Most stories about racist attacks in Ukraine take place in large cities, but a May 21, 2008 article in the Donetsk regional newspaper Vostochny Prospekt profiles these issues in Kramatorsk (population 200,000). While the incidents described in the piece hardly match the seriousness of the multiple assaults and murders in Kiev and other, larger Ukrainian cities, the article is evidence that the neo-Nazi movement is spreading beyond the big population centers to smaller cities, much like it started to do seven years ago in Russia.

The article begins with a quote from a Chinese student, who says that everything is fine in Kramatorsk, as long as he doesn't go out at night. This is in sharp contrast to Kiev, where he first studied: "In Kiev there is an unfriendly attitude towards foreigners, including towards Chinese--they constantly insult you, they might even go up to you and demand money, and if you don't have it, they beat you." A Ukrainian woman who studies Chinese at the local university and lives in the foreign students' dorm puts the situation in starker terms: "The Chinese don't have anywhere they can go in Kramatorsk... If they, for example, go at night to the 'Rodina' they might come back with bruises." Chinese were attacked in broad daylight once near the "Arbat" store, and have in general restricted their own movement out of fear for their safety. In addition, because they can be sent home by the university if they get involved in a fight, the Chinese often don't feel that they can report attacks on them. She did add, however, that most residents "treat the Chinese normally." While her family and friends were at first shocked when she began dating a Chinese man, most have come around to liking him.

An African pastor interviewed for the article said that while he had a problem once in Kiev, in Kramatorsk "people are friendly." Another female student living in the Chinese dorm had sharply negative attitudes towards them, calling them noisy and dirty. Neo-Nazi graffiti has popped up in Kramatorsk recently, and a few neo-Nazis have been spotted at far-right music concerts. According to a local neo-Nazi the paper interviewed, they are not very numerous in Kramatorsk, but a year and a half ago they did attack some Chinese students inside their dorm, and recently participated in a mass brawl against rap music fans (neo-Nazis consider rap music to be "racially inferior" and attack even its white fans). A local police official concludes the article by stating that not one hate crime has been registered in Kramatorsk. How long before the situation for minorities in Kramatorsk deteriorates further is anyone's guess.

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