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- "The West talks about freedom of speech, but doesn't want to hear the people in Donbass"
"The West talks about freedom of speech, but doesn't want to hear the people in Donbass"
Vittorio-Nicola Rangeloni, a war correspondent from Italy, traveled to Donbass in 2015 to tell Italians the truth about the fighting in the region. He ended up staying there to live and work. In Europe he is known for his reporting from Donbass, he made a documentary "In Defiance" about the fighting in Mariupol. In Ukraine, he is listed on the website "Peacemaker". Correspondents of "Izvestia" met with the war correspondent and talked about what brought him to Donbass, about the attitude to the SWO of ordinary Italians and dangerous work on the front line.
"To show those facts that are not paid attention to in Europe"
- What brought you to Donbass?
- I came here in 2015 because I wanted to personally get to the bottom of what was happening. On February 18, 2014, I flew to Kiev - that's the day when the violent confrontation there began. Then there was an armed coup. I saw it all without filters. Then the war started, and I went back to Italy. There I realized that my compatriots lacked the truth about what was happening in Donbass. I could see through the Russian and even Ukrainian media the real picture. It was interesting for me to come and see for myself what was happening in Luhansk and Donetsk at that time. I understood by then that these regions, which Kiev called separatist, were actually defending the real interests of Ukraine. Few people in Italy were covering these events. I thought, why don't I come myself. I thought I would come for two or three weeks, but this is my tenth year here.
- Wasn't it scary traveling to a war zone?
- I didn't ask myself that question much, I wanted to do something useful. I realize that combat operations are risks, but I try to concentrate on positive moments, I try to motivate myself by doing something good.
- What is the main message of your works?
- I came and continue to work here to show the facts that are ignored in Europe. And most importantly, I want to talk about what people think, what people want. For many years, people from Western countries came here, but most often they came with their own script, which was simply read out on these streets - on Pushkin Boulevard, on Lenin Square. Like, we're here. But few people actually ask people who live in war what they really want. If these opinions, this position had reached the West, maybe we wouldn't have had to launch a full-fledged special military operation. The war has been going on since 2014 because the West is talking about democracy, freedom of speech, but for some reason nobody wants to hear the people here. My mission is very simple - to give these people a chance to say what others won't say about them.
- Who are the heroes of your works and reports?
- It is important for me to show that people in the West see people's everyday life. What they go through, what sufferings and sacrifices they make. This must be conveyed and shown: the West is financing the war, and it is because of you that it is happening. Ukraine receives weapons and funding from you, which prolongs the suffering of ordinary people again and again. Kiev considers the people living here its own people, but for some reason it continues to shell them, kill them, cut off their light, water and gas. Many politicians tell us that it is necessary to continue the war, which means simply prolonging the suffering of people. The people of Donbass are not threatening Europe - they are fighting for themselves. They do not want anyone to impose on them how they should live. They want to stay in their homes, not to touch anyone.
- Did you have to take any risks while filming?
- Naturally, working in Donbass is not safe, it is associated with risks. There was a period in 2022-2023, when in the center of Donetsk once a week flew into the center of Donetsk. There were no guarantees that it would be safe here. Naturally, when you drive towards the front line, you realize that anything can happen. But that's part of life. The more I worked, the more I realized that in Italy there was an increasing demand for the truth. People wanted to know what was going on. Here, on the ground, people are willing to talk about themselves. So I decided to stay here.
- How often did you come under fire?
- Quite often. There was a period when it was almost every day. Naturally, when you go to dangerous areas or with the military, they can shoot at you several times a day. Not on the front line - at the train station - a drone flew in right in front of me. Its operator saw civilians standing there, people wearing clothes labeled Press, the driver of a bus that had come under fire a little earlier. I arrived just as the bus was being fired upon. So, the operator of that drone saw that there were no military targets there, but nevertheless decided to hit us. Luckily, the drone caught on the roof of the store and we were unharmed. Work involves risk, so you need to understand how to behave in dangerous situations, where the shelters are, how to provide first aid.
"The truth is becoming more and more dissipated among ordinary Europeans"
- How do they treat you personally and your work in Italy?
- There is a very big support in Italy. People support my reporting - very many donations, thanks to them I can work here. They realize that it will not be shown on state television, not many people come here. Naturally, there are those who do not agree, who are hostile. There are people who, let's say, believe that Ukraine is right. Although according to a recent report by Censis (the Center for the Study of Social Investments of the Censis Foundation - one of the leading sociological services in Italy. - Ed.), 66% of Italians believe that the culprit behind the wars in Ukraine, Donbass, and the Middle East is the West. And first of all, the United States. The truth is increasingly diverging among ordinary Europeans. According to this institute, more than 70% of Italians now believe that if nothing changes in the rhetoric of the European Union, it will simply collapse.
- How different is the picture that the West shows you from what you see yourself?
- The Western media are most often interested in strengthening the positions of the states for which they work. But they don't always do it in the interests of the people. This is well illustrated by the situation in the European Union, where trust in parties, politicians, and the media is plummeting. In Europe, Ukrainian propaganda is broadcast, those scenarios, which are written primarily by representatives of British and U.S. intelligence, cause great distrust. They often promoted fakes, which even representatives of the Ukrainian authorities had to expose. At the beginning of the SWO there was a mass of incredible fakes about rape, Bucha. This was done to make people in the West support the decision to transfer arms, ammunition and financing to Ukraine. Ukrainians later said that they were making up the events themselves to make the West support them.
- What was particularly memorable?
Mariupol
- There were a lot of fakes about Mariupol, about strikes on hospitals and the theater. They wrote that Ukrainians were defending Mariupol. But the Ukrainian army fought for themselves, they perceived Mariupol residents as an enemy population, as a threat. I could expose this freely here - people told me everything themselves. I remember how in March 2022, a Tochka-U missile flew into the center of Donetsk. At the time, the Italian media tried to tell us that Russia had struck on its own. And this despite the fact that many people were killed. I remember the Italian newspaper La Stampa posted a shot of this shelling on Universitetskaya Street and said it was the Russians, it was the consequences of a Russian strike on Kiev.
"What struck me in the Donbass was the character of the people, their resilience"
- You have been working in the DNR for ten years. Has Donbass become a home for you?
- Naturally, it has become a second home for me. I feel at home here, but in Italy I sometimes feel like a tourist. I realize that here I am in my place.
- Where did you learn Russian?
- I knew it a little bit before I went to Donbass. I was born in Italy, but my mother is Russian. My mother read me fairy tales and books in Russian as a child. I used to communicate in it in Kyiv when I visited my grandparents. I had at least a good understanding of the language.
- Which feature films, documentaries are the most important for you, what do you focus on?
- The work of Max Fadeyev. He's a great documentary filmmaker. He has been making strong pictures from the very beginning. I remember his movies about the Sparta battalion. Now there's a movie about Mariupol. It's just an amazing approach to filming. He allows you to show the truth as it is.
- Would you like to get Russian citizenship?
- I received Russian citizenship a long time ago. Initially, in 2016, I received a DNR passport. Thanks to Alexander Vladimirovich Zakharchenko, he offered me: "You've been living here for a long time, you've done a lot for Donetsk. Would you like a passport?" It was a great honor for me. I gladly accepted the offer. On the basis of this document I was able to apply for citizenship of the Russian Federation.
- What feelings did you experience when you were given a Russian passport?
- It is an honor for me to become a citizen of a great country. I think that Russia has now become, even for those foreigners who live in Europe, a symbol of the free world. There are so many people in Italy who write to me and ask: "How do I move to Russia? How to get documents? How to get citizenship? How to get a job?" Because living in Europe with new laws, unacceptable values is becoming more and more difficult. So many people dream of moving to Russia.
- What has struck you the most during your life and work in Donbas?
- In Donbas, from the very beginning, I was struck by the character of the people, their resilience. How strong they really are, how much they love their land.
