Donbass has recently been increasingly mentioned in connection with the difficult political situation in Ukraine. But this mountainous region is famous for many legends, most of which are associated with the local mines and catacombs.
Miner's Ghost
Thus, a very popular legend is about a kind spirit named Shubin, who helps miners, saving them from accidents. Most likely, Shubin is still not a name, but a surname. According to legend, this man lived at the end of the 19th century and was a gas burner by profession. That is, in modern terms, he degassed the mines. Since there was practically no ventilation in the faces at that time, the burner put on a long sheepskin coat soaked in water, entered the mine with a torch and threw it away, while he himself fell to the ground, covering himself with the sheepskin coat. If there was no gas or there was little of it, then the sheepskin coat saved the burner. But sometimes there was a strong explosion. Moreover, the owners of the mine developments were entirely foreigners, and they did not care too much about the safety of local workers.
One version says that Shubin was one of those who were unlucky enough to die in a mine from a methane explosion... Another is more interesting. Like, Shubin didn’t get along with his German owner. His character was conflicting, quarrelsome, and the German constantly oppressed the miners. And then one day Shubin came to the owner drunk and started the following conversation with him: “By what right do you drink our miner’s blood?” He, of course, answered: “I am the owner, I do what I want!” - “Oh, master? - answered Shubin. “Well, then I’ll show you who’s the real boss here.” The burner left, and after that no one saw him alive again. They said that either he died a natural death, or he climbed into a mine while drunk and deliberately blew it up and himself at the same time.
And since then they began to see him from time to time, here and there... Shubin’s spirit appears in front of the miners to lead them out from under the rubble or warn them of some danger. However, according to another version, it, on the contrary, scares the miners and can even collapse or flood the mine. Shubin supposedly lives in distant or abandoned workings. Those who believe in this spirit call him respectfully - “master”...
Diamonds instead of subway
Another “underground” legend of Donbass is associated with diamonds. Once upon a time, back in the Soviet era, they were going to build a metro in Donetsk, but nothing came of it. There were rumors that construction was frozen due to the fact that during the laying of the first metro lines, a deposit of large diamonds was discovered. It seems that there were even eyewitnesses who claimed that the stones were the size of a quail egg.
However, knowledgeable people say that diamonds are indeed “found” in the Donbass. They were first found long before the revolution. But for some unknown reason they did not develop the deposit. The tsarist government put the brakes on everything, and no private investors were found.
Mutants near Mariupol
In the Donbass city of Mariupol there are underground caves, which locals call “Adit” or “Nursery”. According to rumors, during the Soviet era, the KGB equipped secret laboratories in the local dungeons, where they allegedly studied the effects of radiation on people and animals.
Local old-timers willingly share legends about the catacombs with journalists and researchers. One of them, named Roman, recalls the stories of his grandfather that in the 50-60s of the last century, a secret object was located in artificial caves stretching for many kilometers. Although the area was fenced off with barbed wire, some rumors leaked out. The most popular was the myth about mutants who were “bred” in secret KGB laboratories.
The mutants allegedly visited the nearby villages of Chermalyk and Granitnoye from time to time.
Somehow hooligans got into the habit of throwing stones on one woman’s roof - they were breaking the slate,” says Vladimir, a resident of the village of Chermalyk. - She complained to her son. The older guys have gathered, they’re sitting at home, waiting to teach the hooligans a lesson, and it’s already night outside. They heard the gate creaking, then a knock on the roof, well, they rushed after the unknown man, and he fell into the reeds and began to run away across the field towards the “Adit”. In general, they drove the bastard out into the clearing, shine a flashlight - there is a shadow, but there is no man!
The same Vladimir claims that he saw giant snakes near the “Adit” with his own eyes. He recalls:
One evening my father and I were driving a car, and then my father, cursing, sharply slammed on the brakes. We thought that some smart guy had laid a thick hose across the road, about the diameter of a fire hose, and the car jumped when they ran over it. We stopped to remove this "hose". We get out of the car, look, and it curls along the road like a vine, hissing - and towards the “Nursery”. We jumped into the car - and on the gas...
They also allegedly observed strange rodents similar to rats near the object. But still, these were not rats, but giant insects that from time to time crawled into local gardens, frightening the owners with their size.
And here’s what Igor Krinichny from Granitnoye said:
Several years ago, in an argument with my comrades, I climbed into the right cave. The condition was to take a photo at the far wall. I made my way deeper with a lighter, so there was no visibility. I could barely see where to put my foot. About 200 meters later a rustling sound was heard. I stopped to take a closer look, raised the lighter higher, and it was like an electric shock - two huge eyes were looking at me, like those of an insect. I pulled as hard as I could, and this creature hissed - and behind me, I could hear how it moved stones with its body.
However, according to another version, there were no laboratories near Mariupol, but there was a uranium mine. Although one does not interfere with the other. If there is uranium, then it’s clear where the radiation and mutants came from! According to one former party official, testing of mining equipment took place there. After the collapse of the USSR, there was no talk of any secrecy, the catacombs were abandoned, and local bandits set up a shooting range there.
Findings of stalkers
Today, all that remains of the catacombs is a small section at the very entrance, 400 meters long. The remaining tunnels are concreted. Mariupol stalkers often visit there. According to these “hunters,” they more than once came across curious finds in the caves - for example, the remains of unknown equipment. And one day they came across a wedding dress cut from the 1970s-1980s. How it got to this eerie place is a mystery. Did anyone really want to have a wedding here? By the way, someone’s summer shoe without a pair was also discovered there, in the catacombs - apparently, from the same time as the dress.
Of course, it cannot do without mysticism. Stalker Zakhar Berkut claims that he and his comrades managed to photograph a ghost in one of the caves.
“We left the camera here with a long exposure, and in the picture at the end of the tunnel we can clearly see the silhouette of a person, although we know that there was no one there,” he recalls. The most interesting thing is that subsequently the sensational photograph mysteriously disappeared from the photo archive.
Local schoolchildren have a tradition of organizing festivities near the catacombs on graduation day. It was there that another “ghostly” episode happened.
At the graduation party, my brother and his classmates came here, they walked through the clearing and in the undergrowth,” says Vladimir from Chermalyk. - Someone suggested taking a group photo, and everyone stood up in a crowd. Imagine our surprise when in one of the photographs behind the group we found the pale face of a stranger.
Maybe these are the ghosts of the prisoners who built the catacombs? Or the same mutants? Who knows, maybe radiation can turn people into phantoms? One way or another, unlike young people, older residents avoid the former secret facility just in case...
Dina Kuntseva
Over the past three and a half years, military operations in the Donbass have not undergone significant changes. The demarcation line basically runs in accordance with the Minsk agreements, and the warring parties practically do not take offensive actions, limiting their activity mainly to artillery duels. But this is a deceptive feeling. In such a sedentary state, the war continues according to its unwritten laws.
Avdeevskaya industrial zone, a neutral zone between Avdeevka and Yasinovataya, about 20 kilometers north of Donetsk. Here, in the ruins of a building, fighters of the international brigade “Fifteen” fortified themselves. The surviving floor slabs are reinforced with wooden beams, and the cracks and holes are sealed with iron sheets and sandbags, leaving only small openings for firing. The nearest Ukrainian Armed Forces stronghold is some 70 kilometers away.
Photo: / Andrey Nezvany
Meanwhile, the neutral zone lives its own life. The fighters are trying to set up positions, camouflage firing points and mine approaches, trying to reconnoiter as best as possible, as the enemy does the same. Reconnaissance and sabotage groups of the warring parties constantly crawl around the “neutral zone”, collecting data and delivering unpleasant surprises to the enemy. On this narrow piece of land, a war of special forces is now in full swing, without loud victories and unnecessary information noise. But the main threat is snipers. The history of modern warfare has developed a strong axiom: the best remedy against a sniper is only another sniper.
In "Fifteen", this function is performed by Alavata: a French volunteer and favorite of the fighters. Here, at the industrial site, he became a living legend. The hero's name is Erwan Castel, and he is a former NATO officer. He served in special forces for 15 years, participated in operations in a number of African countries, and after retiring, he opened a private travel company in Guinea. The call sign “Alawata” (the name of a small monkey in the tropical forest) matches his appearance: short stature and thin build. In general, nothing heroic. Only his bearing reveals him to be an experienced soldier. Since the beginning of 2015, he joined the ranks of the People's Army fighters and has been almost constantly in service since then.
With his inseparable friend - the SVD rifle - he climbed everything here. Erwan knows every hillock, stone and blade of grass. In this huge labyrinth of stones, twisted iron structures and collapsed concrete blocks, he slowly, meter by meter, moves towards a given goal. Every gesture must be controlled here; one unsuccessful movement can create an avalanche of debris and rubble. Here is the required fragment of the slab, under it a hole provides crawling access to the desired point: under the rubble there is a hole through which it is good to keep an eye on the enemy while remaining in the shadows. Taking a comfortable position, Alavata merges with the stone and scrap concrete chips. Sunlight does not penetrate here, and you can remain unnoticed for quite a long time.
Photo: / Andrey Nezvany
Alavata always works alone. Perhaps this is a tribute to habit, perhaps due to language problems. His vocabulary includes only a few dozen Russian words. However, his experience is trusted and given freedom of action. In his free time, Erwan makes some means of life support and camouflage equipment with his own hands, allowing him to blend into the terrain where he will be going out next.
— I love these solo missions. It's a celebration of slowness, which contrasts with the madness and violence of the modern world, where speed has become a drug, notes Alawata.
Photo: / Andrey Nezvany
And so - several hours, sometimes even a day, you have to wait. Contrary to popular belief, a sniper is primarily an observer. For the most part, his mission takes place without shooting, but the hunter never returns empty-handed, sometimes bringing expensive trophies in the form of information. Trained eyes can spot the small flash of a single shot, accurately calculate the distance and map the fire. It records everything: from the movement of soldiers to the hidden patrol deployed last night to the DPR positions.
— Sometimes 20 meters separate me from the enemy. It’s difficult to describe here this special feeling between calm and tension, where sometimes a minute seems like an eternity, when you hear steps and voices of dill near you (as he calls the soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine), and thoughts wander in the crosshairs, admits Erwan.
Somehow his attention was attracted by a small bush whose leaves were slightly crushed. And below, the grass was torn out, although everything around was buried in greenery. This is what they usually do when they don’t want to reveal their position: the powder gases cause the grass to sway. This time my intuition did not disappoint: a Ukrainian Armed Forces sniper had actually laid down here.
The fighters said that there is a real hunt for Alavata. To eliminate it, a special group of special forces and snipers was even created. They are trying in every possible way to provoke and lure him out. They locate the places of former bedding areas, mine them, and set up ambushes. Erwan noticed one and escaped death.
Now, on the other side, Erwan notes the activities of two snipers. Last night one of them crawled 50 meters and fired several shots from there. Alawata was never able to track him, so it was decided to mine the dangerous area.
In his spare time, Erwan writes his own blog, sharing the harsh truths about the current war. In his homeland, he is considered one of the most popular bloggers with a large number of subscribers. In the DPR, he even managed to work as a journalist in one of the international news agencies.
Photo: / Andrey Nezvany
— By controlling the media, you can control large masses of the population. Therefore, I consider information work to be an equally important activity for myself,” he notes.
In his opinion, right now there is a very high threat of intensification of hostilities. Firstly, this year Ukraine adopted a law on the “reintegration of Donbass”, according to which a military “joint forces operation” begins in the “ATO” zone.
Secondly, the preparation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in material, tactical and psychological terms is now at a very high level. But this state cannot last indefinitely. Supporting units at the maximum combat level has been going on for 4 years already, people can’t stand it, and very quickly the Ukrainian command may face serious problems that are disintegrating the armed forces. These are desertion, suicide, drunkenness, drugs, simply criminal offenses that are always inherent in military units consisting mainly of unmotivated soldiers.
Photo: / Andrey Nezvany
Thirdly, nationalist units are very dissatisfied with the current regime and are ready to march on Kyiv. All these circumstances may force the Kyiv authorities to resume hostilities.
Alavata always emphasizes that he is not a mercenary, he came to fight out of conviction and will never kill for money.
“By fighting in the Donbass, I am primarily defending my country, which is under the dictatorship of the United States. Russia is the only country that dared to challenge the global hegemony of the United States, so it has now become the target of slander and persecution in Western society, he says.
Alavata admits that in three years he has developed sincere feelings for the local people, considers himself Russian at heart and plans to stay here forever.
Svetlana Goncharenko
Lesson summary “An unusual journey into the history of our native land. Donbass"
An unusual journey into history
native land
Target: to cultivate in children feelings of patriotism for their small Motherland; instill in children a sense of pride in their city. Give children knowledge about stories, culture hometown. To create a good mood in children, emotional responsiveness, high activity, and a desire to demonstrate their knowledge and skills.
Vos-l: Every person most loves the region where he was born and lives. Everyone is proud of their native land, always wants to talk about him.
There are a lot of cities on earth, but for everyone the best, most beloved is the city in which he was born, in which he lives. You and I live in a glorious city, worthy of both love and pride, in the city of Donetsk.
1. Video “Donetsk is my favorite city”
Vos-l: Children, do you know poems about Donetsk?
Our city is many years old,
He experienced a lot of grief and troubles.
But despite all this he lived,
How much patience and strength there was!
The city is hardworking, peaceful and glorious.
It is famous for its waste heaps,
Millions of roses and lights
He will outshine any city.
I love my dear city,
The city is bright and big!
For me he is everyone's favorite
For me he is everything native!
Donetsk is a fragile, cloudless paradise,
Like a city of flowers and boulevards.
With a magical whisper the land pleases
Miner's roads, sidewalks.
I love you, my Donetsk!
Where bread ripens in the steppe!
And mines, fields, poplars,
I'll meet you on the way!
My city is beautiful native,
And my homeland!
Maybe somewhere on the planet
There are better cities
It only shines for me in Donetsk
The sun is always generous.
And the illuminated one shines
Bright gold rays
City of blue waste heaps,
City of ringing poplars.
Vos-l: Do you know the capital of the DPR? (Donetsk). Children, today we have to a journey into the history of our Donetsk region. Ready to go?
2. Game-dance “we will go to the left”
Vos-l: Children, what proverbs and sayings about our city and our Motherland do you know?
1. A man without a homeland is like a nightingale without a song.
2. My beloved homeland is like my dear mother.
3. On the other side, the Motherland is doubly dear.
4. Motherland is a mother, know how to stand up for her.
5. Be in lava, as in battle, and you will glorify your Motherland.
6. The miner's face is the front line.
7. To be called a miner, it’s not enough to get dirty with coal.
8. Glory to the miner when lava produces a lot of coal.
9. At the mine, honor is given to those whose coal flows to the mountain.
10. The miners' law is not forget: be ashamed to work somehow.
Vos-l: That's right, kids. Mining work is difficult. And they sing songs about it.
3. Song "Only he appreciates the sun"
Vos-l: Do you want to help the miners?
4. Game "Move the Coal"(truck with "coal" ride around a landmark and pass the car on to someone else. The last person to sit on a chair, take off his helmet screaming: "End of shift!"
Vos-l: And our children also prepared a dance about a young miner.
5. dance "There in the coal mine"
Vos-l: All miners value team spirit! We need to learn to trust our friends and comrades. Therefore, now we will hold a relay race with you.
6. Game "Who is faster" (handing over the miner's helmet).
Vos-l: Well done boys. You know both poems and songs. But listen to the legend.
7. Video “The Legend of Shubin” The text is read by the teacher
(text for the film)
Every city, regardless of the time of its foundation, cherishes legends that are passed on from generation to generation. Legends are preserved exactly as long as they live folk art. In the Donetsk region, industrial coal mining began for the first time at the end of the 18th century. The first mining settlement was formed here more than 300 years ago.
Legends and beliefs were born in the mysterious underground depths, which pioneer miners brought to the surface. Like, for example, the legend about the underground spirit Shubin, which can be compared with the Mistress of the Copper Mountain in the Urals. Shubin is responsible for all underground treasures Donbass. He has enormous power. Among the miners there was an unambiguous opinion about Shubin opinion: he is the owner of the mine, the lord of the local underground wealth. Like other perfumes, "masters of the earth" like the merman, the goblin, the mermaid and the brownie. To see Shubin means to have either fabulous help or warnings of death.
The appearance of the legend about the underground spirit is associated with the profession "Zhoga gas"- worker, there used to be such a terrible profession (work with ignition of methane gas in mine workings. To prevent its explosion). Before each shift, he went down into the mine, walked through the workings with a torch and burned off the gas to prevent a methane explosion. He dressed in a fur coat with the fur facing out and sometimes they poured water on it. That's why gas burners were called fur-burners. This class was quite dangerous, and deaths "Shubins" were not uncommon. One day one of these workers died and has been walking around the mines ever since. Donbass the aged mining foreman Shubin warns the miners of possible danger. Shubin appears in the image of an old miner, coughing like an old man, with brightly burning eyes. Shubin loves tell jokes: scares miners by suddenly bursting into laughter in the darkness, or grabs them by the leg. He supposedly lives in distant or long-abandoned workings, where he can wander unnoticed.
Shubin also helped the miners. For example, he hauled coal himself. And the greedy mine owner, who shouted: “I am the owner of the mine! I do what I want!” Shubin proved who the real boss was by destroying the mine with explosions and collapses in the mine.
Only in Donetsk this image was nicknamed "good", it began to be perceived as one of the symbols of miners' labor. Shubin is distinguished by his kindness, generosity and at the same time extreme irritability and malice. He is kind to honest workers and the poor, but cruel and vindictive towards arrogant people, especially the oppressors of miners. Shubin helps workers trapped under rubble.
Modern miners believe little in mysticism, but in the lives of each of them there have been cases when a blockage happened exactly where a person was just a few minutes ago. Perhaps a premonition. After all, those who have worked in a mine for a very long time have their own miner’s premonition. That’s why Shubin helps workers today. The soul of a dead miner who forever wanders with a lamp in his hand through endless underground labyrinths. Donbass.
8. (photo of Shubin on the screen)
Vos-l: Guests have come to us unusual. They are from the distant past. Do you know what and why our city was called in the distant past? So there is also a legend about this John Hughes.
John Hughes and Shubin
Leading: I heard, they say, Yuz about the wealth of Donetsk the edges, and decided to earn some money for himself and organize his own business. How the fame of coal deposits reached England. Yuz came to the Russian Empire to ask for permission to conduct his business and replenish his own pockets.
John Hughes: Would you please, Your Majesty, give permission for coal mining and metal smelting for Russian needs?
Empress: I’m glad to welcome smart people, so that Russian men can learn from you and learn from experience and knowledge.
Leading: So Yuz came to the east of the Ukrainian lands, to the Donetsk steppes. And everything would be fine, but if only I knew where to dig, where to look for coal... And somehow Yuz wanders around the outskirts of the village, which was later called Yuzovka.
John Hughes: How can I attack a coal vein better?
(An old man in a fur coat approaches him)
Shubin: I know, master, you are trying to find coal... Many are looking, but not many are finding it. You, master, promise me that you won’t do anything wrong. You won't offend your workers. And you can’t break the permitted boundaries, but I’ll give you a card for that. Using that development map, you will be able to guide your development, ensuring prosperity for yourself and your children for generations to come.
If you break your word, don’t be angry, there will be trouble!
John Hughes: I promise! I promise! I promise everything you want!
(Shubin gives a map.)
Shubin: On this map, all the deposits and the best layers are in full view.
(And when Yuz saw that map, he danced with joy.)
Leading: Yuz came to his senses and wanted to ask what the old man’s name was, and where he got that map from. Look around, but there is no one, as if there was no sign of anyone!
9. (photos of factories)
Miracles! Yuz marveled, but was not sad. And why, when such joy came for nothing?
I decided to mine ore using that map. And everything worked out great for him. And he kept his word to the strange old man honestly.
But there is no cure for greed. Yuz could not restrain himself and violated the outlined boundaries of permitted developments. And that shepherd appeared to him in a dream.
Shubin: You didn’t listen to me, master, expect trouble!
Leading: And trouble didn’t take long to arrive. The landowner's youngest son died, and trouble befell his wife. Yuz rushed to look for that stakrik and ask for forgiveness.
John Hughes: Forgive me, old man, Here is your map. If you want, take it.
(Shubin didn’t answer. He left.)
Leading: Yuz got upset and wandered home, looking at the map he had seen a hundred times again on the way. Suddenly, I noticed something that I had not noticed before, an uneven letter Ш in the lower corner. I started asking local miners.
Miner: (looked at the map) He was no ordinary old man. Then the mountain spirit Shubin showed mercy. Yes, master, you did not live up to the trust, now you can’t return your previous luck at all, if only you could stay alive.
Leading: Since then the landowner and his family got together and left the city.
Vos-l: like this story. And ours the journey is coming to an end. You children have in your hearts a high feeling of love for native land, and therefore you can do everything to Donbass and subsequently flourished and grew rich. And for this you need to gain knowledge, know and be able to do a lot, and most importantly, have the desire to bring good to people. So try to study in such a way that your Motherland is proud of you.
10. Anthem of the DPR
Local history. Lesson development. 6th grade
Performed by Lysyak V.V.
Subject. “Water” legends of Donbass. The legend “About the clear-eyed River and the granite Giant”
Goal: -to introduce students to the legends of Donbass;
To promote the formation of a conscious civic position and patriotism as the most important spiritual and moral social values;
Fostering patriotic feelings and respect for the cultural and historical past of the native land;
Development of communication abilities, cooperation skills,
thinking, memory, imagination.
Equipment: presentation on the topic, notebooks, sheets of A-4 format, felt-tip pens. Interdisciplinary connections: history, geography.
Lesson progress (Slide 1)
I love you, my Fatherland!
I love you, Donetsk region!
You are my source, water to drink,
You are my air, you are my bread and salt.
(O. Kuripko)
L.Organizational moment.
ll. Heuristic conversation:
Children, who knows what local history is?
Name the associative series for the word “local history” (the study of nature, population, economy, history and culture of any part of the country)
Choose synonyms for the word “local history” (local history, study of the region)
(Slide 2)
Read, draw a conclusion: local history is... -Write the definition in your notebook. lll. Working on new material. Teacher's opening speech. Local lore has its roots in the distant past. All peoples, at all times, had people who knew well the area around them, its nature, past and modern life, folklore. Unknown folk “Kraeznatsy” were experts on their native places. Their knowledge of historical, geographical , cultural nature orally or in various documents they passed on to subsequent generations, thereby maintaining continuity in the material and spiritual culture of peoples. (Slide 3)
Message from the Geographers group.
A glorious river flows in the Donetsk region, which is called Kalmius. It begins near the city of Yasinovataya and flows into the Sea of Azov near Mariupol. In its course, it passes through geological formations rare on earth. Having left the Donetsk Ridge, it crosses the ancient granite massif of the Azov Upland. (Slide 4)
Message from the “Historians” group.
Many historical events are associated with Kalmius from the times of the Scythians and Polovtsians to the tragic battle of the Russians with the Tatar-Mongols on Kalka. The first description of the nature and life of the peoples who once inhabited the territory of our region (Scythia) belongs to the famous ancient Greek historian Herodotus.
(Slide 5)
Message from the group "Linguists".
The search for the origin of the name of the Kalmius River began relatively recently, only in the middle of the nineteenth century. The famous geologist O.B. Ivanitsky, who studied the rocks of Donbass in 1833-1841, believed that the name of the river comes from the Turkic kal - gold. There are also versions that the first name of the river comes from the Old Slavic kala-hill, rocky area; the Scythians called the Kalk-Nomadic River. (Slide 6)
Message from the “Historians” group.
Back in the sixteenth century, in the state papers of Tsar Ivan the Terrible, the river was called Kala (Kalka). The possibility of the emergence of the modern name of the Kalmius river was influenced by the emergence of the Tatar road - the Kalmius sakma. It ran along the Kali river and went from it to the Mius river (in Tatar horn). Near this road at the mouth of the Kali River, the Cossacks built a fortress and named it Kalmius. (Slide 7) Teacher. Tourists and residents of the Donetsk region have always been interested in the events, legends of our region. Today we will get to know one of them.
Children, which of you will say what a legend is? (Slide 8)
Name the types of legends. (Slide 9)
Vl. Work on the text of the legend “About the Clear-Eyed River and the Granite Giant”
1. Expressive reading of the legend. In ancient times, mighty heroes lived in our area - the stern Ridge and the ancient granite Giant. The Ridge was fabulously rich, its underground treasures were countless. He owned the chalk mountains of the Dontso region, huge deposits of salt, huge deposits of the most valuable fluorite, and in the deep depths he stored an immense amount of coal. But more than his treasures, the hero was proud of his daughter, the blue-eyed Rechka . He called her Golden, and others called her that. The River was born on the ravine slopes of the Ridge from many pure springs. Her father generously gave her his deep underground waters, dressed her in the green attire of the meadows, and did not skimp on jewelry. The beauty made everyone happy. She rolled along the flowering banks, but could not see her way to the blue sea.
It was blocked by a powerful granite Giant. (Slide 10)
In search of the sea, the River left her father’s lands and where she crossed over to the land of the Giant, she left a small waterfall that still brings joy to people. The fugitive’s road was not easy: it skirted hills, overcame rocky rifts, and made intricate turns. Nowadays, looking at the riverbed from above, you can see the intricate letters written by the River, the many-kilometer omega near the village of Kirsanovo is especially elegant.
The Granite Giant had been lying by the sea since the creation of the earth. He was bored with endless time, and he no longer saw anything that could please him. The cheerfully and tirelessly murmuring River caressed the granite Giant with its waves, and his stone heart thawed. He opened it for her its own break in the granites, through which the irrepressible River continued to flow its waters. To the sea. (Slide 11)
The young beauty was very pretty, framed by the granite banks. The Giant fell in love with the cheerful River, and he gave her diamond earrings. These were two kimberlite pipes (geologists found them these days on the banks near the village of Starolaspa). The hero dressed the beauty in gold. From the depths of the faults, where molten metals rose from the depths along cracks in granites, the Giant took blocks pierced with gold veins and lowered them into the river. She playfully played with shiny stones, grinding large blocks into golden sand, and carried them into the sea.
The Giant tried to please her guest: she erected rocks along her shores that looked like fortresses and towers, placed mysterious stone figures to guard her peace, and laid out expensive jewelry for her on the shores from her underground treasuries. And now people are finding petrified corals, large blue and green fluorite crystals and transparent purple amethysts in the riverbed. (Slide 12)
Millions of years pass, but the Donetsk Ridge and the Azov Upland remain unshakable, and the Giant still looks carefully at her eternally young beauty and listens to the music of her waves.
2. Conversation on issues.
Did you like the legend?
What river are we talking about?
What heroes settled in our area?
What did the powerful Ridge possess?
Who was the hero most proud of?
Why didn’t the River see its way to the sea?
What does the River look like when you look at it from above?
Why did the Giant's heart thaw?
What did the granite Giant give to the blue-eyed beauty? -What did he dress up River in? -What do people find in the river bed these days? -What can be called fabulous in the text of the legend, and what can be called real?
What type of legend can this be classified as?
3.Work in groups (work with felt-tip pens on separate sheets).
1st group. Determine the genre, theme, idea of the text.
2nd group. Divide the legend into semantic parts and title them.
3rd group. Creation of an “Associative tree”.
4th group. Compiling a sequence (summarizing).
4.Checking the work, making appropriate entries in workbooks
(Slide 13) (Slide 14)
V.Reflection.Test.
1. He was fabulously rich:
a) Giant;
b) Ridge;
c) Granite;
2. The hero Kryazh was proud:
a) their wealth;
b) his daughter;
c) their meadows;
3. The father called his daughter River:
a) Gold;
b) Diamond;
c) Coral;
4. What Kryazh gave to the River: a) granite stones; b) meadow plants; c) groundwater;
5. What did the River leave where it crossed into the land of the Giant:
a) high hill;
b) a murmuring waterfall;
c) flat shore;
6.Geologists found diamond pipes on the banks of the River near the village:
a) Starobeshevo;
b) Novoazovsk;
c) Old man;
Vl.Summing up the lesson.
What was discussed in the lesson?
What new and interesting things did you learn?
Vll. Rating with commenting
Vlll.Homework: on the Internet, find and read the legend about the Bakhmutka River; prepare for retelling
Donbass has recently been increasingly mentioned in connection with the difficult political situation in Ukraine. But this mountainous region is famous for many legends, most of which are associated with the local mines and catacombs.
Miner's Ghost
Thus, a very popular legend is about a spirit named Shubin, who helps miners, saving them from accidents. Most likely, Shubin is still not a name, but a surname. According to legend, this man lived at the end of the 19th century and was a gas burner by profession. That is, in modern terms, he degassed the mines. Since there was practically no ventilation in the faces at that time, the burner put on a long sheepskin coat soaked in water, entered the mine with a torch and threw it away, while he himself fell to the ground, covering himself with the sheepskin coat.
Monument to Shubin
If there was no gas or there was little of it, then the sheepskin coat saved the burner. But sometimes there was a strong explosion. Moreover, the owners of the mine developments were entirely foreigners, and they did not care too much about the safety of local workers.
One version says that Shubin was one of those who was unlucky enough to die in a mine from a methane explosion... Another is more interesting. Like, Shubin didn’t get along with his German owner. His character was conflicting, quarrelsome, and the German constantly oppressed the miners. And then one day Shubin came to the owner drunk and started the following conversation with him: “By what right do you drink our miner’s blood?” He, of course, answered: “I am the owner, I do what I want!” - “Oh, master? - answered Shubin. “Well, then I’ll show you who’s the real boss here.” The burner left, and after that no one saw him alive again.
They said that either he died a natural death, or he climbed into a mine while drunk and deliberately blew it up and himself at the same time. And since then they began to see him from time to time, here and there... Shubin’s spirit appears in front of the miners to lead them out from under the rubble or warn them of some danger. However, according to another version, it, on the contrary, scares the miners and can even collapse or flood the mine. Shubin supposedly lives in distant or abandoned workings. Those who believe in this spirit call him respectfully - “master”...
Diamonds instead of subway
Another “underground” legend of Donbass is associated with diamonds. Once upon a time, back in the Soviet era, they were going to build a metro in Donetsk, but nothing came of it. There were rumors that construction was frozen due to the fact that during the laying of the first metro lines, a deposit of large diamonds was discovered. It seems that there were even eyewitnesses who claimed that the stones were the size of a quail egg.
However, knowledgeable people say that diamonds are indeed “found” in the Donbass. They were first found long before the revolution. But for some unknown reason they did not develop the deposit. The tsarist government put the brakes on everything, and no private investors were found.
Mutants near Mariupol
In the Donbass city of Mariupol there are underground caves, which locals call “Adit” or “Nursery”. According to rumors, during the Soviet era, the KGB equipped secret laboratories in the local dungeons, where they allegedly studied the effects of radiation on people and animals.
Local old-timers willingly share legends about the catacombs with journalists and researchers. One of them, named Roman, recalls the stories of his grandfather that in the 50-60s of the last century, a secret object was located in artificial caves stretching for many kilometers. Although the area was fenced off with barbed wire, some rumors leaked out. The most popular was the myth about mutants who were “bred” in secret KGB laboratories.
The mutants allegedly visited the nearby villages of Chermalyk and Granitnoye from time to time.
Somehow hooligans got into the habit of throwing stones on one woman’s roof - they were breaking the slate,” says Vladimir, a resident of the village of Chermalyk. - She complained to her son. The older guys have gathered, they’re sitting at home, waiting to teach the hooligans a lesson, and it’s already night outside. They heard the gate creaking, then a knock on the roof, well, they rushed after the unknown man, and he fell into the reeds and began to run away across the field towards the “Adit”. In general, they drove the bastard out into the clearing, shine a flashlight - there is a shadow, but there is no man!
The same Vladimir claims that he saw giant snakes near the “Adit” with his own eyes. He recalls:
One evening my father and I were driving a car, and then my father, cursing, sharply slammed on the brakes. We thought that some smart guy had laid a thick hose across the road, about the diameter of a fire hose, and the car jumped when they ran over it. We stopped to remove this "hose". We get out of the car, look, and it curls along the road like a vine, hissing - and towards the “Nursery”. We jumped into the car - and on the gas...
They also allegedly observed strange rodents similar to rats near the object. But still, these were not rats, but giant insects that from time to time crawled into local gardens, frightening the owners with their size.
And here’s what Igor Krinichny from Granitnoye said:
Several years ago, in an argument with my comrades, I climbed into the right cave. The condition was to take a photo at the far wall. I made my way deeper with a lighter, so there was no visibility. I could barely see where to put my foot. About 200 meters later a rustling sound was heard. I stopped to take a closer look, raised the lighter higher, and it was like an electric shock - two huge eyes were looking at me, like those of an insect. I pulled as hard as I could, and this creature hissed - and behind me, I could hear how it moved stones with its body.
However, according to another version, there were no laboratories near Mariupol, but there was a uranium mine. Although one does not interfere with the other. If there is uranium, then it’s clear where the radiation and mutants came from! According to one former party official, testing of mining equipment took place there. After the collapse of the USSR, there was no talk of any secrecy, the catacombs were abandoned, and local bandits set up a shooting range there.
Findings of stalkers
Today, all that remains of the catacombs is a small section at the very entrance, 400 meters long. The remaining tunnels are concreted. Mariupol stalkers often visit there. According to these “hunters,” they more than once came across curious finds in the caves - for example, the remains of unknown equipment. And one day they came across a wedding dress cut from the 1970s-1980s. How it got to this eerie place is a mystery. Did anyone really want to have a wedding here? By the way, someone’s summer shoe without a pair was also discovered there, in the catacombs - apparently, from the same time as the dress.
Of course, it cannot do without mysticism. Stalker Zakhar Berkut claims that he and his comrades managed to photograph a ghost in one of the caves.
“We left the camera here with a long exposure, and in the picture at the end of the tunnel we can clearly see the silhouette of a person, although we know that there was no one there,” he recalls. The most interesting thing is that subsequently the sensational photograph mysteriously disappeared from the photo archive.
Local schoolchildren have a tradition of organizing festivities near the catacombs on graduation day. It was there that another “ghostly” episode happened.
At the graduation party, my brother and his classmates came here, they walked through the clearing and in the undergrowth,” says Vladimir from Chermalyk. -Someone suggested taking a group photo, and everyone stood up in a crowd. Imagine our surprise when in one of the photographs behind the group we found the pale face of a stranger.
Maybe these are the ghosts of the prisoners who built the catacombs? Or the same mutants? Who knows, maybe radiation can turn people into phantoms? One way or another, unlike young people, older residents avoid the former secret facility just in case...
Dina KUNTSEVA
