«РОСІЙСЬКА ВЕСНА» В МАРІУПОЛІ НА СТОРІНКАХ ГАЗЕТИ «ПРИАЗОВСКИЙ РАБОЧИЙ» (лютий-червень 2014 року)

Abstract

After the escape of ex-president V. Yanukovych and armed aggression of Russian Federation in the South-Eastern regions of Ukraine there was a socio-political confrontation, which because of the interference of Russian Special Services escalated into the armed conflict on the East of Ukraine. These events have been named “the Russian Spring”. The article, based on one of the largest editions in Mariupol – the newspaper’s “The Worker of Pryazov” materials, reflects the course of socio-political confrontation in Mariupol between Ukrainian and pro-Russian activists, which has led to difficult military-political situation. The peculiarities of co-existence of local authorities with representatives of quasi-state formation and also the conducting of a force operation, in order to liberate the city from Russian-occupying forces by Ukrainian troops have been represented. The article analyses specifics of coverage of these events on the pages of the newspaper.On this regard, as it has been shown by the analysis of newspaper’s “The Worker of Pryazov” materials, there were materials that discredited Maidan and its activists. It has been caused, obviously, by its owner, which was close to the authorities. That is why the revolutionary changes in Kyiv have led to their ambiguous perception in Mariupol and socio-political confrontation in the city. However, despite the pro-Russian and Ukrainian, the newspaper covered the activities and demands of the pro-Russian forces using verbal tools distributed by the Russian media.An analysis of the demands of pro-Russian activists demonstrates the complexity and ambiguity of the “Russian Spring the source of which was a series of currents that put their own meaning into their actions. The local authorities, in their turn, tried to maintain their influence, therefore supported a number of demands of the pro-Russian camp – regarding the status of the Russian language, decentralization, while advocating for a united Ukraine. But the intervention of Russian sabotage groups led by I. Strelkov Girkin led to an armed conflict in the Donbas, including in Mariupol itself.The “DNR” representatives began to take control of the city, seizing administrative institutions and displaying their symbols. Despite the terrorist actions of the “republic” on the pages of the newspaper, the terms “activists”, “demonstrators”, “protesters” were used to refer to its supporters. Only after the change of position of Akhmetov, who initiated the indefinite campaign “For Peace” and against “DNR”, criticism of the latter began to appear in the materials of the publication.