FGV-SP 2019: In paragraph 5, the sentence “On paper, there is no border between the two parts of Ukraine”

THEATER OF WAR On April 12th 2014 Igor Girkin, a former Russian military officer also known as “Strelkov” (“Shooter”), sneaked across the...

THEATER OF WAR

On April 12th 2014 Igor Girkin, a former Russian military officer also known as “Strelkov” (“Shooter”), sneaked across the border into Ukraine’s Donbas region with a few dozen men and took control of the small town of Sloviansk, igniting Europe’s bloodiest war since the 1990s. To create the impression of strength, Mr Girkin, an aficionado of historical battlefield re-enactments, masqueraded as a member of Russia’s special forces, and had his men drive two armoured personnel carriers around every night to simulate a large build-up. In fact, his army never exceeded 600 men, mainly Cossacks and war-hungry opportunists like himself.

Having just lost Crimea and lacking a functioning government or military command after the Maidan revolution, Ukraine was stunned. As Russia massed its forces on the border with Ukraine, most observers (and participants such as Mr Girkin) expected a swift invasion followed by annexation. Instead, the Kremlin created an ersatz [falsificada] civil war, absurdly portraying the Kiev government as a “fascist” regime and the separatists as freedom fighters. As the Ukrainian army moved in to try to retake Donbas, Mr Girkin and his fighters took up positions in a psychiatric hospital on the outskirts of Sloviansk, using its patients as human shields.

Today, the ruined psychiatric hospital, resembling a scene out of the battle of Stalingrad, is a symbol of the madness of an essentially theatrical conflict that has cost 10,000 lives and displaced more than 1.7 million people. Yet officially, Russia and Ukraine are not at war. They maintain diplomatic relations and trade with each other. Ukraine has euphemistically designated the conflict zone an area of “anti-terrorist operations.” Most of the people caught up in the war do not care who started it, or what they call it.

“I am against everyone,” says Lyudmila Prikhodko, who lives in a restored building among the hospital’s ruins. (The names of civilians in the conflict zone have been changed.) An engineer, Ms Prikhodko was forced to flee Donetsk after refusing to support the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR). She feels equally alienated from Russia and Ukraine. “DNR treats people like me as enemies. Ukraine sees us as potential separatists.”

On paper, there is no border between the two parts of Ukraine. In practice, there are several frontier control points, manned by border guards and customs officials and crossed by those who live in the separatist territories but must work, receive pensions or handle bureaucratic problems on the Ukrainian side. Andrei Borisov, a smuggler who carries food, cigarettes and pesticides from Ukrainian territory across the line of control, says everyone is in on the business: customs officers, local officials and separatists on the other side.

Adapted from The Economist , May 24ᵗʰ 2017.

QUESTÃO 36
FGV-SP 2019: In paragraph 5, the sentence “On paper, there is no border between the two parts of Ukraine” most likely refers to which of the following?

a) Russia and Ukraine are still trying to reach a negotiated settlement to the armed conflict in the Donbas region.

b) Despite issuing propaganda to the contrary, Russia wants to make sure that Ukraine stays united.

c) Because of the armed conflict in Ukraine’s Donbas region, crossing the border between that territory and the rest of Ukraine has become a bureaucratic nightmare.

d) The border between the parts of Ukraine has been deliberately kept vague and porous in order to facilitate corruption.

e) Although some people are fighting to separate one part of Ukraine permanently from the other, such a separation has not yet been officially recognized.

QUESTÃO ANTERIOR:
- FGV-SP 2019: With respect to Lyudmila Prikhodko, the article supports all of the following except

RESOLUÇÃO:
Lê-se a resposta no início do quinto parágrafo.
“On paper, there is no border between the two parts of Ukraine.”

GABARITO:
e) Although some people are fighting to separate one part of Ukraine permanently from the other, such a separation has not yet been officially recognized.

PRÓXIMA QUESTÃO:
- FGV-SP 2019: According to Andrei Borisov in paragraph 5, what do “customs officers, local officials and separatists on the other side” all have in common?

QUESTÃO DISPONÍVEL EM:
- Prova FGV-SP 2019; Questões com Gabarito