US State Department: “DO NOT TRAVEL TO THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION,” because it is unsafe, I journeyed to Russia, then into the DPR, and on to Donetsk on November 14, chasing destiny.
I have written and published two books, sharing the truth with the world, about the plight of people living in Donetsk and other cities and villages in the Donbass Separatist Republics, as related to me in real time by the people living at ground zero of the war, and from my extensive research of news from all over the world.
My book, “Voices from Ukraine,” which begins in 2014 and shares the plight of the people in Donbass over seven years of the Donbass War through the lives of families I communicated with almost every day since the Ukrainian Revolution in 2014, who shared their personal stories with me.
Eight months ago, our contact was interrupted as the DPR actively blocks social media from the West whenever it finds its people accessing it, even Russia’s own VKontakte.
After losing contact, I finished the rewrite of my latest book, “The War in Ukraine,” which is just a sequel to “Voices from Ukraine,” had it professionally edited, and published it. Then I booked my ticket to Moscow.
“The War in Ukraine” story begins January 1, 2022, and chronicles the first year of Russia’s Special Military Operation. The book tells the truth about what led to the war, what happened, and who lit the fuse. As I mentioned, all told by the people living in Donetsk, the DPR, and LPR, ground zero for the conflict. What I wrote is in contrast to the fabricated stories published by the Western news media, military pundits, politicians, and armchair quarterbacks, who really know little or nothing.
Once published, I booked a flight to Moscow, spent the night, then flew to Krasnodar in Southern Russia, and hired an experienced driver to get me into the DPR and on to Donetsk to search for my friends whose stories I shared in my books.
Arriving in the middle of the night, after spending hours in the DPR border station, because an American passport is always a red flag. Especially with the stupid things American news media and politicians have been saying about the war.
By the time my driver, Arthur, and I arrived at the subdivision gate, where I believed my friends lived, the guards made it clear that no such people lived there and sent us away. Of course, in a war zone, and two strangers show up in the middle of the night saying that they want to see people living there, the reaction we got was no surprise; they may have been protecting my people, or with the war still on, they may have had to go into hiding.
At that point, there was nothing that we could do. Help came from a soldier friend who led us across the city to a hotel. Unfortunately, no hotel in Donetsk had check-in in the middle of the night, until 8 am. So we slept in the car and, in the morning, went into the hotel for breakfast.
When driving across Donetsk in the middle of the night, the city was eerily quiet, with no cars on the streets and nothing open, not even a petrol station. It was like the city was dead. I asked my driver, Arthur, about that because eight months ago, when I was still in contact with my people, the Ukrainian forces were still sending artillery and missiles into the city day and night. He told me that months ago, the Russians pushed the Ukrainian forces back from the positions they were targeting the city from, so now the nights were quiet for the first time in years.
After breakfast, the only other place to try to reach my friends was the Star Refugee Center, since I knew my girls and their family often went to help refugees on Sundays after church.
The girl at the Star Refugee Center was very kind and tried to be helpful, and although she did not know the family, she did her best to help.
She did locate a young woman named Katya with the same surname, who said she was studying in Moscow and had no idea who Michael Murphy was. Apparently, she had no relation to my people, as I had been chatting with that family almost every day for 10 years.
With no good news and no way to find my people, my driver had to get back, so Arthur and I left Donetsk and drove back to Krasnodar. A few days later, I flew back to Moscow, and a couple of days after that, returned to the USA.
However, not before having adventures in Krasnodar, which included climbing a mountain, and then in Moscow, visiting the Kremlin and St. Basil’s at Red Square.
My driver, Arthur, often travels to Donetsk and has promised to do more to locate my people. He is taking copies of my books to the refugee center, along with an article I wrote about coming to Donetsk for their local newspaper, as there are thousands of people in the area who know who I am and about my books. The problem, of course, was how to find them.
Hopefully, someone will read the article in the newspaper or recognize the books at the refugee center that contain contact information.
I crisscrossed Moscow several times, visited several Russian cities, and saw no signs of a declining economy due to the West’s sanctions. In fact, the Russian ruble is up, and I saw nothing but newer cars everywhere, and the expressways were congested just like Chicago at rush hour. The streets were crowded with people, and business was booming everywhere, except in the city of Donetsk, which is in a real war zone.
While in Russia, I was welcomed everywhere and treated with respect, almost like visiting royalty, everywhere I went. Of course, security was very strict everywhere, and crossing any border or boarding an airplane required thorough passport control scrutiny and baggage checking.
Destiny is in the wind.
Michael Murphy, author – MH Murphy
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