Rubizhne Warnings Or Dangers

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Like in Luhansk and any other city of Ukraine, stray dogs are a problem in the city.
There are dozens of them in the city streets and lanes, especially inside the blocks of apartment houses where they look for food.
Use the same common sense as you would in any big city.
A pack of hungry stray dogs can surround you and start barking at you, if they don't like something about you. Do not let a dog approach you from behind. He may bite you even without barking. Those dogs are the most dangerous I think.
If you have no food to offer them and want to scare them away, make an abrupt movement to lower your arm to the ground as if to grab a stone to throw at them. That will help or, on the contrary, drive them even wilder... You never know.
A barking dog does not bite?
Anyhow, a barking dog can bite after he/she is through with barking, you know...
Keep your eyes open please and do not find yourself among the victims of our stray dogs' anger.Stray dogs at the city market

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June 26 is when International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking is observed.
On that day and after it we get to know the latest relative data as to the drug abuse in Luhansk region.
The statistics says that drug addicts index in Rubizhne is 290 registered drug addicts for 100,000 residents, which is the fifth place in Luhansk region after Syeverodonetsk, Luhansk, Antratsit and Sverdlovsk.
There are a lot of “toxicomen” in Rubizhne, too - those who are crazy about toxic substances.

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I don't know how many of my alcohol-loving fellow countrymen got sick, poisoned or underwent intensive medical treatment after consuming fake vodka or brandy (especially the Ukrainian brandy whose quality can be simply unpredictable!) bought at the city kiosks or stores.
It's a lottery indeed!
You never know what you are buying: a trade mark brandy or a terrible moonshine made of God knows what...
My Hungarian friend Laszlo Attila said, "I heard that liquors made from poisonous methyl-alcohol might be bought sometimes." He was right. The notorious local "alcohol businessmen" don't mind using any poison in their pursuit of profit...
You have been warned.
Besides, the champagne leaves much to be desired, especially if you buy the cheap sorts with a plastic cap... The champagne bubbles tends to disappear fast and what you have to drink turns out to be water...
It is always better to buy vodka some good Crimean wines or hign-end brandy/cognak sorts at a supermarket just to be on the safe side, to be sure they have not been "distilled" at a nearby city underground factory...
In other words, if you are visiting locals at their homes, bring liquors from where you have come from.
Enjoy!
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Be careful about paying a visit to such old neglected areas as the Old City Park and the Pioneers' Park.
These old parks have long ceased to be such: you will see no benches or attractions there except old neglected buildings and monuments surrounded by lots of weeds.
The city Young Communist League monument in Pioneers Park is among them.
It looks completely neglected and is in total decay.
The inscription on the monument reads,
1918 - the All-Union Lenin Young Communist League was founded;
1919- the Ukrainian Lenin Young Communist League was founded;
1920 - the regional and city organization of the Young Communist League were founded.
By the way, the YCL memorial plaque is still there!
It is at the wall of the former YCL Headquarters building.
The city had evidently no financial means to maintain those areas in due state or to pay all the communal fees as was the case with the old city conference center called Kirov Palace of Culture located down Kirov Street.

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Our old city park was built in 1934 next to the leisure center.
It is bounded by Kirov Street Khmelnitsky Street and Liberators Street.
Its lanes and the old fountain look neglected.
I remember the times when the fountain functioned to our joy.
Now it only disintegrates year after year.
I am sorry there are no local or foreign V.I.P.s who would not be indifferent to the good old Soviet legacy and provide some assistance to bring the old fountain in order or substitute it with a new one and renovate the entire park area. Otherwise the old park looks promising neither for holidaymakers not for locals.

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Be careful when walking along the streets.
Not all the sidewalks are in good repair.
Some of them are beyond repair like this one on one side of Khmelnitsky Street where they have managed to repair only one side.
Originally they paved this sidewalk with bricks for those bricks were in abundance in the fifties because Rubizhne had its own brick making factory.
The thin layer of asphalt was applied in the sixties and what we have is what we have now...
It refers to practically all the sidewalks in any street.
Don't be in a hurry and - watch your feet! A flashlight at night would be very helpful too!..

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There are mineral springs in the forests surrounding Rubizhne.
You can get some water for free at the forest wells located in Kreminne Forest on the northern outskirts of the city.
It's on the way to the village of Kundriashivka Kreminne District.
But you have to know the way and have a detailed area map or merely ask your local friends to help you if you wish to get spring water for yourself.

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Like in many towns and cities of Luhansk region and Ukraine, tap water is not for drinking.
So the officials tell us to avoid drinking it.
Tap water is a kind of raw material to be processed before consuming: it has to be boiled ... Although I have always liked its soft taste and found it much better than the tap water in Luhansk. Rubizhne is perhaps the only city where I always drink tap water with no fear...
You can also buy mineral water at any store. They sell mineral water in two-liter or five-liter plastic bottles.