Donetsk , Ukraine ( CNN ) -- The world sees Ukraine in turmoil , a country divided between Russian speakers and Ukrainian nationalists , its towns and cities roiled by occupations , its highways dotted with improvised barricades . The reality is rather different . Only one town in eastern Ukraine -- Slovyansk , is truly held by pro-Russian protesters , with roadblocks at several entrances . Its defenders are a mixture of the `` men in green , '' dozens of well-armed fighters wearing fatigues and balaclavas , teenagers looking for some action and what might be termed the Baboushka Brigade , middle-aged women with flashing gold teeth who decry the Kiev `` junta '' and see Vladimir Putin as their savior ( and the prospect of Russian ownership as bringing improved pensions ) . A relatively compact town of narrow streets , with several river crossings at its outskirts , Slovyansk is easy to defend . The active pro-Russian groups there -- civilian and in uniform ( s ) -- seem to number no more than several hundred . Of the 130,000 inhabitants , many seem sympathetic to the pro-Russian protesters -- or more accurately hostile to the government in Kiev , which they see as dominated by nationalists who will sell out to the European Union and NATO . But most people go about their lives almost oblivious to the upheaval . Weddings take place , people sit by the lake eating kebabs and pizza , the outdoor market bustles . It does n't feel like Sarajevo , and the warning by the self-declared mayor , Vyacheslav Ponomaryev , that it could be the next Stalingrad , one of the defining battles of World War II , seems surreal . Ponomaryev says Slovyansk is under siege by the Ukrainian army , but Ukrainian troops have done little more than approach roadblocks on the outskirts -- only to withdraw . Trucks negotiate the slalom of checkpoints on their way to and from the Russian border . Commerce ca n't stop for the rebellion . And a few miles away , sightseers take in Svyatohirsk 's historic monastery , with its gleaming blue and gold steeples . In Donetsk , the region 's capital and Ukraine 's fifth-largest city , up-market fashion stores are busy ; the leaders of the Ukrainian football league , Shakhtar Donetsk , play home games as scheduled ; cafes are full in the spring sunshine ; the airport is open and functioning normally . You would only know something was abnormal by approaching the regional government building , an 11-story slab of concrete surrounded by tires and festooned with Russian and Donbass flags and less than complimentary banners about NATO and U.S. President Barack Obama . Inside there may be a couple of hundred pro-Russian protesters at any one time , including the leadership of the Donbass People 's Republic . Outside are a similar number -- - supporters , onlookers , miners in orange helmets who fear that if Ukraine joins the European Union they 'll be out of a job because of more stringent health and safety regulations . The rest of the city works , worships and worries about the political paralysis that has engulfed Ukraine . Of a city of just under 1 million , a few hundred are involved in political agitation . In Mariupol , Kramatorsk , Horlivka and other towns across the Donetsk region where government buildings and police stations have been taken over , there is little sense of momentum in the pro-Russian protests . In Horlivka , a gritty industrial town north of Donetsk , a platoon of the Babushka Brigade stood beneath Lenin 's statue outside the sleepy City Hall last week , ready to tell anyone who would listen that all they wanted was a referendum on their future , the chance to be free from the `` fascists '' in Kiev . But there do seem to be more weapons in circulation , compared to two weeks ago . At a roadblock north of Slovyansk , on the main road to Kharkiv , a CNN team was briefly inspected last week by a couple of teenagers waving hand guns apparently liberated from a police armory . And there are other ominous signs . Until now , the rarity of pro-Ukrainian rallies in the east has prevented street clashes . But a pro-Ukrainian event attended by several hundred people on Monday was attacked by pro-Russians wielding bats and clubs -- - was the first political violence of any consequence in the city for more than three weeks . On the same day , the mayor of Kharkiv was shot and wounded , and pro-Russian `` men in green '' seized another town hall at Kostyantynivka , near Slovyansk . Still , words like uprising or insurgency , let alone civil war , the phrase sometimes deployed by Russia , do n't really describe events in eastern Ukraine . Much depends on whether pro-Ukrainian groups in the east are prepared to mobilize in the next month , during which the `` referendum '' being organized by pro-Russian protesters will take place to decide whether Donetsk and Luhansk should leave Ukraine ( May 11 ) , followed by Ukraine 's presidential election two weeks later . If they do , then the potential for unrest grows . The numbers involved so far -- - on either side -- - suggest neither widespread bloodshed nor a decisive resolution of the crisis are imminent . The Ukrainian government -- - short of special forces and equipment -- - seems incapable of reasserting its authority in towns where pro-Russian protesters have hoisted their flags . The debate rages about how far the Russian government is exploiting , stoking or wildly exaggerating anti-Kiev resentment . To many observers , President Vladimir Putin seems intent on keeping the Ukrainian government off balance rather than invading . Cliff Kupchan , of political risk consultancy Eurasia Group , says `` his visceral desire to influence Ukraine 's trajectory will remain , and he will pursue his goals of securing Ukraine 's geopolitical neutrality and political federalization with unabated vigor . '' His long-term goal , says Kupchan , is `` grabbing territory through proxies and generally destabilizing Eastern Ukraine , thereby achieving de facto 'federalization ' through Russian influence over the east . '' Eastern Ukraine is as much , perhaps more , a battleground between East and West as a battle on the ground . The rhetoric flies in both directions . The Russian foreign ministry accuses the Ukrainian government of building detention centers resembling fascist concentration camps for `` disloyal citizens . '' British Foreign Secretary William Hague says Moscow is `` undermining its own influence in its neighbourhood , steadily disconnecting Russia from the international community and damaging Russia 's own prosperity and security over the long-term . '' In the game of geopolitical poker , the U.S. and Europe have added modestly to the list of Russian individuals and companies sanctioned , hoping the markets will do the rest by further punishing the Russian stock market and the rouble . Russia 's Deputy Foreign Minister , Sergei Ryabkov , responds by calling the measures meaningless , shameful and disgusting . Who holds the winning card ? The Russian writer , Vladimir Sorokin , a veteran observer of politics in his country and rare voice of dissent , admits to being at a loss , because Putin 's intentions are impossible to read . Writing in the New York Review of Books , Sorokin says : `` Unpredictability has always been Russia 's calling card , but since the Ukrainian events , it has grown to unprecedented levels : no one knows what will happen to our country in a month , in a week , or the day after tomorrow . '' Ukrainians could say the same .
World sees Ukraine in turmoil , but reality is different , writes CNN 's Tim Lister . Lister : Only one town in eastern Ukraine -- Slovyansk , is truly held by pro-Russian protesters . But most people go about their lives almost oblivious to the upheaval , he writes . There seem to be more weapons in circulation , compared to two weeks ago , he says .