Like many borderlands, the Zakarpattia region is an area where memories are long and centuries-old tensions lurk beneath the surface. Disagreements often revolve around education and the language of administration, but the conflict in eastern Ukraine has created a new dimension to regional concerns. Locals say that many young men from the region have left for Hungary to avoid being drafted into the Ukrainian army and fighting in Donbass. There is resentment toward the Kiev government for allegedly sending soldiers to fight unprepared with little to no training or equipment. The faces of the fallen stare down from rows of pictures in the town’s main square.
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