LUHANSK — It’s not easy getting to Luhansk nowadays. One must either cross an active frontline and risk getting shot at, if coming from the north, or take an eight-hour detour from the south through the self-proclaimed “Donetsk People’s Republic”, which is under the control of pro-Russian separatists. I decide to opt for the latter and, after quickly fixing my papers with the de facto authorities in Donetsk, my companions and Iare on our way.

Driving

through the Donbas, the coal-mining region of eastern Ukraine, has always been a

special kind of journey. The landscapes are gray, rolling flat fields with slag

heaps from nearby mines dotting the skyline every now and again. The winter,

which has already settled in, adds to the gloom with its sub-zero temperatures

and ice on the occasional houses we pass by. But after a while I start noticing

something even more sullen – the almost complete lack of people on the streets.