War is war but business is business and war does not necessarily stop business. Whether openly or through the black market, business still gets done in the midst of conflict. The latest example of this is in Ukraine where despite a bloody Russian-backed breakaway that has cost at least 10,000 lives, trade across the frontline has continued virtually uninterrupted.
From the point of view of the Ukrainian government, there is no frontline, no breakaway Donetsk and the Luhansk regions with their pocket governments and Moscow-armed militias, just a criminal insurrection in a part of the country over which Kiev still claims to exert jurisdiction. Thus the trains in particular that run across the frontline every days ferrying goods between the rebel and the government sides have deeper significance than mere business. They are a political assertion that, but for a little local difficulty, the Ukrainian government is determined to carry on as normal.
One significant cargo that travels west out of the rebel areas is coal from the vast mines of Donetsk. Ukraine is heavily dependent on this coal for those of its power stations that are not fueled by Russian gas, itself now no longer dependable. But equally the rebel areas require goods from the government areas. So, although not trumpeted by either side, the trade across the frontline has continued, invoices have been settled and money transferred between bank accounts.
But now a group of Ukrainian activists, reportedly made up of army war veterans has blocked railway lines and disrupted the key trade link. There are around 100 of these activists and they are protesting what they call “the trade in blood”. They are also demanding the release of comrades who have been captured by the rebels. There is apparently reluctance among Ukrainian security forces to take any action against these protestors. Doubtless they share some of the men’s views, certainly about the captured soldiers.
Nevertheless this action, which is openly backed by some parliamentarians in Kiev, is bringing about a crisis. Not only is a power shortage imminent thanks to lack of coal, but the rebels have threatened to start seizing businesses in areas they control, which are owned by government supporters.
Therefore, whatever the moral justification behind this rail blockade, it is a foolish act. Were trade across the frontline to be interdicted almost completely, Moscow would move in to supply the rebels with all the goods and services they lacked. Meanwhile, Ukraine would face power shortages. Even with spring arriving and lower power demands for heating, the economy still needs reliable electricity supplies as it struggles to prosper.
What the rail blockaders are therefore doing is actually seriously damaging the interests of their own country. Indeed, so potentially disastrous is their action that it seems legitimate to wonder whose side they are really on. But if they are indeed genuine Ukrainian patriots, their blockade, from whatever high motives, is self-defeating. The Kremlin is not prepared to see Ukraine move out of its sphere of influence toward EU and NATO membership.
Rebellion in the east of the blockaders’ country will only end when Russian President Vladimir Putin decides he wants it to. Stopping the “trade in blood” is pointless. It will bring Ukrainians nothing but it has probably brought a smile to Putin’s normally dour features.
