Donbass in Ukraine is a rich mining region, but widespread deficits in the former USSR doom people to poverty. The massive miners' strikes of 1989/1990 paved the way for the country's independence. How it got there.
More than 90% of Ukrainians supported the Declaration of Independence in a national referendum held on December 1, 1991. The absolute majority of residents of the Donetsk region, part of which is currently occupied by Russia, also voted for Ukrainian independence - 83.9% of voters there were “in favor”. What were the moods on the eve and on the day of the referendum in Donbas? DW spoke with historians and witnesses of those events.
Miners declared for the independence of Ukraine
On the eve of the declaration of independence, Donbas was gripped by miners' strikes, which began in the late 1980s. One of the main reasons for the first protests was the aggravation of socio-economic problems as a result of the decline of the coal mining industry. At that time, there was also a total shortage of all kinds of food and household goods in the region. The first miners' strike began on July 15, 1989 at the "Yasinovatskaya-Glubokaya" mine in Makeyevka, Donetsk region. After the disgruntled miners were supported by workers from other mines, by July 25, about half a million miners were on strike across Ukraine.
„This was a very turbulent period for the Donetsk region, indeed for all of Ukraine. But Donetsk was the epicenter of events. The city actively discussed issues related to the miners' strikes and the miners' demands, says Igor Karetnikov, a historian from the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance who witnessed these events.
Gradually, the miners' strikes acquired a political overtone, turning into a powerful political movement with demands for the resignation of the President of the USSR, the dissolution of the Council of People's Deputies of the USSR, and the recognition of the sovereignty of Ukraine.
“A weekly from Lviv wrote at the time that the mining region of Donbass had already taken a leading position on the national question in 1991, because it was the miners who, in their demands during the strikes, insisted on adopting a document on the full independence of Ukraine. At that time, the Declaration of State Sovereignty of Ukraine was already in effect, but this was not enough. In their strikes, the miners drew attention to the need to adopt a document on the complete independence of Ukraine from the USSR, for the country to have its own constitution, currency and laws,“ recalls Igor Karetnikov.
How the “Rukhvites“ were born in Donetsk
Against the backdrop of the miners' protests in 1989, the Donetsk regional organization “Narodniy rukh Ukrainy” (in Bulgarian – People's Movement of Ukraine) began to operate in the region, established on the basis of the Donetsk regional society for the Ukrainian language “T. G. Shevchenko”. The so-called “Rukhvites” openly spoke about Ukrainian independence, about the protection of the Ukrainian language and culture.
“Both the Society of the Ukrainian Language and the “People's Movement of Ukraine” "were intended to support the imposition of everything Ukrainian in school, church and the media," Mykola Tishchenko, one of the founders of the people's movement in the Donetsk region, told DW. Tishchenko now lives in the Cherkasy region - in 2022 he was forced to flee because of the war in Ukraine and finally left his native Donbas. "In 1989, the issue of Ukraine's independence was almost not discussed in Donetsk, but the feeling of this change was in the air," he recalls.
"Everyone felt what it was about - increasing independence, independence, autonomy. This was felt, although it was not formulated in this way. Also, the program of the "People's Movement of Ukraine" did not say anything about the independence of Ukraine, but this demand was included in the second program of the movement. "Back then, there were two visions of what kind of Ukraine we wanted: a Ukrainian Ukraine and an independent Ukraine," says Nikolay Tishchenko.
Together with the striking miners, the Donetsk regional organization "People's Movement of Ukraine" became the most influential democratic force in Donbas during the revolution of 1990-1991. "The miners' strikes were primarily of a socio-economic nature, but there was also a wave of struggles against the party nomenclature, against Article Six of the Soviet Constitution on the leading role of the Communist Party. In the summer of 1990, the first All-Union Congress of Miners was held in Donetsk, followed by a second in the autumn of the same year. At that time, one could already speak of a certain political similarity between the national liberation and mining movements. That is, the two movements had a common enemy - the so-called command-administrative system, the CPSU and everything that conditioned the totalitarian character of the Soviet Union," says historian Igor Todorov, who lived in Donetsk at the time.
Almost 84% of residents vote for Ukraine's independence
On August 24, 1991, the Supreme Rada of the then Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR) adopted a declaration proclaiming Ukraine's independence from the USSR. On that day, there were no mass celebrations in Donetsk, as in Kiev or Lviv - most citizens reacted restrainedly and calmly, witnesses of these events recall.
For Nikolay Tishchenko, the declaration of independence was a significant event, but not unexpected: "It was logical. For me personally, it was not a sensation. It had long been clear that Ukraine was moving towards independence. People did not take to the streets, did not protest, did not chant "for" or "against" - nothing like that happened. It was quite prosaic and everyday.
In the following months, the "People's Movement for Ukraine" in Donetsk began to prepare for the national referendum on the country's independence, which was held on December 1, 1991.
"We have enough of feeding Moscow"
In the referendum on December 1, 1991, almost 84% of the population of the Donetsk region voted for the proclamation of the independence of Ukraine, while 12.6% were against. "During the referendum, the following opinion was also heard: "We have enough of feeding Moscow. We will live alone and be our own masters in our own house". We understood well that Donetsk region, and Ukraine as a whole, were quite rich. We had everything, but we lived poorly - that was how terrible the deficit was in the Soviet Union. That's why we wanted to be the masters of our country ourselves,“ recalls Igor Karetnikov.