Ivano-Frankivsk sketches: are there any Azerbaijanis in the city?
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REPORTS 13 August 2023 - 17:30

Russian troops launched a missile strike on the Ivano-Frankivsk region in the morning of August 11. The head of the regional military administration Svitlana Onishchuk voiced the announcement on her Telegram channel. “A civilian object was attacked. There are victims, among them a child who was taken to the hospital in critical condition. Medics did everything possible, but, unfortunately, it was not possible to save the child's life," - said Onishchuk.

She urged obedience to air raid alarms: “The call is more than correct, because the Ivano-Frankivsk region, and even more so Ivano-Frankivsk itself, has been relatively calm until recently, with no regular missile strikes or UAV attacks. There, in the Ivano-Frankivsk region, many residents of different regions of Ukraine found shelter there during the full-scale war that Russia unleashed against those whom it falsely called ‘brothers’.”

“The region is rich in forests and rivers. The main river is the Dniester. But there is also the Prut River, sung by Sofia Rotaru, with its tributary Cheremosh. This region can compete with the best mountain resorts of Switzerland and Austria. It is not for nothing that the Ivano-Frankivsk region has a large number of recreation areas, luxury hotel complexes, used also for children's recreation in language and other camps.”

“I would not be surprised if it turns out that Russian troops are deliberately targeting such children's camps - the Russian Federation's tactics of war against civilians are exactly the same as those of its main allies in our region. Armenia, having suffered defeats on the battlefield during the 44-day war, also launched missile strikes on peaceful Azerbaijani towns - Ganja, Barda, Mingachevir.”

In fact, as early as mid-March last year, the Russian army launched strikes on the international airport in Ivano-Frankivsk. Its infrastructure was almost completely destroyed. And before the war, it was the third airport in Ukraine in terms of the number of domestic destinations. In total, flights were carried out to four Ukrainian cities. In the summer season, a number of charter flights were operated from the airport.

“It was quite recently, it was so long ago. In peaceful life, when residents of Ivano-Frankivsk region regularly travelled to neighbouring countries, taking advantage of the visa-free regime. Geographical proximity with Poland, Romania, Moldova, Hungary allowed for active trade. Now this is not the case. At the same time, in general, the city lives a quiet life,”

A free place in the best cafes and restaurants of the city is hard to find even on weekdays, not to mention weekends and holidays. By the way, there are a lot of places for recreation in Ivano-Frankivsk. There are catamarans in the city lake, in which residents and guests of the city dive. Literally across the street from it is a huge park named after T.H.Shevchenko, full of tall trees and ponds. By the way, the city is named in honor of Ivan Franko, but I saw much more Shevchenko monuments here. And they are different - there are both young and old Shevchenko.

In general, there are a lot of parks here and all of them are a real recreation area, not the location of a large number of kebab shops. Plus, what I particularly liked about Ivano-Frankivsk is the bike lanes. There are them in almost every part of the city, especially in the parks. And they don't start and end suddenly, but are a very long, uninterrupted direction.

Are there any Azerbaijanis in this beautiful city? There are, but very few. Before the large-scale war the Azerbaijani Diaspora of Ivano-Frankivsk numbered about 150 people. Now it is even less. It is a pity. This city is not only convenient and comfortable for permanent residence, but also attractive for business people. And Azerbaijanis have never had any problems with this. So, I think, in time the number of our compatriots in Ivano-Frankivsk will grow. The main thing is that the war, which is destroying the present and future of our beautiful country every day, should end soon.