Zürcher Nachrichten - New name, little hope, in New York, Ukraine

EUR -
AED 4.225073
AFN 82.822883
ALL 99.674821
AMD 449.702847
ANG 2.073195
AOA 1055.409669
ARS 1293.792086
AUD 1.792007
AWG 2.070561
AZN 1.945189
BAM 1.979324
BBD 2.321187
BDT 139.680109
BGN 1.979804
BHD 0.433553
BIF 3370.412808
BMD 1.150312
BND 1.509291
BOB 7.9447
BRL 6.679815
BSD 1.149664
BTN 98.138382
BWP 15.846335
BYN 3.762448
BYR 22546.106159
BZD 2.309246
CAD 1.590979
CDF 3309.446058
CHF 0.931643
CLF 0.028826
CLP 1106.196809
CNY 8.399943
CNH 8.390188
COP 4924.483697
CRC 577.766802
CUC 1.150312
CUP 30.483256
CVE 112.039566
CZK 25.029641
DJF 204.433245
DKK 7.467704
DOP 69.602876
DZD 152.492221
EGP 58.128812
ERN 17.254673
ETB 153.018638
FJD 2.626971
FKP 0.865489
GBP 0.859967
GEL 3.157594
GGP 0.865489
GHS 17.898931
GIP 0.865489
GMD 82.245034
GNF 9956.53884
GTQ 8.855245
GYD 241.170523
HKD 8.925981
HNL 29.735542
HRK 7.528326
HTG 150.023035
HUF 407.481179
IDR 19352.726296
ILS 4.240497
IMP 0.865489
INR 97.959552
IQD 1506.908116
IRR 48456.873685
ISK 145.088581
JEP 0.865489
JMD 181.709633
JOD 0.815919
JPY 162.206551
KES 149.368256
KGS 100.3457
KHR 4618.501073
KMF 498.659336
KPW 1035.280385
KRW 1636.375427
KWD 0.35272
KYD 0.958087
KZT 601.812588
LAK 24947.376177
LBP 103067.914224
LKR 343.845631
LRD 230.033603
LSL 21.691303
LTL 3.396571
LVL 0.695812
LYD 6.292101
MAD 10.66919
MDL 19.888375
MGA 5237.245049
MKD 62.221505
MMK 2415.301798
MNT 4103.529009
MOP 9.191441
MRU 45.363144
MUR 51.867376
MVR 17.712359
MWK 1996.941223
MXN 22.671834
MYR 5.07
MZN 73.510625
NAD 21.691303
NGN 1845.847337
NIO 42.302772
NOK 11.936167
NPR 157.021209
NZD 1.916655
OMR 0.442867
PAB 1.149664
PEN 4.32861
PGK 4.754508
PHP 65.119198
PKR 322.781754
PLN 4.270144
PYG 9202.370866
QAR 4.187827
RON 4.978887
RSD 118.640046
RUB 93.43196
RWF 1627.690827
SAR 4.315955
SBD 9.578373
SCR 16.382384
SDG 690.751378
SEK 10.967358
SGD 1.501496
SHP 0.903964
SLE 26.19835
SLL 24121.439132
SOS 657.401436
SRD 42.734577
STD 23809.126381
SVC 10.059559
SYP 14956.186789
SZL 21.648827
THB 38.087006
TJS 12.347162
TMT 4.02609
TND 3.437158
TOP 2.694142
TRY 43.98895
TTD 7.800712
TWD 37.33589
TZS 3091.465244
UAH 47.643244
UGX 4214.233017
USD 1.150312
UYU 48.213015
UZS 14856.2739
VES 93.012615
VND 29784.441516
VUV 139.148944
WST 3.194419
XAF 663.858551
XAG 0.035189
XAU 0.000336
XCD 3.108775
XDR 0.825576
XOF 661.429223
XPF 119.331742
YER 282.114018
ZAR 21.51143
ZMK 10354.18632
ZMW 32.736071
ZWL 370.399846
  • RBGPF

    63.5900

    63.59

    +100%

  • SCS

    -0.3400

    9.42

    -3.61%

  • GSK

    0.5200

    36.45

    +1.43%

  • AZN

    -0.6900

    66.9

    -1.03%

  • NGG

    0.7900

    72.9

    +1.08%

  • CMSC

    -0.1100

    21.71

    -0.51%

  • RYCEF

    0.0200

    9.31

    +0.21%

  • RELX

    -0.1300

    52.07

    -0.25%

  • BTI

    0.1800

    42.55

    +0.42%

  • BP

    -0.2400

    28.08

    -0.85%

  • RIO

    0.3000

    58.47

    +0.51%

  • CMSD

    -0.1400

    21.82

    -0.64%

  • JRI

    -0.2700

    12.13

    -2.23%

  • VOD

    -0.0800

    9.23

    -0.87%

  • BCE

    0.3400

    22.38

    +1.52%

  • BCC

    -2.6700

    90.8

    -2.94%

New name, little hope, in New York, Ukraine
New name, little hope, in New York, Ukraine

New name, little hope, in New York, Ukraine

The local billionaire's chemical plant stands on the edge of the frontline in New York, eastern Ukraine.

Text size:

The only renovated building of this war-bruised town, called Novgorodske ("new city" in Ukrainian) until last year, is the local cultural centre.

Tetyana Krasko proudly pushes open its metal door and shows off an exhibit paying homage to Ukrainian soldiers fighting Russia-backed rebels for the past eight years.

But the centre offers few clues as to how a group of German settlers decided to call their new home in what was then part of the Russian empire New York in the 1800s.

Soviet officials switched the name to Novgorodske in 1951, only for the locals to flip it back to New York last year.

"It's a mystery that still hasn't been solved," Krasko says about all the name changes.

The name could very well change again should the masses of Russian forces encircling Ukraine on almost every side follow through with their feared invasion.

For now, New York's empty streets echo with the sounds of exploding shells from a new escalation in a separatist conflict that has claimed more than 14,000 lives and pushed 1.5 million from their homes.

Many of the houses in this town of what was once 10,000 people stand empty today. And those who remain have dark thoughts about the days ahead.

"We tell ourselves that they would be too afraid to bomb New York," Krasko says with a bitter laugh, before turning gravely serious.

"It's not funny. There have already been shellings. New York has already suffered."

- Generational divide -

Novgorodske became New York after a campaign launched by young activists in 2016, when the separatist war was just turning quieter after months in which dozens of people were dying each day.

"There was no desire from the local officials for the name change," said Krasko.

"Maybe they were afraid it would cause a scandal. Maybe they thought that having a New York on the frontline would sound weird."

The officials were supported by the older generation who felt personally attached to the old Soviet name.

"But the young people, those with an active social life, were all in favour of change," she said.

Sergiy and Angela, two 16-year-old interns at a college about 40 kilometres (25 miles) from New York, are not terribly bothered about the new name.

In fact, perhaps more than anything, they are thinking of leaving. There is just not that much to do in New York.

The town's main employer is a chemical plant owned by Rinat Akhmetov, a billionaire who has been viewed for years as one of Ukraine's most powerful men.

Akhmetov spends little time in this New York, which is the final stop on a train running from Kramatorsk, a city 45 kilometres to the north that serves as Kyiv's administrative centre for the war-torn east.

About 25 kilometres south lies Donetsk, the rebel stronghold.

"When I grow up, I don't know if it would make sense for me to stay," Sergiy says. "I don't know how long the war will last. We will probably have to leave."

- 'They are fools!' -

The war is on everyone's mind. A sharp escalation at the end of last week has locals fearing the worst.

"Is there going to be a war?" Klava Blynska, 90, shouts down from her balcony.

"I don't want a war! I've seen it before," she says, clearly in no mood to give serious thought to her town's name change.

"They are fools! Why did they do that," she fumes, before returning to the subject at hand: "If (Vladimir) Putin goes to war, he's a moron!"

But for her, as seemingly for many other Russian speakers in New York, the main culprits are the Ukrainian leaders who came to power after a 2014 pro-EU revolution.

"They would judge me in Kyiv if I told you what I think about all this," one middle-aged man said before slamming shut his gate in a huff.

Ella Pylipenko, a 29-year-old mother, contradicted most of her neighbours by saying, in a hushed voice, that she wanted "our land to remain in Ukraine", rather than become Moscow-run.

"But it's very difficult to live here," she added. "There's nowhere to work, the wages are small and there is this shelling."

O.Meier--NZN