DONETSK DETOUR: September 2020

We overstayed our time in Ukraine more than twice the allotted time in our visa. Because of Covid we were able to stretch out three months to seven. This gave us the chance to have a longer exploration of the country, pretty much exploring all of the general regions. This post is about our foray into the southeast part of Ukraine.

From Kharkiv, a big city about twenty miles from the Russian border, we decided to venture south to the region (but not the city) of Donetsk. Having followed recent news stories from there and Luhansk, we made sure not to be part of all that excitement. We took the train to Izyum. A very slow train it was too. It seems Ukraine has either cheap slow trains or pricy zoomers. We have ridden both.

Here are some photos of these few days in this part of Ukraine.

IZYUM

We would have preferred to stay longer in Izyum but hotels or other accommodations were hard to find. We finally found an interesting old apartment but, thanks to some miscommunication somewhere, we had to leave earlier than planned.

Ancient Scythian Kurgan statues watching over the town

.Very Sovietesque War Memorial

Left: School is out. Center: Our apartment. Right: Bus Terminal

Concerning that middle photo: We were told abruptly that our check out was at 10, not 12, as we were told by her agent

We had to hurriedly pack..

KRAMATORSK

Downtown. Shopping Center with pretty decent grocery store, Foxtrot electronics chain, Mexican restaurant, and gym.

Like many Ukrainian cities, Kramatorsk has a lot of green spaces. This church is at the edge of the main one in the middle of town.

Top three photos: MiG, War memorial relief, Mil Mi-24 Helicopter.
Bottom three photos:
Left: Cautionary poster about unexploded ordinance in the are. When outside the city watch where you step!
Center: Our apartment building. Play area marked out with colored tires. Staying at apartments in some of these cities is often easier and more economical than hotels. It certainly is nice to have access to a private kitchen.
Right: Fruit vendor. These oddly elongated purple grapes were delicious. Maybe even better than Concords.

BUMPY BUS RIDE THROUGH DONETSK

Six hours on an open-windowless bus on a mostly bumpy road is a bit much. But we made it to Mariupol. We had to go through three military checkpoints. It was handy using our Me-Tarzan-You-Jane Russian.

The trip would have taken only three hours maybe, but we had to do a wide arc around the separatist area. We saw a bunker and shell damage on some buildings.

Myrolyubivka, Donetsk. Just east of Pokrovsk. That is an unreclaimed slag mountain in the background, an ecological hangover from the Soviet era.

It’s funny that at those three checkpoints people quickly put on their masks. Then took them off once we were on the way again. At the Pokrovsk checkpoint we had to all get out of the bus and show ID. Our clearance, because of the language barrier, took longer.

MARIUPOL

Near the city center

Left: Mariupol has many murals and artwork, some interesting and others merely prosaic.

Right: The hand around the little girl’s throat seems somewhat creepy.

Top left: Historic Gamper House. All four of these houses are in the district close to the Sea of Azov. These old buildings are beautifully dilapidated, in my opinion.

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