In a dramatic twist, at around 8 a.m. on August 6, 2024, the Ukrainian army entered the territory of the Kursk region of the Russian Federation and in a few days took control of more than 70 villages, including where the Gazprom gas pipeline is located Urengoy-Pomary-Uzhhorod which transports around 14,650 million cubic meters of gas to Europe. 

They have inflicted a beating on Putin through a military feat that can completely change the course of Ukraine’s War of National Liberation. Events evolve minute by minute, much of the data that we will provide in this article will undoubtedly undergo variations, without changing the content of what is happening. At the close of this edition, the ruble collapsed, as an expression of the crisis caused by the blow that the Battle of Kursk meant for the regime of Vladimir Putin’s war criminal.

On August 12, Oleksander Syrskyi and the military commanders of Ukraine reported that the operation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Kursk region has made it possible to take control of 1000 square kilometers in a few days, equivalent to the entire territory obtained by Putin’s forces in 2024. In other words, theBattle of Kursk is a huge triumph for the forces of Ukraine that have a severe impact on the dictatorship of the oligarchy of the Russian Federation headed by Putin. We salute and support this victory of Ukraine!

The Battle of Kursk is a triumph of therevolutionary war for National Liberation that the people of Ukraine have been carrying out for 10 years facing the aggression of Putin’s dictatorship. The regime headed by the war criminal attacks the Ukrainian people with methods of extreme cruelty typical of fascism by bombing, beating, destroying cities, whipping the elderly, children, vulnerable families with bombings, destroying hospitals, schools, maternity hospitals, and essential infrastructure. Putin declared the battle of Kursk “a provocation,” and announced an “anti-terrorist operation” in a speech typical of an oppressive dictatorship suffering a defeat for its plans.

A democratic and anti-capitalist revolutionary triumph

As we have been explaining in various works that you can read here, Putin’s dictatorship represents the oligarchy, the capitalist ruling classes of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and other small countries of the Russian Federation that have built fortunes by privatizing and plundering the wealth of the nations of the former Soviet Union in favor of imperialist companies. The wealth of these ruling classes is based on the exploitation of the workers, and the plundering of the peoples of the controlled regions under the people’s prison that is the Russian Federation. But the Ukrainian revolution that began in 2014 with the Revolution of Dignity against Putin’s puppet government Yanukovych, kicked off the struggle for the liberation of nations to free themselves from the yoke of the Russian Federation.

The capitalist oligarchy headed by Putin cannot allow any sovereignty, nor national independence if it wants to preserve its class privileges. The policy of Zelensky and the imperialist countries of NATO such as the governments of the United States, France, or Germany that claim to support Ukraine goes against the revolution in Ukraine and serves as oxygen to Putin’s dictatorship as we have been explaining in various works that you can read here, and we explain in this article later. From Marx International we support Ukraine without giving a millimeter of support to the capitalist government of Zelensky. We stand with the workers and people of Ukraine! Putin must be defeated militarily, and Ukraine must be his Viet Nam!

Ukrainian soldiers are photographed after seizing Gazprom’s plant in Kursk

Despite the immense military superiority of Putin’s oligarchy, the invader faces an extraordinary and heroic resistance that is receiving the sympathy and support of the masses of the world, as a result of the fact thatwhen the Ukrainian people fight against Putin’s invasion they do so in defense of their living conditions. work, family, for their rights to independence and national self-determination.

That is why, despite the fact that Ukraine has a capitalist government like Zelensky’s, because of its character as an oppressed nation when the Ukrainian people carry out their struggle against the capitalist oligarchs of Russia, it goes against all world capitalism. For this reason, the Ukrainian revolution combines democratic demands for national independence with the anti-capitalist tasks of confronting Putin’s oligarchy.

A revolutionary triumph that strikes the dictatorship

Theoffensive of the Ukrainian forces in the Battle of Kursk took the invading oligarchy by surprise, whose troops were totally disorganized and confused. Ukraine troopsentered Kursk Oblast, advanced towards Russkoye Porechnoye, captured the towns of Kromsky Biki, Moliutino, Novoivanovka and Martinovka, advanced along road 38K-024 near Anastasyevka. Then operating north of Zaoleshenka they seized Goncharovka, advanced Bogdanovka towards Malaya Loknya to the outskirts of Cherkasskoye Porechnoye near Kruglenkoye, towards Bolshoye Soldatskoye, while east of Sudzha, near Mirny, and took Korenevo. They are now extending the incursions of Ukraine’s troops into Belgorod and Bryansk Oblasts, capturing around 800 to 1000 Putin’s soldiers.

The map shows the advances of Ukrainian troops in Kursk as of August 13

The Battle of Kursk is a revolutionary action that goes against NATO’s proposals, which had explicitly prohibited incursions and bombardments on the territory of the Russian Federation. Many military sources and analysts are arguing that the Ukrainian attack on Kursk follows “NATO standards”, which is totally false, asUkrainian forces are advancing without aviation support, which shows that they do not follow any “NATO standards”.

On the contrary, due to the absence of necessary resources that NATO has refused to provide to Ukraine, the Battle of Kursk is the product of the inventiveness and own initiatives that they are successfully deploying through new and innovative tactics and technological capabilities such as the combination of tank attack combined with electronic warfare that hinders troop communications. and left the Russian political-military command in suspended animation from the beginning of the advance. Those attacks were combined with drone offensives, and asan additional effect the Battle of Kursk helped significantly reduce attacks on the city of Kharkiv. If Putin’s troops used to carry out 30 to 60 attacks on Kharkiv, now the intensity does not exceed 10 attacks. If you want to read more about the definition of Revolutionary War click here.

An additional effect of the Battle of Kursk is that the people of Russia have been shocked to see sections of the population of the Russian Federation displaced, losing their homes, or fleeing their neighborhoods. Putin lied to them about the invasion of Ukraine saying that it was “a special operation”, and the population never had access to reality because the dictatorship systematically lied. With the Battle of Kursk, the people of Russia are beginning to understand that their government lied to them and important sectors of the people took to YouTube and social networks to learn more about the war in Ukraine. Faced with this situation, Putin had no better idea than to close YouTube, and cancel several social networks to prevent the people from collecting information.

On the other hand, images have been seen on all social networks of sectors of the Russian people in Kursk claiming Putin had abandoned them. The inhabitants of the occupied villages have stated that the conduct of the Ukrainian soldiers is exemplary, there is no mockery, no shooting at the population unlike what happened in Bucha when Putin’s occupying troops carried out genocide against the civilian population. Many Kursk residents have said they are more afraid of possible indiscriminate shelling by Putin’s troops than they are of the Ukrainian troops who now control the cities. In that sense, there is a completely different behavior of the populations where the Ukrainian army enters, unlike the behavior of the towns where Putin’s army enters.

Every time Russia’s troops entered a Ukrainian village the population rose up and protested angrily, however, we do not see such protests in the towns of Kursk or Belgorod when Ukrainian troops enter, and this is a fundamental element that explains almost everything that happens in the Revolutionary War in Ukraine. While both Putin’s army and Ukraine’s are armies that have a capitalist, bourgeois leadership, they are not the same: Putin’s is an oppressive army, representative of the oligarchy of Putin’s capitalist war criminals, while Ukraine’s is a National Liberation army, which wherever it enters liberates the people and communities crushed and oppressed by Putin’s dictatorship. This explains the different reactions and behaviors of the population in both cases.

This is why a sector of the civilian population, especially young people, joins Ukraine’s troops in the fight against Putin’s dictatorship. There had already been incursions from Ukraine in Kursk, Belgorod and Bryansk by the Russian-born partisans, the Russian Volunteer Corps and the Freedom Legion of Russia, legions made up of Russian soldiers who deserted and joined the fight for Ukraine. These partisan corps were later joined by the Siberian Battalion, made up of fighters from other nations of the Russian Federation who formed guerrilla groups that successfully attacked Putin’s troops in the region, as we explained in the article written at the time, which you can read by clicking here.

Now the partisans of the Russian Volunteer Corps, the Freedom Legion of Russia, and the Siberian Battalion are fighting side by side with the Ukrainian army, and these partisan corps have been joined by the Georgian Legion, and the Ukrainian Legion, partisan corps that have moved and taken villages in Belgorod Oblast. In Belarus, the Kastuś Kalinoŭski Regiment was formed, the group of Belarusian volunteers, which was formed to defend Ukraine against the invasion and now asector of young Russians have joined the troops of Ukraine in protest against Putin’s dictatorship, as you will see in the video that we publish below

This whole process is part of the emergence of the armed self-organization of the peoples against the repression of the capitalist governments in the revolutionary processes that are developing in the world as a continuation of the actions of the “Sotnias”, the Ukrainian Front Line, the Hong Kong Front Line, the First Line of Chile, the First Line of the United States with Black Lives Matter, and the First Line of Colombia, whose main leader was Sergio Andrés Pastor González, known as 19. The Battle of Kursk is a beating of Putin’s troops that changes the course of the Revolutionary War, arevolutionary triumph that strategically hits and demolishes the dictatorship. If you want to read more about the partisans click here

The Battle of Kursk highlights the crisis of Putin’s dictatorship

Among the most resounding Ukrainian successes of the Battle of Kursk is the destruction of an entire battalion of a convoy of Putin’s oligarchy in the village of Oktyabrskoye with the annihilation of around 15 trucks, a brutal blow that cost the lives of around 500 soldiers recruited from Putin’s troops. This triumph for Ukraine is in addition to the blow that Putin’s troops also received in the Battle of Vovchansk, and they have minimised the partial triumphs that Putin achieved in the Donbas, although in no case as profound as those we are seeing in Kursk. The nepotism of the dictatorship has only caused enormous problems for the troops of the invading oligarchy, which has not been able to show military superiority on the battlefield, and on the contrary, has suffered enormous military losses.

The triumph of Ukraine’s troops in the Battle of Kursk was possible because Putin and Commander-in-Chief Gerasimov concentrated their troops in only 3 areas of the Donbas, attacking points such as Avdiivka, Chasiv Yar, Pokrovsk and New York where they achieved important advances, but at the cost of spectacular losses. In every war of national liberation, where the oppressed people decide to throw off the oppressive yoke they pay the cost of struggle by contributing 4 or 5 times the amount of losses in relation to their invader, this happened in the wars in Viet Nam, or is happening right now in Palestine. However, in relation to Ukraine, the figures are surprising because the estimated losses for Ukraine and the Russian Federation are almost equivalent, 2,70,000 total with 200,000 deaths, and 70,000 wounded from Ukraine, while for the Russian Federation they are 227,000 total with 77,000 dead and 150,000 wounded.

The chart shows the exponential growth of Putin’s army deaths between 2022 and 2024

The remarkable parity in the death toll between Ukraine and the Russian Federation illustrates the military disaster Putin is facing. On the other hand, the people of Russia have massively refused to support the war criminal’s policy: between 800,000 and 900,000 Russian citizens fled the country, including up to 700,000 who fled after Putin ordered a partial mobilization in September 2022. 

The military, economic superiority that the oligarchy of the Russian Federation has over Ukraine has not been able to be reflected on the battlefield as a result of the fact that Putin is facing a Revolutionary War, a war of national liberation of a people that is setting an example of struggle, whose resistance is inspiring for peoples like the Palestinians or others who suffer the same national oppression. and it is based on the hatred of oppressed nations against Putin’s war criminal.

And where is “Russian Imperialism”?

The defeat of the Battle of Kursk lays bare the charlatanism of those who define Russia as “imperialism”. The military, political, economic disaster that Putin is suffering shows the reality that the Russian Federation is not an imperialist country, but a sub-metropolis of imperialist capital completely in crisis. The 99% of the world left that adheres to the “Decoupling Theory” by stating that the Russian Federation in an “imperialism” is receiving a slap in the face from reality, and the action of the masses of the Ukrainian army once again makes a mockery of all its charlatanism. If you want to read more about the submetropolis crisis and the “Decoupling Theory” click here.

El odio de las naciones oprimidas se expresó claramente con el triunfo de Ucrania en la Batalla de Kursk que ha provocado festejos en casi todas las repúblicas de la Federación Rusa. El cuerpo de Chechenia apostado para repeler la invasión de Ucrania el regimiento 1434 “Akhmat-Russia” que obedece a la dictadura de Ramzán Ajmátovich Kadírov, se negó a combatir. Cuando las tropas de Ucrania entraron a Kursk en lugar de salir a luchar en defensa de Putin, los “kadyrovitas” se escondieron en la zona del asentamiento de Sosnovy Bor un comportamiento de los cuerpos de mercenarios que como el desaparecido Grupo Wagner muestra de la crisis del régimen y el ejército de Putin. El odio de los pueblos en el Cáucaso, y en las diferentes regiones de la Federación Rusa a la oligarquía de Putin genera el surgimiento de grupos fundamentalistas que avanzan en las repúblicas de origen musulmán.

El atentado del teatro Crocus City Hall ocurrido el 22 de marzo del 2024 en las afueras de Moscú le ahogó a la dictadura de Putin el festejo su triunfo de la payasada que presentó como elecciones que lo consagraban como presidente de la Federación Rusa por un 5to mandato. Éste atentado reivindicado por el Estado Islámico (EI) donde hubo 133 muertos y más de 200 heridos fue una bofetada en el rostro de Putin que dejó expuestas groseras fallas de seguridad del régimen y la endeblez de la dictadura. Hasta la Batalla de Kursk, Putin y los oligarcas se jactaban de que estaban ganando la guerra, lo cual era falso porque Putin había recibido profundas derrotas durante el 2022 en las grandes batallas de Kiev, de Kharkiv y de Kherson que significaron un golpe estratégico al intento de Putin de tomar el poder en Ucrania y colocar un gobierno adicto a la oligarqu´ía.

The advance of the ukranian troops in Kursk

When the invading troops arrived at the gates of Kiev, Ukraine barely had an army, and it was the action of the armed people, the Ukrainian partisans, who rejected the invasion, which forced Putin to change his strategy to limit himself to holding the occupied territories in the Donbass. If you want to read more about the Battle of Kiev click here. 

The crisis in Putin’s dictatorship can be seen in the brutal battle and purge of Russian elites among Kremlin officials. This led to the resignation of Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu following the arrest of Russian Deputy Defence Minister Timur Ivanov following the crisis generated by the Wagner Group uprising.

But in addition, Putin’s current policy of sustaining a presence in Ukraine, and gaining just a few kilometers has enormous and colossal economic and human costs in terms of the number of soldiers, which was evident in February 2024 when, in the midst of the fall of Avdiivka, the Russia Armed Forces suffered the worst month of human casualties. The high losses suffered by Putin, the military failure, the appearance of increasingly obsolete equipment on the battlefield, the succession of defeats against an infinitely inferior enemy, the growing shortage of heavy equipment such as tanks, other armored combat vehicles and artillery, the recruitment of citizen conscripts without military experience who are brought to the front in waves like cannon fodder, expresses the dead-end crisis of the oligarchy that tries to act as a gendarme and defender of capitalism in the region, but precisely because it is not an imperialist state, it succumbs and is being demolished by the Ukrainian revolution. just as the state of Israel is being demolished by the Palestinian revolution.

Zelensky and NATO’s policy against the Ukrainian revolution

The repudiation of the peoples of their European countries in the United States and around the world in the face of the massacre perpetrated by Putin, a few kilometers from the great European capitals, forced the imperialist governments of NATO to declare their support for Ukraine. But the hypocritical policy of NATO governments was to provide limited weapons to the Ukrainian army, without providing strategic weaponry, which meant leaving the Ukrainian people at the mercy of Putin’s infinitely superior army. This has meant the systematic killing of thousands of Ukrainian citizens by Putin’s criminal bombing of vulnerable civilians, women, children, defenseless families. Like Netanyahu, Putin is very brave when it comes to attacking families, but completely ineffective when it comes to defeating Ukraine’s troops and Partisans.

After the triumphs of Kiev, Kharkov and Kharkiv, Putin launched in response the Wagner Group’s “winter offensive” in the first months of 2023 that ended with a Wagner triumph that took Bahkmut but at the cost of losing the entire Wagner Group, some 40,000 mercenaries that was totally pulverized by the Ukrainian resistance. That sparked Prigozhin’s uprising and the Wagner Group against Putin. In fact, Wagner’s triumph in taking Bakhmut was more symbolic than real, and Ukraine had its hands on in the second part of 2023 the possibility of definitively defeating Putin’s invasion.

However, once again Selensky and NATO played a perfidious role that led the Ukraine offensive to defeat, as described by Ukrainian analyst Anton Kurushin: “… The Ukrainian command intended to continue the advance but our allies convinced us to stop as they said that our forces were not enough, autumn was coming and that it was better to wait until spring to resume the offensive. They promised us by that time to provide the ammunition and armored vehicles that we had been asking for a long time. We (referring to the Selenzky government) agreed to the idea… Unfortunately that gave the Russians time to prepare all the defensive lines and not only that, our allies realized that … they did not have them prepared to fulfill what was promised. In this way, once the summer ended with a lack of ammunition, Ukraine was forced to slow down the advance and go on the defensive…” (Anton Kurushin- Ukrainians in Argentina Facebook account. 1/1/24)

That is to say, the imperialist governments advised Selensky not to attack, which gave Putin time to fortify himself, and then when NATO should have delivered the weapons to Ukraine to carry out the offensive, it did not deliver them. The result was the failure of Ukraine’s “spring offensive”, and then a succession of military defeats in late 2023 and early 2024 as a result of Ukraine having no weapons to defend itself. Scarcity gave way to inventiveness, with which Ukraine is today leading a real revolution in military engineering by developing FPV drones, and marine drones, cheap weaponry, based on the work of scientists and engineers who with humble resources have created a whole military development of drones that surpasses Putin’s obsolete technology.

FPV drones make it possible to partially make up for the shortage of strategic weaponry, and have allowed Ukraine’s troops to carry out real military feats such as completely defeating Putin’s navy in the Black Sea, which caused a serious crisis in Moscow and forced Putin to fire Admiral Viktor Sokolov. The defeat of Putin’s navy in the Black Sea is an extraordinary event considering that Ukraine has virtually no ships, but it was able to achieve naval supremacy, restore trade routes, and force Putin’s fleet to take refuge in Novorosiysk.

It is NATO and Selensky’s policy that is the worst enemy of Ukraine’s chances of victory, which prolongs the agony of the people, since the shortage of weapons led to Avdiivka’s defeat, and all of Putin’s advances in the Donbass throughout the current year 2024, which occurred due to the lack of weapons. When the weapons finally arrived in July-August, some cases were absurd such as the fact that F-16 planes arrived to be able to defend themselves by air, but only 2 Ukrainian pilots were authorized to fly them.

Avdiivka’s defeats, and all of Putin’s subsequent advances in the Donbass, led to a crisis in Selenzky’s government, which led to the dismissal of Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the country’s top general, who had led the Ukrainian army for two years at the head of the Armed Forces. 

Zaluzhnyi was replaced by Oleksander Syrskyi who led the triumph of the Battle of Kharkiv and a new command began to plan the strategy of the Battle of Kursk, a totally unexpected blow for Putin, which completely changes the perspective of the revolutionary war.

The reason why NATO countries have this sinister policy of “proclaiming their support” for Ukraine, and then denying it strategic weaponry, is that none of the imperialist governments are in favor of a defeat that would destabilize Putin’s regime of capitalist oligarchy. The imperialist governments of NATO did nothing during the years 2014 and 2022 while Putin invaded the Donbass, attacked Ukraine, and caused millions of displaced people. On the contrary, they were rather complicit in Putin’s aggression against Ukraine, calling for useless agreements such as the Misnk Protocols, which Putin never respected.

The imperialist governments of Macron and Scholz have intensely pressured the government of Ukraine to accept a “peace agreement” by stating that they should end the war, during 2022 and 2023 Macron said that an agreement must be reached through diplomatic channels and “Russia must not be humiliated”. the same line that the Vatican proposed, and the late imperialist leader Henry Kissinger who used his last months of life to warn about the danger that the fall of Putin’s regime would pose to world imperialism. Kissinger, Macron, Scholtz, the Vatican have been pushing all this time for a diplomatic settlement that means Ukraine is giving up the Donbas, in exchange for which Russia is ceasing its attacks on Ukraine. An “agreement” to give Putin a minimal victory that would allow him an elegant exit from the military swamp in which his regime is immersed.

The antics of the Peace Summit for Ukraine in Bürgenstock, Switzerland between June 15 and 16, 2024 went down in history as a new failure of the imperialist countries that clashes with the will of the Ukrainian people, a people that after so many deaths, destruction and suffering will in no way accept to hand over territories, and to give up at the negotiating table what has been achieved with so much struggle and effort. It is also impossible for Zelensky to accept that agreement, knowing that the people will reject them in the midst of growing discontent with his government, and those of NATO for the lack of weapons, the curtailment of conquests, and freedoms.

Zelensky’s policy of participating in these “peace summits” and sowing hope in the criminal NATO governments is a pro-imperialist and disastrous policy that favors counterrevolution and strengthens Putin. Zelensky’s capitalist government introduced martial law in the country whereby workers and trade unions cannot, by law, organize protest marches, while pushing for the approval in the Ukrainian parliament of bills attacking the labor rights of Ukrainian workers such as “zero-hours” contracts. and Law 5371, which imposes the effective abolition of important labor rights. Zelensky’s entire offensive against the Ukrainian people weakens the people and strengthens Putin’s oligarchy, as well as the governments of the imperialist countries. In other words, while the Ukrainian people in the streets, and on the battlefield defend Ukraine’s independence, their government is dedicated to attacking their most basic rights, a policy that goes against the Ukrainian revolution, but translates into growing discontent with Zelensky and his government.

The global left supports the dictatorship of Putin’s war criminal

Groups on the global left refuse to support the revolution in Ukraine on the grounds that “Ukraine receives weapons from NATO.” It is a counter-revolutionary policy of objective support for the dictatorship of Putin’s war criminal. The people of Ukraine have the right to receive weapons from anyone, even from the devil himself, to defeat the fascist invasion of the criminal war. But this criminal policy of the 99% of the world left is the continuation in Ukraine of the policy of class conciliation or “popular frontism” that is being carried out by the groups of the world left. The Stalinists echo Putin’s campaign that Ukraine is a “Nazi” state that must be “denazified.” But the one who has Nazi squads in his army is Putin, as denounced by the media outlet The Hill that you can read by clicking here.

Support for Putin is part of the policy that both Stalinists and social democrats carry out around the world of collaborating publicly and shamelessly with capitalist governments and coalitions, placing ministers, advisers and deputies in these governments, or calling for their vote. To them are added thegroups that come from Trotskyism that are adopting the same course at full speed by integrating capitalist coalitions, or calling for a vote for them. With this ‘policy of class collaboration’, the leaders of the groups of the 99% of the world left are publicly betraying the peoples of the world.

This policy is a betrayal because it breaks with the Marxist principle of class independence, it provokes a serious process of retreat and disintegration of all the organizations of the left in the world, which results in noorganizations of the left that grow or strengthen today. On the contrary, the panorama is one of the non-existence of a world pole that organizes and attracts the activists of the world, a product of the serious process of dispersion and dissolution of all the organizations of the left in the world, without exception. If you want to read more about the global crisis of the left click here.

The break with the Marxist principle of class independence occurs not only among the left-wing forces that support Putin, but also unfortunately among the minority left-wing forces that support Ukraine. Groups such as the European Network of Solidarity with Ukraine, such as Sotsialny Rukh (Social Movement) in Ukraine, Razem (Together) in Poland or the Socialist Solidarity Campaign with Ukraine in the United States have ended up supporting the imperialist governments of NATO, promoting Ukraine’s entry into the European Union, or supporting the candidacy of Kamala Harris of the Democratic Party in the next presidential elections in the United States. We know that there are honest comrades in these groups, but we cannot remain silent about the treacherous politics developed by those groups that follow the path of breaking with the principle of class independence of the 99% of the global left.

When it comes to confronting a dictatorship of a war criminal, you cannot support imperialist governments that are also war criminals. In no way should illusions be sown in governments that are carrying out genocide in Palestine, but also as we have explained in this article, that they play a perfidious role with respect to the Ukrainian revolution and the Ukrainian people. In this way the Ukrainian revolution continues to aggravate the crisis of the world left, and exposes the opportunism of groups that are not consistently revolutionary.

Let’s support the Ukrainian people! Follow Kursk’s triumphs until Putin’s defeat!

The crisis of Putin’s oligarchy is worsening day by day because the peoples of the Russian Federation are a cauldron that raises temperature day by day. Attacks, uprisings, protests are taking place in all the republics of the Russian Federation the Ingush people have achieved the right to create an independent state from Russia in the midst of the Karabulak shooting with cells of the Islamic State, Armenia has begun a process of breaking with Putin’s oligarchy, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, he reiterated that Armenia does not support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a statement that shows a serious crisis considering that Armenia is a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) headed by Moscow.

On the other hand, the attacks at the end of 2023 on the train line on the Baikal Amur line in the Severomouïsk tunnel, in the northwest of the Republic of Buryatia, are an expression of the discontent movements circulating in the republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, in addition to the resistance movements that are spreading with mobilizations in Georgia and discontent in the Georgian territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. These movements, which reflect discontent with the dictatorship, are the ones that constitute the basis for joining the defeat of the Battle of Kursk and going for the definitive defeat of Putin.

From Marx International we are unconditionally on the side of Ukraine. With all our strength we say it: Long live the struggle of the workers and people of Ukraine! Long live the Battle of Kursk! And so, being enemies of NATO’s counterrevolutionary policy, and Selensky, the Ukrainian revolution inscribes a new and glorious page of another extraordinary military feat, which puts on the table the struggle against dictatorships, and revolutions for National Liberation. Our support is part of the struggle to end once and for all the dictatorships that defend capitalism, on the path of victories for Global Socialism.

The post Long live the triumph of Ukraine in the Battle of Kursk! appeared first on Asia Commune.

In the middle of February, a draft law was uploaded on the Parliament website, calling to cancel the celebrations of March 8, introducing instead the Day of a Ukrainian woman. Referencing economic losses from March 8 being a national holiday and the need “to part with Soviet legacy”, politicians gracefully ignore the political significance of the day that brings attention to the fight for women’s rights. 

For many years Ukrainian feminists have fought for the political, economic, and personal rights and opportunities of women. They have turned the spotlight on gender-based violence, the gender pay gap, and the devaluation of reproductive labor. In no way have these problems disappeared amidst the war and crises: on the contrary, they increased and created yet new challenges for the feminist movement. 

We talked to grassroots activists to learn about women’s status in wartime, problems and challenges the feminist movement faces, and threats that may become relevant for Ukrainian society once the war will be over. 

How does war affect gender inequality?

One of the harshest problems Ukrainian society faced after February 24 of 2022 is sexual violence perpetrated by Russian soldiers. 

“Ukrainian women are under constant threat of such war crimes like sexual violence. We can only imagine what is happening in the occupied territories,” says the member of “Feminist workshop” Anastasia Yurchenko. 

Activists of the “Feminist Workshop” and children from the shelter during an excursion to the Nursery space. Photo Credit: Feminist Workshop Facebook | Tanya Jafarova

In addition to the direct physical dangers of shellings and violence, the war leads to harsh socio-economic ramifications. Near the front line, the population often ends up on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe, but the problems get exacerbated everywhere. Vulnerable populations are the first to suffer from them, as the funding of the social sphere is being cut.

“Lowering the wages in the state sector affects women who comprise a huge part of state employees on different levels (nurses, doctors, teachers, bureaucrats). Lack of money for kindergartens means an additional burden for women. In the absence of funding certain programs against violence may be curtailed, etc.,” Anastasia explains. 

Activist of the initiative “Bilkis” Yana also emphasizes that war exacerbates economic inequality: it increases the burden on the care sector, which is mainly composed of women. There are women who get the heaviest load of underpaid or unpaid reproductive labor put on their shoulders. 

“The majority of household chores fall to women. If there is no gas, electricity, water, and heat, they face challenges: how to wash a baby, cook a meal, tidy the apartment, and so on,”  Yana believes.

“Bilkis” activists have been active in humanitarian aid since the first weeks of the full-scale invasion. Photo: “Bilkis” Facebook

Amidst these problems optimistic legislative changes take place as well – the ratification of the Istanbul convention that took Ukrainian feminists years of fighting, and the intensification of work regarding the UN resolution “Women. Peace. Security”. 

“Looking at the national level, we understand that European integration becomes a positive influence and leverage for the state. They can no longer ignore the issue of gender equality,” says Anastasia Chebotaryova, a member of “Feminist lodge”. 

UN resolution 1325 “Women. Peace. Security”, Anastasia believes, is of great importance during the war:

“This resolution is significant since it recognizes that the war affects men and women differently and focuses on security measures, countering violence, and inclusion of women in the peacemaking process. Ukraine was the first country to ratify 1325 in wartime. The full-scale invasion became the impetus to update the National action plan. Earlier women, peace, and security were mainly on the agenda of activists and government in the eastern and central regions of Ukraine, but now we see new coalitions emerging in all Ukrainian regions,” the activist concludes.

Alisa Shampanska from the initiative “Femsolution” also sees positive changes in the increase in the visibility of women in the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the usage of feminine forms of nouns on the state level. 

“FemSolyushn” activists collect humanitarian aid / Photo: Ivan Zayets

What are the post-war prospects for the feminist movement?

Human rights advocate and head of the center “Women’s perspectives” Marta Chumalo identifies four threats that may become relevant in the near future. First and foremost, there is an attack on reproductive rights. She believes that chances are, there will be attempts to prohibit abortions appealing to losses on the battlefront and deaths caused by shellings, as well as to Ukrainian women fleeing abroad. Another threat is the strengthening of the far-right discourse that traditionally goes hand in hand with attacks on women’s rights. The radicalization of nationalism is a frequent consequence of wars. There may be a surge of domestic violence, caused by men returning from the battlefront psychologically traumatized. There is also the risk that key decisions regarding recovery and reconstruction on the highest level will be made chiefly by men. 

Anastasia Chebotareva agrees that the needs of women and girls may get ignored during post-war reconstruction processes:

“It will be relevant for the reconstruction of cities, care infrastructure, and critical infrastructure. It is crucial to already begin looking for ways to get included in the process. NGOs and funds have an opportunity to enlist the support of their international partners,” the activist says. 

Ukrainian society is already in need of effective rehabilitation programs for the veterans helping to cope with both physical and psychological traumas: 

“Establishing and setting up the system of rehabilitation and help is a major challenge. Feminist movement may participate in it as well,” Alisa Shampanska believes.

Marta Chumalo points out the threat of strengthening both men’s and women’s traditional gender roles in society:

“Behaviour falling out of the frame defined by these two norms is often not approved by other people. Be it men avoiding the mobilization or women affected by domestic violence by demobilized men asking for help — they face condemnation and a lack of understanding. That, in turn, widens gender gaps”. 

Residents of the shelter, organized by “Women’s Perspectives”, are engaged in volunteering and help form food kits as part of the “Woman for Women” project. Photo: “Women’s Perspectives” Facebook

Which feminist practices became impossible due to war, and what emerged in their place?

According to the activists, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the majority of feminist initiatives launched humanitarian relief campaigns, slightly shifting the focus of their activities. For instance, the center “Women’s perspectives” has already established seven shelters for women belonging to vulnerable populations: internally displaced elderly women, women with mental disorders, mothers with many children, disabled women, and women affected by gender-based violence. The initiative “Feminist lodge” also heavily focuses on the provision of humanitarian aid.  

“Often this is about hard-to-reach locations that no great humanitarian fund will reach — villages, temporarily occupied territories, and areas close to the front line. We established an extensive network of volunteers and partners — in Kramatorsk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhya and Zapozizhzya region, and in the Kharkiv region,” tells Anastasia Chebotareva. 

Activist Ivanka from the initiative “Bilkis” also points out that their activities are mainly aimed at low-income and homeless people:

“We are currently working on two socially oriented projects. One is “Space of things”, where you can bring something no longer necessary or take something you need. “Bird feeder” is about feeding low-income or homeless people. We are an intersectional feminist initiative, and that’s what makes us believe that gender inequality intersects with other kinds of inequality, for instance, financial. We are also planning to organize a series of movie screenings about women and war and make educational tiktoks on feminism in Ukraine”.

“Bilkis” activists organized a social project of mutual support “Space of things” in Lviv, where everyone can take clothes and other things for free. Photo: “Bilkis” Facebook

So, engaging in humanitarian aid doesn’t mean that feminists ceased to speak up on the issues of gender inequality. On the contrary, it is by helping people that they can expand their audience. Alisa Shampanska also tells how “FemSolution” combines humanitarian and educational activities:

“Now our main activities in that area are an informational influence on our audience on social media. We provide humanitarian aid to women and their families, and people subscribe to our media because they want to receive help, not because of their feminist views. That’s why after a while we began creating educational pictures: for instance, we participated in the campaign “16 days against violence” and convinced people to vote on Diya to keep March 8 the state holiday, in order to be able to keep going on protests.”

Activists that fled abroad and are advocating for the needs of the Ukrainian community provide great support:

“I am currently based abroad, and my main activity is searching for international solidarity, spreading truthful information, and fighting propaganda. Over this year I have remotely worked with different communities inside the country, with my activities ranging from searching for and securing financial help to the organization of closed events focusing on reflections,” shares the activist of “Social movement” Valeriya Zubatenko. 

Solidarity and cooperation – in Ukraine and abroad

The majority of feminists agree that since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the ties between grassroots feminist collectives have gotten stronger. 

“We are establishing a shelter or a humanitarian program — we contact more experienced activists and receive consultations and help. Say, we need diapers for children in a shelter — we write to the activist chats — we find what is needed,” Anastasia Yurchenko shares her experience. 

On June 25, the “Feminist Workshop” shelter for women* and children was officially opened in Lviv. Photo: Facebook “Feminist Workshop”

There are dozens of examples of cooperation between different movements that are not limited to feminists’ joint efforts but include other civil activists and the LGBT+ community. The activist believes that society showed many positive cases that include high-profile discussions on violence against women and objectification, women’s status in the army, and a powerful volunteer movement that includes feminists. On the other hand, the activist shares stories of hostile attitude from the representatives of municipal authorities. 

“Conservative deputy exertеd pressure on our organization, he aggressively interfered with our work. Unfortunately, the authorities didn’t offer any adequate solution regarding the problem,” Anastasia shares. 

Anastasia Chebotaryova stresses that grassroots Ukrainian feminists got significantly more attention from the international community.

“We get invitations to the conferences, we become the heroines of the articles, and we have opportunities to go to exchange and study programs. That’s what makes me believe that we have all chances to be proactive at responding to the challenges that our ideological opponents are preparing”.

Zhenya from “Bilkis” also mentions material aid from European feminists:

“In summer we were visited by French feminists, they gave us some important things for our office and helped us with donations. Other European activists also sent us humanitarian aid and office equipment”. 

At the same time, many activists mentioned the manifesto “Feminist resistance against war” in which foreign activists and academics spoke out against sending weapons to Ukraine. Among the challenges that the feminist movement faced when searching for solidarity, Valeriya Zubatenko recalls the fact that some part of Western Left doesn’t realize their safety privilege.

“Whereas in Ukraine, for a whole year we’ve been showing not telling feminism and antifascism, in the West, these same problems still remained a subject of lengthy debates: instead of raising funds for the humanitarian effort, they’ve been pondering whether to send arms to Ukraine. As we were searching for solidarity with Western Left, it has become a challenge”. 

As opposed to problematic statements voiced by certain Western feminists, the initiative group of Ukrainian activists came up with the manifesto “Right to resist”. This call was signed by over 900 activists and 70 collectives from all over the world, which proves Ukrainian feminists receive a great deal of support.

Since the beginning of the war, significant changes have happened in Ukrainian society as well. Marta Chumalo says that the levels of mutual support and sensitivity to the needs of feminists from the different Ukrainian regions greatly increased, as well as the amount of cooperation, solidarity and support coming from foreign feminists. 

“Feminism ideology is becoming a trend. Many women identify as feminists now, even though before they didn’t”.

In the end, we suggested that the activists pick out slogans if there was a women’s rights march today. These slogans could be on their protest posters:

Іnscription on the poster: “The fight is always on time”

Inscription on the poster: “Implement the Istanbul Convention”

Inscription on the poster: “Don’t get angry – stand in solidarity”

Author: Kateryna Turenko

Translated by Kira Leonova

Cover and poster design: Kateryna Gritseva

Republished From: https://commons.com.ua/en/8-bereznya-vijna-dosvidi-ukrayinskih-feministok/?fbclid=IwAR0yTANIYAJZ2LHn53DmD4trf5cvJTpPWq8K1wBzjdf_7w5LQbX_9yaem9E

The post March 8 in the second year of war: experiences and visions of Ukrainian feminists appeared first on Asia Commune.

MY HEART IS bleeding for my country Ukraine, and searching for mourning, for the possibility to bring flowers of my grief to infinite graves that emerge every day on Ukrainian soil. The question “Why war?” was discussed by intellectuals a century ago in between the two World Wars, and was not resolved neither then nor now. Destroyed buildings in Ukraine today remind us of Ukraine in flames during the Second World War. New wounds hurt on top of old ones.

My grandmother Halia survived an artificially inflicted famine in Ukraine known as Holodomor in 1933 at the age of ten, and the occupation of her village by the Nazis in 1941. Just married, she gave birth to her first child under occupation. After the war she took part in rebuilding a burned village school in which she taught children the rest of her life. Listening to her stories I was sure that the horror of war would never happen to us again. I was wrong.

She is young and not smiling in these photos. She and her fellow teachers and children who survived war don’t smile. But they are holding flowers. They are witnessing trauma outside and inside themselves. My ancestors are silently mourning not only victims of their time but those of the next generations, who are dying today on Ukrainian land which is soaked in blood.

I refer to Ukrainian folk culture by recreating its language from materials found far from home, having home in my heart. Ukrainian poet Lesia Ukrainka said more than a century ago, “I have in my heart something that doesn’t die.” And it is Ukraine which is in our hearts. My grandmother Halia taught me a folk song about a bird flying through the house, who is not a bird but a mother. This bird for me today represents a motherland, wounded by Russian rockets.

A cuckoo flew through my house
And it’s not a cuckoo, it’s my mother
If she knew about my sorrow
She would pass a piece of bread by a sparrow
A piece of bread by a sparrow
A bit of salt by a tit
Oh mom, oh mom, how hard is my fate.

The red viburnum berries which are a symbol of Ukraine are bleeding here as well. Another song, which has become symbolic during this war emerged a century ago through the struggle of Ukrainians for their freedom. It makes us believe today that Ukraine will win, and that red viburnum will thrive again as a symbol of life, beauty and love.

Oh, in the meadow the red viburnum bent down
Our glorious Ukraine is grieving
But we will raise that red viburnum
And we will cheer up our glorious Ukraine!

Someone said in the year of 2022 that Ukrainians should look at the flowers while taking breaks in watching the news, that the beauty of flowers can heal. War kills beauty. But beauty can be used as a tool of resistance, and despite all the destruction, flowers will grow the next year again.

May-June 2023, ATC 224

Republished From: https://againstthecurrent.org/atc224/songs-and-flowers-for-ukraine/

The post Songs and Flowers for Ukraine appeared first on Asia Commune.

යුක්රේන යුද්ධය විසින් මිලිටරිවාදී රැල්ලක් ජනිත කර ඇත. බටහිර අධිරාජ්‍යවාදීන් යුක්‍රේනයට යුධ උපකරණ යැවීමට බිලියන ගණන් නාස්ති කර ඇත. තවද නේටෝ රටවල් විසින් ‘ආරක්ෂක’ වියදම් එක් වරම විශාල ලෙසින් ඉහළ දමා ඇත. ජර්මනිය සම්බන්ධයෙන් මෙය විශේෂයෙන් සත්‍ය වේ. මෙහි ප්‍රතිඵලයක් ලෙස, සිදුවෙමින් පවතින විනාශය මධ්‍යයේ, ආයුධ නිෂ්පාදකයින්ට ජැක්පොට් එකක් වැදී ඇත.

ගැටුම ආරම්භයේදීම, බ්‍රිතාන්‍යයේ BAE Systems හි කොටස් මිළ 4.8% කින්, එනම් වසරකදී ලද වැඩිම අගයක් දක්වා ඉහළ ගියේය. එක්සත් ජනපද ආරක්ෂක දැවැන්තයන් වන Lockheed Martin සහ Raytheon – පිළිවෙලින් ගොඩබිම සිට ගුවනට විදින Stinger මිසයිල සහ F-35 ප්‍රහාරක ජෙට් යානා නිෂ්පාදකයින්ගේ – කොටස් මිලද තියුනු ලෙස ඉහළ ගියේය.

යුද්ධයට පෙර සිටම, මරණය සහ විනාශය තුළින් ලාභ ලබන මෙම නිෂ්පාදකයින් එයට ඇස ගසාගෙන සිටියහ. වසංගතය අතරතුර ගෝලීය ආර්ථිකය හැකිලෙමින් තිබියදී, ආයුධ කර්මාන්තයේ ලාභය අහස උසට ළඟා වූ අතර 2020 දී එය ඩොලර් බිලියන 531 දක්වා ඉහළ ගියේය. ඉදිරි වසර සඳහා යුරෝපිය රටවල් මිලිටරි වියදම් සඳහා අතිරේක පවුම් බිලියන 170ක් වෙන් කිරීමත් සමඟ, මෙම කර්මාන්තයට ලැබීමට නියමිත ලාභය, පසුගිය කාලයේ ලැබූ කටට කෙළ උණන ලාභයද සොච්චමක් බවට පත්කර ඇත.

එක්සත් ජනපදය යුක්රේනයට Javelin යුධ ටැංකි නාශක මිසයිල 6,500ක් යැවීමට සූදානම් වේ. Raytheon සහ Lockheed Martin විසින් නිපදවන ලද එම සෑම මිසයිලයක් සඳහාම ඩොලර් 78,000 ක් වැය වන අතර ඒවා විදීම වෙනුවෙන් අමතර ඩොලර් 100,000ක් වැය වේ. බ්‍රිතාන්‍යය විසින් ප්‍රංශ ආරක්ෂක සමාගමක් වන Thales විසින් බෙල්ෆාස්ට්හි නිෂ්පාදනය කරන ලද සැහැල්ලු ටැංකි නාශක අවි 5,000කට වඩා ලබාදී ඇත. මේ එකකට ආසන්න වශයෙන් පවුම් 30,000ක් වැය වේ. වෙනත් ලෙසකින් කිවහොත්, බටහිර අධිරාජ්‍යවාදය අවසන් යුක්‍රේන ලේ බිංදුව තෙක් රුසියාව සමග වක්‍රාකාර යුද්ධයක නියැලී සිටිම නිසා එම රටවල අවි නිෂ්පාදකයින්ට ඉතා හොඳ දඩයමක් හමුවී ඇත.

යුද්ධය ආරම්භ වීමට පෙර පවා, Raytheonහි ප්‍රධාන විධායක නිලධාරී Greg Hayes විසින් “නැගෙනහිර යුරෝපයේ පවතින ආතතීන්” සමාගමට ප්‍රතිලාභ අත්වන සාධකයක් ලෙසට දැක්වීය. ඒ හා සමානව, ලොක්හීඩ් මාර්ටින්හි ප්‍රධාන විධායක නිලධාරී Jim Taiclet කියා සිටියේ “අලුතින් ඇතිවූ මහා බල තරඟය” (මෙය අධිරාජ්‍යවාදී රටවල් අතර ඇතිවූ ආතතිය ලෙස කියවා ගත යුතුය) ව්‍යාපාර සඳහා හොඳ කලක් ඇති කරන බවයි.

යුක්රේන යුද්ධය ආරම්භ වීමේ සිට, මෙම තක්කඩියන් තමන්ගේ ප්‍රීතිය තරමකට සඟවාගෙන ඇත. සාමය ගෙන ඒම සහතික කිරීම වෙනුවෙන් යුද යන්ත්‍රය ශක්තිමත් කරන බව බටහිර දේශපාලනඥයන් විසින් අපට කියා සිටී. යුද්ධය ගැන කනස්සල්ලෙන් සිටීම නවත්වන ලෙසත්, බෝම්බයට ආදරය කිරීමට ඉගෙන ගන්නා ලෙසත් පාලක පන්තිය ජනතාවට කියා සිටී.

කෙසේ වෙතත්, ආයුධ සඳහා ඇති ඉල්ලුම ශක්තිමත් කරන්නේ යුක්රේන යුද්ධය පමණක් නොවේ. ලොව පුරා විවිධ පාලන තන්ත්‍රයන් සහ ආන්ඩු විසින් මිලිටරි වියදම් වැඩි කිරීම මගින් ආයුධ කර්මාන්තයේ යෙදී සිටින කොටස් හිමියන්ගේ ලාභාංශ ඉහළ නංවනු ලැබේ. උදාහරණයක් ලෙස බොරිස් ජොන්සන් මෑතකදී ඉන්දියාවට පැමිණියේ මෝඩි පාලනය සමඟ ආරක්ෂක සබඳතා ශක්තිමත් කර ගැනීම සඳහාය. රුසියාවේ ආරක්ෂණ පද්ධතිවල ඇති දුර්වලතා ඇතුළු රුසියානු තාක්ෂණයේ ‘අඩුපාඩු’ අතිශයෝක්තියට නංවමින්, BAE Systems සහ Rolls Royce වැනි බ්‍රිතාන්‍ය ආයුධ නිෂ්පාදකයින්ගේ යුධ උපකරණ බ්‍රිතාන්‍ය අගමැති විසින් හුවා දැක්වීය.

ධනවාදය සහ යුද්ධය

අපි මේ පාහරයන්ගෙන් මීට වඩා දෙයක් බලාපොරොත්තු නොවිය යුතුය. මොන සදාචාරාත්මක පීඩනයක් තිබුණත් අධිරාජ්‍යවාදීන් තම සමාගම් විසින් ලාභ ඉපැයීම මැඩපැවැත්වීම හෝ යුධ ගිනිදැල් ඇවිලවීම නැවැත්වීම හෝ කරන්නේ නැත.

ඔවුන්ගේ සමස්ත අරමුණ වන්නේ මහා ව්‍යාපාරිකයන්ගේ ලාභ සහ ඔවුන්ගේ උවමනා එපාකම් ආරක්ෂා කිරීමත්; යුද්ධයට සහ එහි සියලු භීෂණවලට වගකිව යුතු ධනපති ක්‍රමය ආරක්ෂා කිරීම සහ එය නියෝජනය කිරීමත්ය.

යුක්රේනයේ ගැටුම, අධිරාජ්‍යවාදී බලවතුන්ගේ වක්‍ර යුද්ධයකි; ධනේශ්වර රටවල් බලය, කීර්තිය සහ ලාභය සඳහා තරඟ කිරීමේ ප්‍රතිඵලයකි.

ලෙනින් පැහැදිලි කළ පරිදි: යුද්ධය බිහිසුණුය; බිහිසුණු ලෙස ලාභදායකය. යුද්ධයේ විනාශය, යුද්ධයේ බිහිසුණු බව සහ ඒ සමඟ ඇති වන නිර්ලජ්ජිත ලාභ ඉපැයීම අවසන් කිරීම වෙනුවෙන් අප එය ඇති කරන ධනපති ක්‍රමය පෙරලා දැමීමට සංවිධානාත්මකව සටන් කළ යුතුය.

The post ධනපති ක්‍ර‍මය තුළ යුද්ධය යනු හොඳ ව්‍යාපාරයකි! appeared first on Asia Commune.

The war in Ukraine has ushered in a wave of militarism. The western imperialists have poured billions into sending military equipment to Ukraine. And ‘defence’ spending has rocketed across the NATO nations, most notably in Germany. As a result, in the midst of the devastation, arms manufacturers have hit the jackpot, blinded by dollar signs.

At the outbreak of the conflict, shares in Britain’s BAE Systems rose by 4.8%, to a one-year high. The share prices of US defence giants Lockheed Martin and Raytheon – makers of the Stinger ground-to-air missile and F-35 fighter jet respectively – have also sharply increased.

Even before the war, these manufacturers of death and destruction were raking it in. Whilst the global economy contracted during the pandemic, the arms industry’s profits reached astronomical heights, peaking at $531bn in 2020. With European countries pledging an additional £170bn in military spending for the years to come, even these eye-watering past profits will pale in comparison to the current boon in business.

The US is set to send 6,500 Javelin anti-tank missiles to Ukraine. Made by Raytheon and Lockheed Martin, each missile costs $78,000, plus an additional $100,000 for the launcher. Britain has donated more than 5,000 Next Generation Light Anti-Tank Weapons, manufactured in Belfast by French defence company Thales. Each of these costs approximately £30,000. In other words, whilst western imperialism fights out its proxy war with Russia to the last drop of Ukrainian blood, profiteering arms producers will make a killing.

Even before the outbreak of war, Raytheon CEO Greg Hayes cited “tensions in Eastern Europe” as a factor from which the company will benefit. Similarly, Lockheed Martin CEO Jim Taiclet commented that the “renewed great power competition” (read: tensions between the imperialist nations) would bode well for business.

Since the Ukraine war began, the jubilation of these crooks has been thinly concealed. And in true Orwellian fashion, western politicians have formed an orderly queue to assure us that fuelling the war machine will bring peace. we are being told by our ruling class to stop worrying about the war, and to learn to love the bomb.

It is not only the war in Ukraine that is bolstering the demand for weapons, however. Arms shareholder dividends are also being boosted by increased military spending by various regimes and governments across the world. Boris Johnson recently visited India, for example, in order to strengthen defence ties with the Modi regime. Exaggerating the ‘failures’ of Russian advances, including the supposed ‘chink in Russia’s armour’, the British Prime Minister touted the military equipment of UK arms producers such as BAE Systems and Rolls Royce.

Capitalism and war

We should expect nothing less from these scoundrels. No amount of moral pressure on the ruling class will make them curb the profiteering, or stop them fanning the flames of war.

After all, their entire raison d’être is to protect the profits and interests of big business; to defend and represent the very system that is responsible for war and all its horrors.

The conflict in Ukraine, at root, is a proxy war between different imperialist powers; a consequence of capitalist nations vying for power, prestige, and profit.

As Lenin explained: Yes, war is terrible – terribly profitable. To end the destruction of war, horrors of war and the shameless profiteering that accompanies it, we must organise and fight to overthrow the system that spawns this: capitalism.

The post War is a big business for Capitalism appeared first on Asia Commune.

采访者 唐·萨曼莎（Don Samantha）

陈先森 译、李明 校

戈尔巴赫·丹尼斯出生于乌克兰东部一个名叫Kryvyi Rih的工业城镇，那时乌克兰仍属于苏联。他所有讲俄语的家庭成员都在当地的采矿和工程企业工作。他16岁时去基辅的一所大学学习，后来留在那里做记者。在大学里，戈尔巴赫·丹尼斯在政治上的观点从他小时候的乌克兰民族主义转变为共产主义/无政府主义。他曾是乌克兰一些左派组织的成员，目前他是一家乌克兰网站Commons团队的成员，该网站从左翼视角分析社会。在基辅当了十年记者后，他决定改行，便进入布达佩斯的一所大学，然后在巴黎被录取为博士生。他正在他的博士论文中研究乌克兰工人阶级的政治态度。

1. ​在这个悲伤的时刻，作为亚洲工人阶级的一员，我们反对俄罗斯的入侵，并呼吁立即从乌克兰撤出所有俄罗斯军队。

那么，你能否向我们详述你的家庭、社会关系以及你的工人阶级社会活动家们，朋友们？

他们在乌克兰还好吗？你还在和他们沟通吗？我们迫切想知道这些人如今生活的最新情况。

　　作为东欧家庭的典型，我的很多家人早在入侵之前就已经离开了乌克兰：他们在世界上许多不同的国家生活和工作。我的岳父和我的姨妈在基辅东郊的住房地窖里躲了大约两个星期，但后来他们终于设法撤离了。现在他们在波兰，我计划让他们尽快搬到法国。

　　至于朋友和同志，他们中的一些人也逃离了战争：要么逃往乌克兰西部（遭受空袭，但远离前线）或欧盟。其他人仍然留在那里：他们中的大多数现在要么是领土防御部队的一部分，要么是组织志愿活动（帮助疏散人员，带来食物，药品和其他援助，协调流离失所者的住房等等）。许多地方的日常经济活动已经停止，日常生活完全服从战争：例如，铁路疏散难民并确保运输急需的货物，基辅地铁作为防空洞使用，许多企业（如果不是大多数企业）关闭。

　　互联网在所有未被占领的地区仍然运行良好，我每天都与乌克兰同志互动。

　　在被俄罗斯人杀害的人中，有一个人是我认识的：一名去被占领区拍照的记者。其他人到目前为止还活着，当然他们过得并不好。

2. 乌克兰是欧洲和俄罗斯的边境。 它怎会受到影响？

　　在其独立存在的前二十年中，乌克兰存在于这两个帝国之间，欧盟和俄罗斯对乌克兰经济同样重要。它在政治上也保持不结盟状态。在个人层面，数百万普通乌克兰人在俄罗斯和前苏联其他国家曾经并且仍然有亲戚，但他们也形成了对欧洲的共同理想，对他们来说欧洲是经济福祉和法治的象征。加入欧盟已成为一个非常流行的想法，特别是因为那里的乌克兰移民工人数量开始增长。

　　欧盟并不真正愿意将乌克兰纳入其结构。对于它来说，乌克兰作为一个贫穷的外部邻国就好。欧盟的政策是提出与其他类似项目不相互排斥的经济合作（例如，如果你愿意，你可以与俄罗斯保持同样的关系）。

　　相反，俄罗斯制定了一个更紧密一体化的项目，在这个项目中，它将在经济和政治上占据主导地位。加入这样一个项目与乌克兰经济的利益相矛盾，因为这意味着切断与西方的联系，屈从于俄罗斯资本家的经济利益。然而，让乌克兰加入这个新联盟对俄罗斯来说很重要：没有乌克兰，它在经济和政治上都是不完整的。这就是2014年欧洲独立广场革命的背景，这场革命导致俄罗斯首次入侵乌克兰，吞并克里米亚并支持东部的分离主义运动。

　　乌克兰和俄罗斯之间的战争就是这样开始的。在这场冲突的八年中，乌克兰不得不切断与俄罗斯的大部分经济联系，并在经济和政治上更多地转向西方，以保护自己。

　　俄国政府计划将俄罗斯控制的分离主义实体作为自治单位重新植入乌克兰来改变这种局面。这将为普京提供工具来控制乌克兰政府做出的所有重要决定。当这种情况显然不会发生时，普京决定进行全面入侵，将战争带到以前没有受到影响的地区。他的目标是颠覆乌克兰政权，建立一个傀儡政府。如果做不到这一点（对整个乌克兰的控制），普京希望分裂乌克兰，并攫取该国的一部分。

　　欧盟和美国在外交上支持乌克兰，但他们多次明确表示不会与俄罗斯开战。因此，乌克兰受益于西方的道义支持，但它并没有真正获得多少资金或武器。自2月24日入侵开始以来，乌克兰从欧盟获得了10亿欧元的援助，但在此期间，欧盟每天向俄罗斯购买10亿欧元的石油和天然气。

3.您能否向我们简要介绍俄罗斯与乌克兰与列宁，托洛茨基的关系，以及与他们之后的约瑟夫·斯大林的关系？

　　乌克兰社会主义者在1917年革命中组建了几个乌克兰政府，他们对列宁和布尔什维克持有不同的看法。他们中的一些人主张建立一个或多或少的紧密联盟，另一些人则主张建立一个独立的社会主义国家。然而，列宁是民族自决权的坚定推动者，特别是在乌克兰问题上。他亲自撰写了羞辱俄罗斯沙文主义和民族主义的文章，他的政府发起了一场大规模的“乌克兰化”运动：在这个社会主义共和国中肯定乌克兰语言和文化。这种政治倾向也是托洛茨基的政治倾向，他也写了很多关于乌克兰自决的重要性的文章。

　　在斯大林的领导下，“乌克兰化”政治受到限制，1933年，他发起了一场反对乌克兰知识分子的运动，当时正值大饥荒：乌克兰等粮食产区的人为饥荒。与丘吉尔在孟加拉的政策类似，斯大林从农民手中夺走了粮食，农民因此大量死亡（约400万受害者）。乌克兰在苏联仍然是一个形式独立的共和国，但它在更大程度上被征服了，特别是在第二次世界大战期间斯大林转向民族主义之后（拒绝将《国际歌》作为官方国歌，在苏联建立了以俄罗斯人为主导的民族等级制度等）。

　　对普京来说，他怀念被列宁摧毁的俄罗斯帝国，因此乌克兰作为一个独立的国家是不可接受的。他指责列宁和托洛茨基破坏了帝国，人为地创造了乌克兰。现在他想纠正这个错误，把它变成俄罗斯的一个省，就像沙皇统治时期一样。斯大林作为一名政治领导人更容易被普京接受，因为他恢复了俄罗斯的帝国性质。当普京说苏联解体是一场灾难时，他指的正是帝国力量的这一层面，而不是对工人阶级的尊重或苏联时代相对的社会平等。

4.你是一名社会研究者，你正在法国攻读工人阶级政治博士学位，你也是一名左翼记者。那么，你能告诉我战前和现在乌克兰劳动人民的真实情况吗？以及现在与东欧工人阶级的团结是怎样的？

　　即使在战前，乌克兰工人也不是世界上最幸福的人。贫困程度相当高，经济不平等一直在加剧，许多人不得不离开国家到其他地方工作。没有一个强大的政治组织可以代表工人的集体利益。尽管如此，仍有一些激进的工会在1990年代及以后组织了令人印象深刻的罢工，特别是在2017年至2020年期间。例如，独立矿工工会要求将铁矿的工资从目前的300美元左右提高到1000美元。上一次大罢工是在新冠病毒大流行的不利政治经济背景下举行的：尽管经济状况不稳定，但当许多企业裁员时，矿工们在地下呆了42天，并获得了重大让步。

　　今天，这些人大多参加战争。我所知道的所有工会今天都作为紧急组织运作，分发物资援助并帮助组织乌克兰城市的自卫。统治阶级利用这种情况来推进其议程：最近议会通过了一项法律，使得在战争时期解雇工人变得更加容易。当然，战争并没有使乌克兰工人的生活变得更容易。除了来自资本家的攻击之外，现在他们还必须同时击退来自另一个国家统治阶级的攻击。

　　其他国家的工人阶级目前正在发起或已经开展许多团结倡议。例如，我们来自波兰工会Inicjatywa Pracownicza（工人倡议）的同志非常积极地帮助波兰边境的乌克兰人。德国、瑞士和法国的工会正在组织援助车队，仿照1990年代对波斯尼亚工人的援助。我们也感到高兴的是，我们同俄国社会主义运动（RSD）的俄国同志们的想法相似，他们也谴责这场战争，并呼吁打败俄国帝国主义者。

5.今天世界上有一些社会主义国际组织。我认为我们必须有一个由世界上所有工人组成的国际，以实现他们作为一个阶级的梦想。你有什么想法吗？

　　当然，我同意社会主义只能在全球范围内实现，工人运动不能局限于一个国家的限制。在不同国家的社会主义者之间建立有意义的联系是极其重要的：我们东欧人对南亚工人的斗争仍然知之甚少，恐怕反过来的情况也是如此。只有学会交流实践理论，进行有效的协调，才能战胜资本主义制度。仅仅领导孤立的斗争和阅读旧的理论书籍是不够的。

6. 您能告诉我们这场冲突最近的历史背景是什么吗？

　　我已经简要描述了上述背景。明斯克协议本应将分裂领土重新纳入乌克兰，作为普京的影响力杠杆，但双方都没有执行。在乌克兰，这在政治上几乎是不可想象的：当政府起草法律草案，修改宪法，允许将分离主义行刑队合法化为“人民民兵”，并允许分离主义领导人当选为议会议员时，发生了大规模抗议活动，民族主义者在议会大厦杀害了一名军事警卫。无论如何，乌克兰拒绝采取第一步，理由是在分离主义地区组织选举之前，俄罗斯首先需要将国家边界的控制权交给乌克兰边防军——否则，在无法保证程序正确的情况下，所有选举都将毫无意义。俄罗斯拒绝这样做，然后最终根据自己的法律组织了自己的选举，使得协议的这一点完全无效。它还拒绝撤离重型火炮。最后一点是2022年2月，就在入侵乌克兰之前，普京正式承认了分离主义国家——这结束了明斯克协议。鉴于他无法在政治上征服乌克兰，他决定在军事上这样做。

7.您能向我们解释一下1990年之前及以后的乌克兰经济吗？实际上，乌克兰的经济价值是什么？

　　1991年苏联解体后，乌克兰开始建立资本主义市场经济。第一个十年是极其艰难的，我们经历了一场比美国的大萧条要大得多的危机。事实上，乌克兰从未达到1990年的GDP水平。

　　1998年全球经济危机后，乌克兰经济开始复苏，寻找新的增长源：乌克兰依靠出口金属、化学品和食品商品，而不是在全球市场上已失去竞争力的高附加值产业（工程、机械制造）。这种新的定位在2000年代帮助实现了令人印象深刻的增长，但在大宗商品价格繁荣结束和2012年俄罗斯贸易战开始后，它便停滞不前（乌克兰依赖俄罗斯天然气，以及俄罗斯市场的工程和食品工业）。食品（谷物和葵花籽油）和金属（包括铁矿石）出口仍然是今天国民收入的主要来源。

　　经济大多是私有化的。其中大部分由寡头拥有：大资本家其聚集的经济资产使他们能够影响政治和媒体，而后面这些因素帮助他们保持经济财产。

8.如果我是对的，乌克兰已经禁止了那里的共产党。你认为这是民主吗？普京通过对乌克兰采取残酷的军事行动而违反了国际法，同时他还谈到了纳粹国家，这是什么，什么是真实的故事？

　　乌克兰共产党（CPU）在1990年代和21世纪初的乌克兰政治中发挥了重要作用。到那个十年结束时，它失去了独立性，成为地区党领导的政府联盟中较小的合作伙伴，地区党是代表乌克兰最富有的寡头的主要政治力量。其开支由一个名叫Kostiantyn Grigorishyn的寡头资助；为了换取他的经济援助，该党投票支持改善其企业条件的法律。

　　在2013年至2014年的广场起义期间，警察暴行的话题发挥了关键作用：大多数人走上街头是为了回应防暴警察残酷殴打抗议者的事件。CPU是当时政府联盟的成员。其官方报纸发表了一篇文章，将抗议者与美国的非白人人口进行了比较，据称他们“吃得好”，除了他们的卑鄙本性之外，没有理由抗议。2014年1月16日，中央政治部支持了一系列压制性法律，包括《刑法典》修正案，将“极端主义”，包括“煽动社会不和”定为刑事犯罪。自称为共产主义的政党支持新自由主义政权，发动防暴警察对付工人，并主张对阶级斗争的宣传进行刑事起诉。

　　这些是共产党在政权被推翻后被禁止参加选举的条件。不幸的是，这还不是全部：由于CPU在支持前政权方面发挥了可耻的作用，共产主义议程也受到了诋毁。2016年通过的“去共产主义”法律禁止使用所有共产主义符号。这无疑使乌克兰左翼分子的生活变得困难，这远非理想的民主状态。在2019年新总统泽伦斯基当选后，人们有很多希望他能使这种情况正常化。然而，俄罗斯的袭击使所有这些问题变得不那么重要：今天的乌克兰左翼分子承认，俄罗斯的侵略只会带来更多不民主的限制。

　　至于乌克兰国家的“纳粹”特征，这根本不是真的。的确，乌克兰有极右翼政治力量，尽管在过去十年中，他们从未在选举中获得超过2-3%的选票。民族主义者在自由派公民社会中具有影响力，但在乌克兰社会中却不受欢迎。想象一下泽连斯基，一个讲俄语并以反民族主义纲领赢得选举的犹太人，如俄罗斯宣传所描绘的那样，是一个纳粹分子，这是特别愚蠢的。

　　根据格奥尔基·季米特洛夫（Georgi Dimitrov）给出的马克思主义对法西斯主义的经典定义，它是“金融资本中最反动，最沙文主义和最帝国主义分子的公开恐怖主义独裁统治”。这个定义似乎更接近于俄罗斯资本主义政权，它对所有无政府主义和共产主义反对派发动了政治恐怖，后者持有怀念俄罗斯帝国的反动议程。它的统治意识形态是沙文主义的俄罗斯帝国主义，为其专属的“势力范围”而斗争。俄罗斯政府新闻机构最近发表的文章呼吁对乌克兰民族进行种族灭绝，据称这反正不是真的。乌克兰政府甚至没有公布过关于俄罗斯人或世界上任何其他国家的此类文章。

9. 您如何看待中国和印度卷入正在乌克兰进行的战争？

　　不幸的是，我们对彼此的区域知之甚少。我必须非常详细地解释乌克兰的历史，但另一方面，我不太了解中国和印度的现实，无法评论其社会的参与和态度。中国通常被认为是俄罗斯的盟友，但它似乎不愿意通过经济或军事援助明确支持它。当然，它没有卷入俄罗斯方面的战争是个好消息。看起来中国帝国主义无论如何都会受益，因为被战争削弱的俄罗斯现在已经在经济上越来越依赖中国。

　　如果俄罗斯赢得乌克兰战争，中国和印度的极端民族主义政府将受到鼓舞，对较弱的邻国和本国的少数民族进行类似的攻击。相反，如果乌克兰设法击败俄罗斯的侵略，这将是在美国在阿富汗失败之后另一个强烈的信号，帝国主义者不允许为所欲为而不受惩罚。这就是为什么我认为乌克兰战争是全球工人阶级关注的问题：我们的胜利对其他所有人来说也意味着一个更安全的世界。

10.今天，除了极少数人之外，全球左翼都隐藏着反美的口号，并且仍然与苏俄联系在一起。他们长期以来一直在重复这一点，我觉得在世界上恢复真正的社会主义受到严重影响。请代表世界工人告诉我们您的意见？

　　在左派中，对苏联可能有不同的看法：苏联在其漫长的历史中既有进步的，也有反动的元素和时期。我个人认为，即使人们可以对苏联提出所有批评，它仍然重要的是为全世界提供一个进步的项目，一个共产主义的愿景。今天的俄罗斯情况并非如此。一些生活在远离世界这一地区的国家的左翼人士认为，普京的俄罗斯在某种程度上是苏联的延续，但实际上这是其完全否定。普京复活了俄罗斯帝国的意识形态，该意识形态被普京憎恨的布尔什维克摧毁。这个帝国是他的政治理想。

　　在经济上，俄罗斯是一个狂野的新自由主义资本主义国家，极端富豪和大多数贫困人口之间存在着极端的不平等，但莫斯科和圣彼得堡等富裕城市与该国其他非常贫穷的城市之间存在着极端的不平等。激进的工会和独立的左翼运动受到严重迫害，积极分子在警局遭受酷刑，并被判处可怕的徒刑（18-20年不等）。在文化上，俄罗斯政权宣扬极端的民族主义，东正教统治，迫害少数民族，奴役妇女。我不明白这个政权对左派有什么吸引力。

　　也许他们中的一些人认为支持任何敌视美国的凶残的极右翼新自由主义独裁政权是个好主意。他们是否也支持中国、印度、伊朗、缅甸、阿富汗、巴基斯坦的政权？也许出于类似的原因，他们中的一些人会这样做。但是，我不赞同这种态度。

　　我相信，我们只有联合全世界的所有进步力量，从美国到俄罗斯、乌克兰、印度、斯里兰卡、中国等等，通过无情地与压迫政权和统治阶级作斗争，才能共同取得胜利。记住马克思提出的第一国际的基本原则是有用的：“工人阶级的解放必须由工人阶级自己来实现”。我们不能指望某个遥远的独裁者为我们完成所有的工作，克服资本主义并建立共产主义，这是一种懒惰和低效的策略。为了在全球范围内实现真正的社会主义，我们需要共同努力，在劳工和社会主义运动之间建立团结，并制定共同战略。希望正在进行的战争将使我们所有人彼此更加接近，并消除可能存在好帝国主义的幻想。乌克兰社会主义者已经与美国、英国、欧盟、巴西、墨西哥、俄罗斯和其他地方的左翼运动合作。如果我们也同南亚的社会主义者建立友好合作关系，那将是极好的。

2022年4月18日

唐·萨曼莎（Don Samantha）是斯里兰卡人。法国总工会（CGT）活动家和公共部门政治活动家。

原文链接：https://asiacommune.org/2022/04/18/interview-with-gorbach-denis-ukraine/

The post 采访乌克兰人戈尔巴赫·丹尼斯（Gorbach Denis） appeared first on Asia Commune.

Interviewed by Don Samantha – Trade union (CGT) activist and political activist based on public Sector – Sorbonne University, Paris   

Gorbach Denis was born when Ukraine was still part of the USSR, in an industrial town in Eastern Ukraine called Kryvyi Rih. All the members of his Russian-speaking family worked at the local mining and engineering enterprises. When he was 16, he went to study in a university in Kyiv, and stayed there afterwards, working as a journalist. In the university, Gorbach Denis shifted politically from Ukrainian nationalist views he had as a child to communist/anarchist views. He was part of a number of leftist organizations in Ukraine, currently he is a member of the team of Commons – Ukrainian website that analyses society from the leftist point of view. Having spent a decade as a journalist in Kyiv, He decided to change profession, joined a university in Budapest and then was accepted as a PhD student in Paris. 

Present days he is studying the political attitudes of the Ukrainian working class in his PhD thesis.

 Q. ​ In this moment of sorrow as Asia Commune and as Asian working class that We oppose the Russian invasion and call for the immediate withdrawal of all Russian troops from Ukraine.  

So, could you let us know how your family and relations as well as your working-class social activists, friends?

Are they ok in Ukraine and are you communicating with them still? Really we would like to know the latest of today’s general lives of these people? 

Typically for Eastern Europe, a lot of my family had left Ukraine long before the invasion: they live and work in many different countries of the world. My father-in-law and my aunt spent around two weeks hiding in the cellar of their housing in an eastern suburb of Kyiv, but then they finally managed to evacuate. Now they are in Poland, I plan to get them to move to France soon. 

As for friends and comrades, some of them have also fled the war – either to Western Ukraine (it suffers from airstrikes but it is far from the frontline) or to the EU. Others remained in place: most of them are now either part of the territorial defence units or organising voluntary activities (helping to evacuate people, bringing food, medicine and other aid, coordinating housing for displaced people and so on). Routine economic activities have stopped in many places, everyday life became fully subordinated to the war: eg the railway evacuates refugees and ensures the transportation of urgently needed goods, the Kyiv metro functions as a bomb shelter, many if not most enterprises closed. 

The internet is still working fine in all areas that are not occupied, and I interact with Ukrainian comrades every day. 

Among the people killed by the Russians, there is one person I knew personally: a journalist who went to take photos in the occupied areas. Others are so far alive, but of course not very well. 

2. Ukraine is a borderland to Europe and to Russia.  How can it be affected?

For the first twenty years of its independent existence, Ukraine existed between these two empires, both the EU and Russia were equally important for the Ukrainian economy. It also remained non-aligned politically. On the personal level, millions of common Ukrainians had and still have relatives in Russia and other countries of the former USSR, but they also have developed the shared ideal of Europe, which is for them a symbol of economic well-being and rule of law. Joining the EU has become an extremely popular idea, especially since the number of Ukrainian migrant workers there started growing. 

The EU was not really willing to integrate Ukraine into its structures. For it, Ukraine was just fine as a poor outside neighbour. The EU’s policy was to propose economic collaboration that would not be mutually exclusive with other similar projects (eg you can have the same relations with Russia if you want). 

Russia, on the contrary, developed a project of a closer integration, in which it would dominate economically and politically. Membership in such a project contradicted the interests of the Ukrainian economy, since it would mean cutting ties with the West and succumbing to the economic interests of Russian capitalists. However, it was important for Russia to have Ukraine in this new union: without Ukraine, it is incomplete economically and politically. This is the background for the Euromaidan revolution of 2014, which led to Russia invading Ukraine for the first time, annexing Crimea and supporting separatist movements in the East. 

This is how the war began between Ukraine and Russia. During the eight years of this conflict, Ukraine had to cut most of its economic ties with Russia and reorient itself economically and politically much more to the West in order to protect itself. 

The Russian government planned to change this situation by implanting the separatist entities back into Ukraine as autonomous units, controlled by Russia. This would give Putin tools to control all the important decisions taken by the Ukrainian government. When it became clear that this was not going to happen, Putin decided to proceed with a full-fledged invasion, bringing the war to the areas that had not been affected by it previously. His aim is to change the regime in Ukraine, installing a puppet government. Failing that (control over the whole Ukraine), Putin wants to divide it, grabbing a part of the country. 

The EU and the US support Ukraine diplomatically but they made it clear many times that they will not go to war with Russia. So, Ukraine benefits from the moral support of the West, but it does not really get much money or weapons. Since the beginning of the invasion on the 24 February, Ukraine received 1 billion Euros of aid from the EU, but during this period EU has been paying 1 billion Euros every day to Russia, for its oil and gas.

3. Could you please brief us the Russian relationship with Ukraine with Lenin, Trotsky and after them, with Josef Stalin?

Ukrainian socialists, who formed several Ukrainian governments in the 1917 revolution, held different views about Lenin and the Bolsheviks. Some of them argued for a more or less close union, others for an independent socialist state. However, Lenin was an adamant promoter of the right to national self-determination, specifically with regards to Ukraine. He personally wrote texts shaming the Russian chauvinism and nationalism, and his government launched a massive campaign of “Ukrainianisation”: affirming Ukrainian language and culture in this socialist republic. This politics was also the politics of Trotsky, who also wrote a lot about the importance of Ukrainian self-determination. 

Under Stalin, the “Ukrainianisation” politics were curtailed, in 1933 he launched a campaign against the Ukrainian intelligentsia, which coincided with Holodomor: artificial famine in the grain-producing areas such as Ukraine. Similarly to Churchill’s policies in Bengal, Stalin took the grain from peasants who died massively as a result (around four million victims). Ukraine remained a formally separate republic within the USSR, but it was subjugated to a greater degree, especially after Stalin’s nationalist turn during the Second World War (rejecting The Internationale as the official anthem, establishing a hierarchy of nations within the USSR with Russians being dominant, etc). 

For Putin, who is nostalgic for the Russian empire destroyed by Lenin, Ukraine is unacceptable as a separate state. He accuses Lenin and Trotsky of ruining the empire and of creating Ukraine artificially. Now he wants to correct this mistake and turn it into a Russian province, as it was under the Tsar. Stalin is more acceptable to Putin as a political leader inasmuch as he restored the imperial character of Russia. When Putin says that the collapse of the USSR was a catastrophe, he means precisely this dimension of imperial might, rather than the respect to the working class or the relative social equality in Soviet time. 

4. You are a social researcher and you are doing your PHD in France on the politics of the working class and you are a left oriented journalist too.

So, could you tell me the real situation of working people in Ukraine before the war and right now? As well as what kind of solidarity is going on with the east European working class right now? 

Ukrainian workers were not the happiest people in the world even before the war. The level of poverty is quite high, the economic inequality has been growing and many people had to leave the country to work elsewhere. There is no strong political organisation that would represent the workers’ collective interests. Nevertheless, there is a number of militant trade unions that organised impressive strikes in the 1990s and later, notably in the period from 2017-2020. The independent miners’ union, for example, demands to raise the wages in iron ore mines to $1000 from their current level around $300. The last big strike was held in the adverse politico-economic context of the Covid pandemic: despite the precarious state of the economy, when many enterprises were laying off workers, the miners stayed underground 42 days and gained significant concessions. 

Today these people are mostly participating in the war effort. All the unions I know of are functioning today as emergency organisations, distributing material aid and helping to organise self-defense in Ukrainian cities. The ruling class uses the situation to advance its agenda: recently the parliament passed a law making it easier to lay off workers in the time of war. Certainly, the war does not make life any easier for Ukrainian workers. Besides attacks from the capitalists, now they have to simultaneously repel attacks from the ruling class of another country. 

There are many solidarity initiatives currently being launched or already working, on the part of the working class of other countries. For example, our comrades from the Polish trade union Inicjatywa Pracownicza (Workers’ Initiative) are very active in helping Ukrainians at the Polish border. German, Swiss, French trade unions are organizing convoys of aid, modeled after the aid for Bosnian workers in the 1990s. We are also happy that we think alike with Russian comrades from the Russian Socialist Movement (RSD), who also condemn the war and call for the defeat of the Russian imperialists. 

5. There are some socialist internationals today in the world. I think we must have an international of all workers in the world to achieve their dream as a class.

Do you have an idea about it?

Certainly I agree that socialism can only be realized on the global scale, the workers’ movement cannot be confined to the limits of one country. It is extremely important to build meaningful links between socialists in different countries: we in Eastern Europe still know too little about the struggles of workers in South Asia, and I’m afraid the opposite is also true. Only when we learn to exchange practice and theory and coordinate efficiently can we hope to overcome the capitalist system. It is not enough to lead isolated struggles and read old theory books. 

6. Could you let us know what is the recent historical background of this conflict?

I already described briefly the background above. The Minsk agreements, that were supposed to incorporate the separatist territories back into Ukraine as Putin’s levers of influence, were not implemented by either side. In Ukraine, it was hardly imaginable politically: when the government prepared the draft law to change the Constitution allowing to legalise the separatist death squads as “people’s militias” and to allow the separatist leaders to be elected to the parliament, there were huge protests and nationalists killed a military guardsman at the parliament building. In any case, Ukraine refused to take the first steps arguing that before it organises elections in the separatist regions, Russia first needs to cede control over the state border to Ukrainian border guards – otherwise all elections would be meaningless, when there is no guarantee that the procedure is correct. Russia refused to do this, and then finally it organised its own elections according to its own laws, making this whole point of the agreements null and void. It also refused to move away from heavy artillery. The final point was in February 2022, when Putin, just before invading Ukraine, formally recognised the separatist states – this put an end to Minsk agreements. Seeing that he is unable to subjugate Ukraine politically, he decided to do this militarily. 

7. Could you explain to us about the Ukrainian economy before 1990 and later? Actually, What are the economic values in Ukraine?

After the breakup of the USSR in 1991, Ukraine started building a capitalist market economy. The first decade was extremely difficult, we lived through a crisis that was much greater than the Great Depression was for the Americans; in fact, Ukraine has never reached the GDP level of 1990.

After the global crisis of 1998, the Ukrainian economy started to recover, finding new sources of growth: instead of the high value-added industries (engineering, machine-building), which turned out to be uncompetitive on the global markets, Ukraine relied on exporting metals, chemicals, and food commodities. This new orientation helped achieve impressive growth in the 2000s, but it stagnated after the end of the commodity prices boom and the beginning of Russian trade wars in 2012 (Ukraine was dependent on Russian gas, as well as on Russian markets for its engineering and food industry). Food (grain and sunflower oil) and metals (including iron ore) exports remain the main sources of national income today. 

The economy is mostly privatized. Most of it is owned by oligarchs: big capitalist owners whose concentrated economic assets allow them political and media influence, and these latter factors help them keep their economic property. 

8. If I am correct that Ukraine has banned the Communist Party there. Do you think is it Democracy? And Putin has broken international law by taking the brutal military actions against Ukraine and also at the same time he speaks about the Nazi state, what is this and what is true story?

The Communist Party of Ukraine (CPU) played an important role in Ukrainian politics in the 1990s and early 2000s. By the end of that decade, it lost its independence and became a lesser partner in the government coalition led by the Party of Regions, the main political force representing Ukraine’s richest oligarchs. Its expenses were financed by an oligarchy named Kostiantyn Grigorishyn; in exchange for his financial aid, the party voted for the laws that improved conditions for his businesses. 

During the Maidan uprising of 2013-2014, the topic of police brutality played a key role: most people went into the streets as a response to an incident in which the riot police had brutally beaten protesters. CPU was a member of the government coalition at that time. Its official newspaper published an article in which it compared the protesters to the non-White population of the US, who are allegedly “well-fed” and have no reason to protest except their vile nature. On 16 January 2014 CPU supported a number of repressive laws, including an amendment to the Criminal Code criminalising “extremism”, including “incitements to social discord”. The party that called itself communist supported a neoliberal regime that unleashed riot police against workers and argued for criminal prosecution of the propaganda of class struggle. 

These were the conditions in which the Communist Party was banned from participating in elections after that regime was toppled. Unfortunately, this was not all: because of the shameful role the CPU had played in supporting the previous regime, the communist agenda was discredited, too. Laws on “decommunisation” passed in 2016 prohibited the use of all communist symbols. This certainly makes life difficult for Ukrainian leftists, and this is far from an ideal state of democracy. After the new president Zelenskyi was elected in 2019, there were many hopes that he would normalise this situation. Nevertheless, the Russian attack made all these problems less relevant: Ukrainian leftists today acknowledge that the Russian aggression brings only much more undemocratic restrictions. 

As for the “Nazi” character of the Ukrainian state, this is simply not true. It is true that there are far right political forces in Ukraine, although during the last decade they have never been able to get more than 2-3% at the elections. The nationalists are influential among the liberal civil society, but unpopular among the Ukrainian society. It is especially silly to imagine that Zelenskyi, a Jew who speaks Russian and who won the elections with an anti-nationalist programme, is a Nazi, as he is portrayed by the Russian propaganda. 

According to the classic Marxist definition of fascism given by Georgi Dimitrov, it is “the open terrorist dictatorship of the most reactionary, most chauvinistic and most imperialist elements of finance capital”. This definition seems to be much closer to the Russian capitalist regime, which unleashed political terror against all anarchist and communist opposition, which holds the reactionary agenda of nostalgia for the Russian empire. Its ruling ideology is chauvinist Russian imperialism, struggling for its exclusive “zones of influence”. Recent articles published by the Russian government press agencies call for a genocidal destruction of the Ukrainian nation that is allegedly not real anyway. Nothing of this kind has even been published by the Ukrainian government about Russians or any other nation in the world. 

9. How do you feel about the involvement of China and India in the ongoing war in Ukraine?     

Unfortunately, we know too little about each other’s regions. I have to explain the history of Ukraine in great detail, but on the other hand I don’t know much about the realities of China and India to comment on the involvement and attitudes of their societies. China is often considered an ally of Russia, but it does not seem to be willing to support it explicitly with economic or military aid. Of course it is good news that it does not get involved in the war on Russia’s side. It looks like Chinese imperialism will gain in any case, because Russia, weakened by the war, is already now becoming more and more dependent on China economically. 

If Russia wins the war in Ukraine, the ultra-nationalist governments of both China and India will feel encouraged to commit similar attacks against their weaker neighbours and against minorities in their own countries. On the contrary, if Ukraine manages to defeat the Russian aggression, this will be a strong signal, following the US defeat in Afghanistan that imperialists are not allowed to do whatever they want with total impunity. That is why I consider that the war in Ukraine is a matter of interest for the global working class: our victory will mean a safer world for everyone else, too.

10. Today the global left, except very few, the maximum leftists hide of the slogan of ANTY-AMERICAN and still associated with Soviet Russia. They are repeating this since for a long time and I feel that is it is badly affected to regain the real socialism in the world. Tell us your opinion on behalf of workers in the world?

Among the left, there can be different opinions about the USSR: it had both progressive and reactionary elements and periods throughout its long history. I personally think that even with all the criticism that one can make against the Soviet Union, it is still important that it offers a progressive project for the whole world, a vision of communism. This is not the case of Russia today. Some leftists living in countries distant from this part of the world believe that Putin’s Russia is somehow a continuation of the USSR, but in fact it is its total negation. Putin resurrected the ideology of Imperial Russia, which was destroyed by the Bolsheviks, whom Putin hates. That empire is his political ideal. Economically, Russia is a country of wild neoliberal capitalism, with extreme inequalities between the tiny group of ultra-rich and the impoverished majority, but also between the rich cities of Moscow and Saint-Petersburg and the rest of the country that is very poor. Militant trade unions and independent leftist movements are severely persecuted, with activists being tortured in police departments and getting horrible prison sentences (18, 20 years and so on). Culturally, the Russian regime promotes virulent nationalism, domination of the Orthodox church, persecution of minorities, subjugation of women. I do not understand what can be attractive about that regime for the left. 

Probably some of them think it is a good idea to support any murderous far-right neoliberal dictatorship that is hostile to the USA. Do they also support the regimes in China, India, Iran, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Pakistan? Maybe some of them do, for similar reasons. However, I do not share this attitude. 

I believe we can only win together, by joining all progressive forces in all the countries of the world, from the US to Russia, Ukraine, India, Sri Lanka, China, and so on, and by ruthlessly fighting the oppressive regimes and the ruling classes. It is useful to remember the fundamental principle of the First International, suggested by Marx: “the emancipation of the working classes must be conquered by the working classes themselves”. We cannot hope that some distant dictator does all the job for us, overcomes capitalism and installs communism, this is a lazy and inefficient strategy. To bring about real socialism on the global scale, we need to work together, building solidarities between labour and socialist movements and developing common strategies. Hopefully the ongoing war will push us all closer to each other and dissipate illusions that there can be good imperialisms. Ukrainian socialists already work together with leftist movements in the US, the UK, the EU, Brazil, Mexico, Russia, and other places. It will be excellent if we also establish friendly and cooperative relations with socialists in South Asia. 

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Brussels 16 March 2022 – Fox News camera operator Pierre Zakrzewski and Ukrainian producer and fixer Oleksandra Kuvshynova, also known as Sasha, were killed on 14 March while reporting from Horenka, a city close to Kyiv. Fox News reporter Benjamin Hall was seriously injured in the same attack. The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ and EFJ) denounced the targeting of media workers reporting on the front lines in Ukraine and urged the international community to investigate these attacks.

Fox News reported that the journalists’ vehicle “was struck by incoming fire” yesterday as the crew was heading towards the city of Irpin. Only Benjamin Hall’s serious condition following the attack was initially made public.

Today CEO Suzanne Scott announced the killing of Pierre Zakrzewski: “It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that we share the news this morning regarding our beloved cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski.”

According to media reports, Zakrzewski, 55, was an Irish citizen based in London who covered many international stories for Fox News from Iraq to Afghanistan to Syria. Oleksandra Kuvshynova was a 24-year-old Ukrainian journalist. She had been working with Fox News team for a month.

Ukrainian authorities said today that Benjamin Hall was still hospitalised and had to have part of his leg amputated.

Four journalists were killed since the beginning of the conflict on 24 February. US journalist Brent Renaud was shot dead last Sunday in the suburbs of Kyiv. Ukrainian journalist Yevheniy Sakun died in the bombing of the television tower in Kiev on 1 March. At least five journalists were wounded.

IFJ General Secretary, Anthony Bellanger, said: “This war is being incredibly tough to cover for media workers on the front line, who are suffering targeted attacks daily. We send our condolences to our colleagues’ families and friends. Targeted attacks on journalists covering the war constitute war crimes that cannot go unpunished.“

EFJ General Secretary Ricardo Gutiérrez stated: “It seems clear that journalists are now being deliberately targeted. These are war crimes and perpetrators must be prosecuted as such. Tonight our thoughts are with Pierre and Oleksandra’s loved ones.”

Donate to the IFJ-EFJ Safety Fund for journalists in Ukraine

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