A militiaman with the call sign "Artem" is my old comrade from
Union Borotba (Struggle).
Before the war, he organized working-class youth of
Donbass in the struggle against fascism and capitalism, and built a local cell
organization.
When the war started, he could not stand aside and joined the
ranks of the militia. Now "Artem" is wounded in the hospital and I
was able to talk to him.
Comrade, tell me how you got into the
militia?
When the events began on Maidan Square, I had a feeling
that this time the rightist opposition had reached a more dangerous stage.
Compared with the "Orange" revolution in 2004, in 2014 there were
already many organized, prepared nationalist youth with good financing.
Ultra-nationalist
groups had grown and matured. Therefore, it was a feeling brewing that this
time things would reach the brink of civil war. The split in society existed
before, but it was, so to speak, a moral civil war, and now the nationalists
had a real opportunity to beat, maim and kill dissident people, and do it under
the guise of the state.
When I saw the death of innocent civilians, and the
approving mood of a few local "pro-Ukrainian" patriots, I realized
that we all had to choose.
We were stuck with only one solution to deal with
the situation.
In this situation, I just went out and started helping the
militia.
In which militia formation do you fight?
Joint
Army of the South-East.
What kind of combat tasks have you performed?
Let
it remain a military secret for now.
Was it difficult to move from
being a left activist in peaceful conditions to the life of a fighter?
It
was hard to understand what was happening and to build a system that explains
the essence of the war. It became very easy when immediately in Lugansk I met
communists who refused to obey the decisions of the Communist Party of Ukraine
and boldly embarked on the path of struggle.
And among some of the soldiers I
felt the spirit of Donbass, which has always gravitated to the fight against
the rich, toward socialism.
In the Lugansk People’s Republic (LC) it is very
noticeable.
And the peaceful life was in fact not entirely peaceful. I have
painful memories of the nationalists who roamed the streets of Donetsk and
Lugansk (for example, football ultras) – how we struggled to open people's eyes
to the looming threat of the establishment of the nationalist regime.
The war
was already going on, the prologue to the war, if you like.
The people badly
want to get back to a peaceful life, to create a new young country with their
own hands.
How were you injured?
During the shelling of
the hero-city of Lugansk by heavy artillery. The militia not only fight on the
front lines, they also have a responsibility to protect the civilian population
as much as possible during the shelling, even at the cost of their own lives.
People are already largely used to it, but there is still confusion,
disorganization. Previously, we did not think that punitive volleys in
residential areas were random, and now there is no doubt. Therefore people in
Lugansk have become more disciplined.
How do you assess the prospects
of military operations in the Donbass?
If you look at the chronology
of the conflict from the very beginning, you’ll see how the militias grew and
got stronger. However, the forces are unequal so far. But we have one more
ally, no less important and dangerous to the enemy. Bolsheviks understand the
importance of this. This ally is agitation against the war among Ukrainian
soldiers.
The Bolsheviks campaigned this way against the imperialist war
exactly 100 years ago.
If more and more Ukrainians, who are fighting for the
interests of the Ukrainian and Western capitalists, refuse to fight or organize
their soldiers' committees against the war, the case will be decided.
And this
trend is already apparent.
There are two possibilities. Either
Ukrainian troops will completely raze Donbass to the ground and spill its
blood, or a radical change will happen, and we will overthrow the executioners
outside the young republics.
You see, peace is no longer possible in Donbass
under the rule of the junta. If the militia is defeated, a period of reaction
will begin, with direct genocide and terror against the population.
And the
local "snitches" help with this.
Can you imagine a single state of
Yugoslavia, after an all-out war? It's impossible. Only in comparison with the
Yugoslav carnage, we have no hatred in relation to any particular nationality.
If the executioners controlled Donbass, they would have to constantly keep
military units here and sleep with their guns.
Because this is not a war of the
Russians against the Ukrainians.
This is civil war, where the junta is fighting
against anti-fascists.
The Ukrainian army is no longer as weak as at the
beginning of the war. How do you see the morale "from the inside" --
whether the militia can do it? Will it be possible for the People’s Republics
to resist?
The militia can handle it, because now the militia is not
only the fighters, but also the rest of the nation. Subconsciously, almost
everyone has mobilized themselves to fight. Any little thing can be an
invaluable help, every detail is a common struggle of the people. Without
people’s support, nothing would have happened. People no longer want to live in
the old way. People really want peace and tranquility, but all of them are
starting to realize that the Ukrainian government will offer nothing but terror
and poverty.
Is it possible to go on the offensive?
There will
be a counterattack, but not as soon as everyone wants it. We also want it. The
defensive tactic angers many. We need more time.
You were an active
participant in the AntiMaidan movement, a member of the leftist organization
Borotba, which is de facto outlawed by the Ukrainian authorities. Now the city
where you lived with your family is occupied by the troops of the Kiev junta.
Is there any danger to your relatives and friends? Have they stayed there or
left?
Naturally, I moved my relative earlier. My uncle stayed and
helps the common struggle. Some comrades left, but many remained.
In
the media there are quite a few stories about how the locals in Donbass think
badly of the militia and do not support it. Allegedly, most of the militias are
foreign fighters from Russia, Chechens, Ossetians, etc. What do you think, is
there any truth to these claims?
On this subject, I would like to
give a more detailed response. For residents of Donbass it’s different. It's a
civil war.
The vast majority, of course, offer all possible help, or passively
support us.
An example is the reaction of the population to the appearance of
LC columns in a particular city.
People wave their hands and shout words of
gratitude to the militia, and so on.
Many grandmother baptize passing militias.
In general, there is a sense of unity with the people. It’s all for one and one
for all. But there is a small number of "protsentik", those who are
waiting for their chance to pass their neighbors into the hands of the
Ukrainian secret police, as they do in Mariupol.
There are also
"protsentik" who simply do not care, as long as someone has already
opened an ATM in the village.
Generally, the mood of people in Donbass is
radicalized. People are eager to punish informers. But the militia, of course,
attempts to thwart any vigilante justice.
About international's in the
militia. Yes, there are different people. Ossetians, Chechens, Russians and
Ukrainians.
We are all internationalists and we are very proud of it. Because
if, god forbid, one of the brothers was in trouble at home, the same Russians,
Ukrainians, Serbs and Ossetians, for example, would come to help him. This is
the essence of internationalism.
The backbone of the militia are local youths
and men.
Even my grandfather, a veteran of the war, wanted to join. We have always
been very peaceful people in the Donbass. In the course of this war, many have
become warriors, who know how to defend their land and their ideas.
Therefore
the Donbass people will not surrender, even in the capitals are taken.
The
fight will not end until the Donbass wins its independence.
Yes, there
are internationalists, not mercenaries. They are at home. ‘How is this?’ you
ask. Simple. Donbass is a cradle of nations. There are many nationalities here.
For the Serbs, there are only a few areas historically inhabited by them.
Whoever comes from anywhere in the world will find a home here.
After that,
they would never be able to forget the Donbass.
We are all donbassovtsy. As we
sometimes say -- we are all different, but we are all red. [smiles]
What
prevents residents of Donbass from joining the militia en masse and protecting
their land?
In my opinion, it is the lack of a clear ideological
line that people would understand. This and fear of losing a mug of beer in the
evenings or perishing under the fire of "Grad" artillery.
But there
is a clear idea of how the Bolsheviks, for example, would be different. Well,
people used to live from election to election, to choose between the Eastern
and Western oligarchs.
Nobody expected the war, and there were no organizations
that have the type of combat committees in each village that would be ready for
such an eventuality.
We are not living at the beginning of the 20th century,
but at the beginning of the 21st century. Therefore, to meet the challenges of
the time, we need another way. It is important to find this answer, to be sure
it is correct.
The recent “Communist militiamen” statement fully
responds to many questions and, I think, reflects the opinions of the majority
of the militia fighters.
Yes, from the very beginning we were fighting against
the raging "Ukrainian nationalists” and neo-Nazism.
Moreover, I understand
it is the ideology of a notorious group, which is led by puppeteers, and not by
ordinary Ukrainians -- our brothers and sisters. Ukrainians who oppose the
junta are many, but they are afraid and they do not have self-organization.
The
frightening event in Odessa on May 2 that killed my comrades temporarily helped
the junta smother protests outside the Donbass.
My answer is the closing words
of the “Communist militiamen”: "If we raise the red banner, we will win
this war."
And, I might add, help our Ukrainian brothers strangle the
fascist vermin, by giving them inspiration to build a Ukraine without fascism.
I
f they now feel that they can fight the war machine, we now understand not
only what we are fighting against, but also what we are fighting for.
This is
the key that will open the minds of many of our countrymen, who will rise to
fight, I'm sure.
How do you see the future of Ukraine if Donbass
wins?
I believe that Ukraine must come to socialism without Donbass.
We can be strong allies. But Ukrainians will only be able to eradicate Bandera
ideology and find a way to socialism when they stop scapegoating Donbass as a
"Soviet monster" which "occupied the whole country."
Banderaist hysteria is always a heated incitement to hatred between East and
West.
Without Donbass, the Banderaists will quickly eat themselves, because
they cannot do anything for the "prosperity of the nation," and they
will not be able to point at “outsiders” to blame.
Then in Western Ukraine may
arise a “Lviv movement," then the Banderaists will die.
The right to
self-determination -- this is a common right of the people, the same as the
right to choose one or another city to live in.
Many people say that
the Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) and LC is a "white project," led
by monarchists, Russian nationalists and similar forces. You, as a communist
and internationalist, stayed in the People’s Republic. Do you think there is
any reason for the left to support Novorossya? Does the left have a strong
position in the leadership of the republic? Are there many leftists in the
militia among the rank-and-file fighters and commanders?
This is
probably the central question. At the beginning, the men went to defend their
homes and families, without thinking seriously about ideology. Moreover, then
it was virtually impossible to raise the struggle for power to the Soviets with
people.
Even though almost all are, internally, at least, socialists. I mean as
an "ideal" of Donbass residents, which they would like to bring to
everyday life.
Even at the level of conversation at the bar.
In the LC,
there are many militia fighters who consider themselves communists and
internationalists.
I also note the role of the Workers' Front of Lugansk
(formerly the regional committee of the Communist Party), whose members refused
to obey the “official leadership” of the Party and openly supported the
Republic.
Therefore, they were renamed. There are anarcho-communists who were
upset that their "brothers" in Kiev colluded with neo-Nazi and
excitedly began to help them kill our compatriots. Many are not in
organizations, but simply position themselves as communists and
internationalists. Here in the cauldron, no one even thinks of what each
person’s organization is – you are a Communist and that’s it.
There’s no
nationalism in the LC. Don Cossacks are collaborating with Communists.
Most of
the Cossacks I have met are more like those who fought for the Don Soviet
Republic.
Some who call themselves Antifa can only remember the presence of the
Russian tricolor. This episode explains a lot.
People rose up against the
threat of Ukrainian nationalism, and sought allies against armed radicals.
Russia has always been a "mother" here, like it or not.
Therefore,
the Russian flag was raised. But the anti-fascist label symbolizes a second
side, the inner essence of the peoples of Donbass -- not any form of
nationalism but internationalism and anti-fascism.
Among the commanders,
none has openly stated “I am a Communist.” But they often talk about their
internationalist convictions and anti-fascist views. For example, Alexander
Mozgovoi, the "Ghost" battalion commander who has repeatedly spoken
openly about the struggle against the oligarchs for the interests of the
people, proved his words with deeds.
There is no "white project"
because it would be totally disastrous for Donbass.
Historically the workers
fought against the whites and fully supported the Soviet power. Mentally, all
are "red" and not "white.”
War brings the people together,
awakens their historical memory, and then class interests.
In conclusion
I would like to say that it is not sectarianism, but the dialectic, that helps
internationalists understand the essence of the situation, to see beyond
bizarre forms to the true content, and to make the right choice, even if it’s
tough.
And I might add: Comrades, compatriots -- Remember that your ancestors
shed blood on this earth for the victory of the proletariat, remember that
modern Donbass was built by incredible efforts of the working class, remember
the victory over the Nazis.
Donbass is a real monument to socialist
construction. Remember who you are.
Stay true to yourselves Glory to the
Donbass and international solidarity of the workers!
Interview by Victor Shapinov
FOR SPANISH VERSION OF THIS INTERVIEW VISIT HERE :
http://odiodeclase.blogspot.co.uk/
