Asian Marxist Review

By Ruben Tzanoff

The invasion of Ukraine ordered by Vladimir Putin is causing destruction, death and nearly 400,000 refugees have been displaced from their homes. However, the invading army has not achieved the conquest in 72 hours it had planned, due to the Ukrainian resistance in which the population is increasingly involved. In the war escalation that Western imperialism also fuels, the Russian Federation put its nuclear potential on high alert and directly involved Belarusian troops. The start of another war in Europe has unpredictable consequences.

Protests in Russia

The first reaction took place in Russia itself, where people bravely took to the streets to shout, “We don’t need this war.” They are embryonic manifestations, but the authoritarian regime knows that they constitute a threat to its expansionist intentions. That is why it repressed them and imprisoned more than 1,600 people. The images of war that cross the world cause horror and indignation, which is why, with the passing of the hours, the mobilizations spread, mainly throughout Europe.

More and more repudiation

In Berlin, Germany, there was a massive demonstration, with more than 100,000 people under the slogan “Stop the war. Peace for Ukraine and for all of Europe.” In the Spanish state there were massive demonstrations in Madrid, Barcelona, Euskadi, Seville, Malaga and other cities. There were also actions in the UK, Sweden, Poland, Georgia and India. In Belarus, car honking in the streets and pronouncements on social networks are developing against the country’s participation in the aggression. Solidarity was also felt in Latin America, with actions in Argentina, Brazil, Chile and other countries, which will multiply and spread in the coming days.

Georgia

Neither Putin…

There are organizations that focus on the correct position of expressing “NATO out.” But, they justify, minimize or do not even mention the invasion commanded by Putin. With historical or present explanations, they justify the warmongering actions of Russian imperialism, endorsing the theory of campism, that is, of the existence of “less bad” or “progressive” imperialisms such as the Russia’s and China’s.

Nor NATO

Other forces only denounce Putin’s aggression, calling for NATO to intervene or keeping silence as an accomplice of the criminal role of Western imperialism. The presence of NATO is no guarantee for peace. On the contrary, it is its warmongering presence in Eastern Europe that provides Putin excuses. To think that, under the supposed protection of NATO, the UN, North American and European imperialism, something positive will come to any people is a false reactionary illusion. We reject both positions that, from opposite angles, contribute to war.

Always enemies

We do not place any trust in Volodomir Zelensky, a pro-Western imperialist, neoliberal who drives austerity programs against the workers and people of Ukraine. We reject the policy of stirring up patriotic sentiments that play into the hands of the right, the extreme right and the fascists, in both Ukraine and Russia. We oppose the bloodshed of the workers and peoples at the service of any imperialist side and against reactionary and counter-revolutionary sectors taking advantage of the situation, which must be opposed at all times.

Active solidarity of the ISL

We are proud to raise an independent policy, expressed in two ISL declarations. We stand with our comrades from the Ukrainian Socialist League, who are resisting the invasion alongside the people. In Russia, we stand with our comrades who took part in the actions against the war and were arrested. In Belarus, we stand with those who repudiate the intervention of their army in the invasion and challenge Lukashenko.

In Stockholm, Barcelona and Istanbul, we stand with the comrades who participate in and promote the protests. In Brazil, with the action of our comrades from Socialist Alternative. In Chile, with our colleagues from the Anti-Capitalist Movement who promoted a united action.

In Argentina, we stand with the MST, which carried out an important mobilization at the Russian embassy, with the participation of many young Ukrainian émigrés who were present with their own posters, and had repercussions in the mass media. This is how the parties, groups and sympathizers of the ISL will continue to fight, from a principled position of revolutionary and internationalist socialism.