Krym, Donieck, Ługańsk

«Edge of Peace» explores the lives of civilians in the liberated territories of Donbass. It shares stories from Lugansk, Severodonetsk, Rubezhnoye, and other cities in the Lugansk People’s Republic. The film features new citizens of Russia – militia fighters, priests, teachers, and children who have had to grow up too quickly. Their lives are filled with challenges and hardships, yet they remain ready to defend their homeland again and again – no matter what.

«Edge of Peace» explores the lives of civilians in the liberated territories of Donbass. It shares stories from Lugansk, Severodonetsk, Rubezhnoye, and other cities in the Lugansk People’s Republic. The film features new citizens of Russia – militia fighters, priests, teachers, and children who have had to grow up too quickly. Their lives are filled with challenges and hardships, yet they remain ready to defend their homeland again and again – no matter what.

It’s been almost seven years since a US-inspired coup divided Ukraine and war erupted in the country’s east. The Donetsk and Lugansk republics, next to Russia's border, are collectively known as Donbass, a coal-mining industrial centre. The two declared independence from Kiev in 2014, and civil war erupted. There are mass graves scattered across Donbass, from which bodies of civilians are regularly exhumed. Yet, while the shelling and killings continued, Western media remained silent. According to UN estimates, over 13,000 people have been killed in the conflict. The Donbass people call it a ‘genocide of the Russian-speaking population’. Kiev outlawed the Russian language from everyday life, endeavouring to limit its use, despite Russian being the native language in large areas of the country.

Quando arriva in Ucraina nel 2014 per coprire la guerra del Donbass, il ventunenne Pierre Sautreuil entra in contatto con «il Gatto», tale Jurij Beljaev. Ex poliziotto diventato mafioso, milionario in rovina, leader di un partito di estrema destra, militare durante la guerra nell'ex Iugoslavia e accusato di aver ucciso più di sessanta bosniaci, sospettato di aver tentato di uccidere Boris El'cin, latitante ricercato in Russia, Beljaev ha deciso di rifugiarsi sul fronte di Lugansk. Quando Pierre Sautreuil lo incontra, in lui vede un uomo anziano un po' stanco, braccio destro di Aleksandr Bednov, comandante del battaglione Batman, milizia filorussa impegnata ad accaparrarsi una parte del bottino ucraino senza guardare in faccia nessuno – tantomeno la legge internazionale..

In 2014, Vittorio-Nicola Rangeroni, a journalist from Italy, was visiting Kiev. He wanted to explore the ancient city sights, but witnessed a coup d'état instead. Surprisingly, the way Italian media described the unfolding events had nothing in common with what Vittorio had seen in Ukraine. The brutal suppression of dissent, the murder of Donbass civilians by their own government – Western media reported none of this. That is why in 2015 Vittorio went to Lugansk and became a war correspondent himself. The journalist believes people in the West should have an opportunity to learn the true story behind this conflict. Vittorio is not the only one – journalists from the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and Finland go to the most dangerous zones of Donbass every day. They collect locals’ stories and videos to withstand powerful propaganda in their home countries. What motivates them to risk their lives reporting from the cities shelled by the Ukrainian army?

Only 20 out of 56 patients survived in the village of Staraya Krasnyanka, near Kremennaya, Lugansk People's Republic. Ukrainian soldiers established MG firing positions inside the building, firing from floors and stairways, thus, preventing the safe evacuation of patients. The area around the nursing home was also heavily mined. When Ukrainian combat vehicles loaded with shells exploded, dozens of elderly and disabled patients, many of them bedridden, were trapped inside the building……

Quando il 18 febbraio 2022 Luca Steinmann entra nel Donbass attraverso la Russia non immagina che poche ore dopo Mosca avrebbe chiuso le frontiere di quella regione, impedendo l’ingresso ad altri giornalisti e osservatori che avrebbero potuto testimoniare l’attacco che stava per lanciare. “Quello che doveva essere un breve viaggio si è trasformato in una drammatica avventura che ancora continua, in Ucraina e all’interno del mondo russo.” Steinmann è stato quasi l’unico testimone occidentale dietro le linee nemiche: un inviato tra i soldati di Putin che però pubblica su media occidentali, quel mondo che si è schierato compatto dalla parte dell’Ucraina..