Ukraine

According to Putin cronies such as Sergei Markov, the Kremlin is not fighting a war against a Ukrainian nation seeking to preserve it’s independence. What’s going on instead is a “proxy war” between Russia and NATO. The Ukrainian fighters are merely “stooges” acting at the behest primarily of US imperialism. Sadly this slander that Ukrainians fighting against enslavement by Putin’s gangster state are nothing more than NATO dupes has credence amongst elements on the left, some of whom ought to know better. The notion of “proxy war” is familiar to those who were around at the time of the Vietnam...

What is at stake in the Ukraine war? On 24 February Ukraine was invaded by Vladimir Putin’s Russia. As Russian tanks crossed the border, Putin denied that Ukraine had any right to exist. Russia is seeking to destroy Ukraine as a functioning political unit, subordinating Ukraine to Russian power. Immediately Russian President Vladimir Putin is looking to stop Western support for Ukraine by making the cost of backing Ukraine higher than the West is willing to pay. The Western powers back Ukraine because they believe, rightly, that the threat from Russia won’t stop if Ukraine is occupied and...

To the surprise of Russia and everyone, the Ukraine war has taken a remarkable turn in the last few weeks. Initially, the Ukrainians did well by just surviving. Then, they began a slow, systematic counter-offensive in the southern part of the country. Everyone expected that to drag on for a long time. Russia deployed units from its much-depleted army to counter the Ukrainians -- thereby creating vulnerabilities in other parts of the front. The Ukrainians speedily exploited these and seized thousands of square kilometres of previously-occupied territory. Putin’s response has been one of panic...

Ivanna Khrapko, youth chair of the Ukrainian Federation of Trade Unions, spoke to Martin Thomas while visiting the UK recently with the Ukraine Solidarity Campaign . Our army is trying to kick out Russian soldiers from our territory — very successfully in some regions. Terrible crimes have been found in the liberated territories. A lot of people died. When the territories were occupied, we lost contact with our union members there. We’re trying to make contact again. I don’t know the results yet. The Russian army is bombing areas in the south of Ukraine. Our comrades in Mykolaiv tell me that...

On 30 September, Russian President, Vladimir Putin, signed “accession treaties” which formally subsumed four Ukrainian regions — Kherson, Zaporizhia, Donetsk and Luhansk — into Russia. Putin signed off the annexations following hastily arranged, blatantly rigged votes in these Russian-occupied areas. After three of the five days allocated for voting the so-called Luhansk and Donetsk People’s Republics had declared a fantastical 87% turnout, in a war zone, including 50% in the destroyed, largely abandoned and uninhabited towns of Lysychansk, Sieverodonetsk and Rubishne. Russia claims these four...

The Morning Star of 5 September finally came out openly with an argument that they and others have been hinting at and skirting round for months: that the war in Ukraine is a major cause of the cost of living crisis, so support for Ukraine must stop. The paper cited the 70,000 strong “Czech Republic First” rally in Prague on 3 September as the model for the kind of movement it wants to see in Britain. The rally was organised by the far right with the support of the rump Czech Communist Party and aimed as much against the 400,000 Ukrainian refugees the Czech Republic has taken and Czech foreign...

Residents gather to receive humanitarian aid in Balakliia, a town liberated by the Ukrainian military as part of its counteroffensive in the Kharkiv region Ukraine’s armed forces have won a series of battles in the north east of the country which have liberated thousands of square kilometres of Kharkiv Oblast west of the Oksil river and north to the international border with Russia. Reportedly, on 13 September, a bridgehead over the Oksil was established at Borova. So perhaps the Ukrainian attack may continue into occupied Luhansk. Fighting continues around Lyman. The Russian military had...

On Saturday 17 September, two members of Workers’ Liberty (virtually) attended the national conference of the Ukrainian socialist organisation Sotsialny Rukh (Social Movement). The conference took place over one day, and was attended by politicians, supporters and labour movement activists from throughout the world. The conference served as a chance for Sotsialny Rukh to reflect on the work they’ve done since the outbreak of the war in February. Membership has grown. Though it is not a mass movement yet, the influence the group has had in terms of coordinating support for the Ukrainian working...

Ruleta Proom reports their activities and views. “Izium was liberated today.” These victorious words from the city’s mayor, Valeriy Marchenko, made headlines around the world on Saturday, Sept. 10. Almost 200 days into Russia’s war on Ukraine, this news was significant — it wasn’t just of Russian fumbling or failure, but of Ukrainian advancement and success. Over the weekend more news broke: Ukraine’s military reported Russian withdrawal in regions in Kharkiv and Luhansk — two major areas of contention. But far from the frontlines in Ukraine, a different form of combat continues to take place...

By Katya Gritseva: instagram.com/cmrd_grits In May three members of Workers’ Liberty visited Lviv , Ukraine, to meet with members of Sotsyalnyi Rukh (Social Movement) and other leftists. We spoke to Brie (Kateryna) Kostrova in Lviv, and Yana Wolf and Katya Gritseva in the weeks following the trip. More about Sotsyalni Rukh: rev.org.ua/english instagram.com/social.ruh facebook.com/social.ruh twitter.com/socruch In the summer of 2021, Ukraine celebrated its independence day from the Soviet Union with a series of symbolic parades and parties. This year, it lined the streets of Kyiv with the...