The imperialists in Moscow have finally dropped their last facade in their war with Ukraine. From 24 February 2022 until March 2024, they claimed that Russia was only conducting an ”special military operation” in Ukraine. Anybody who talked about a war with Ukraine was censured and could face detention. However now the representatives of the Kremlin themselves are talking about a actual war with Ukraine, ending the facade of a ”special military operation”.
The situation as of March 2024
Vladimir Putin seems to have accepted reality, that Russia is at war with Ukraine. Until now the Russian propaganda was not allowed to use the word; ”war”, because the Kremlin did not wanted its people to know that they were fighting in Ukraine. However after 150.000 death soldiers they could not longer keep that facade alive. Russian men were dying and not in small numbers. Russia has lost more soldiers in the war with Ukraine, then with their war in Afghanistan (1979-1988). Ukraine has kept the imperialists from taking more land, but despite massive NATO support is unable to take back what Russia captured in early 2022.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has promised his people, that Ukraine would recapture all lost territories, including Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk. However as of March 2024, Ukraine seems unable to mount a offensive against the Russian imperialists. Mainly this because they are out of ammunition and despite promises of support, the western world is unable to provide. The western stockpiles are depleted, which leaves Ukraine unable to mount a effective attack. Meanwhile the Russians just have to wait until their North Korean factories have produced enough guns for a counter attack.
Can Russia win the war?
The Russian ”Empire” has the means to win the conflict. Their army is bigger and they have a better military industrial complex compared to Ukraine. Kyiv was forced to build up a defence industry out of nothing. There remains deep systemic corruption and abuses inside the Ukrainian economy. Capitalist privatisation and deregulation have only increased corruption as capitalists are free to exploit anything they get their hands on. This corruption is the result of a society dominated by greed capitalists (oligarchs) who are the actual rulers of Ukraine. The Ukrainian state has been reduced to a weak hulk before the invasion and was therefore unprepared for the attack.
Putin’s empire may have the better means to win, but they too are plagued with corruption and mismanagement. As with Ukraine, Russia embraced free market fundamentalism in the 1990’s. Despite the restoration of the Kremlin as the all powerful central government, the army remained ineffective. Russian soldiers are mostly made up of conscripts who are forced to fight. In the 2022 invasion, soldiers who made up the invasion force came from the poorer rural parts of Russia, not from the rich cities like Moscow or Saint Petersburg.
Ukraine has the luck that Russia has an ineffective army, build on mistrust between soldiers and officers. The fact that Russia lost 150.000 soldiers and over 2.000 tanks and armed vehicles, shows us that between reality on the battlefield and parades on Red Square is a huge difference. The biggest fear of the Kremlin is a popular revolt like the revolution of February and November 1917. Because ordinary Russians do not wish to fight and with more death husbands, sons, uncles and friends, the reality of a brutal imperialist war caused by the Kremlin is now becoming more clear.
Ukraine and the workers movement
Early 2022, many men were willing to take up arms. But these men are either death or wounded. The group that is now fighting is losing moral due to the fact that Ukraine is not winning. Volodymyr Zelenskyy is saying each week that Ukraine will win, but soldiers understand that this is propaganda talking. The 2023 summer offensive failed, they could not breach the Russian defence lines. With this reality sinking in, recruitment becomes more difficult as men do not wish to join the Ukrainian Army. Although hope for a military victory remain, the Ukrainians start to understand that this war could be long and difficult for them.
Because of the war, the workers movement in both Russia and Ukraine is fully subjugated to the pro-capitalist leadership in Kyiv and Moscow. In Russia, the imperialists have silenced any opposition and Kyiv has presented itself as the leader of the resistance against Russian imperialism. However if the workers movement remains passive, then their suffering will only remain. This is why revolutionary socialists call for the formation of a revolutionary political alternative, to the governments of Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin.
Independent trade unions will have to be set up in opposition to the state controlled unions in both nations. Some small strikes have occurred in Ukraine, this shows us that there is the will to fight the injustice caused by the capitalist system. This is why International Socialist Alternative (ISA) believes it is important to develop a strong, organised and politically conscious working class movement in Ukraine, that can take control of the situation.
Is there a way out for the working class?
It remains important for socialists in Russia to build the anti-war movement. This is indeed difficult as the Kremlin does not tolerant opposition to their imperialist war. We say that opposition to the war must be linked to opposing and overthrowing the Putin regime and the capitalist system he supports. Putin fear a workers uprising, because his government is not that strong. If the Russian army is unable to conquer Ukraine, it will sure not be able to defend the Kremlin from a massive workers and peasants uprising on the scale of 1917.
We show solidarity with the Ukrainian working class, but not in a way to strengthen western imperialism or the nationalist government of Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Unlike some leftists we do not side with the idea that Ukraine must be armed by NATO. International Socialist Alternative stands for real links with workers’ organisations in Ukraine as they fight the labour laws, wage cuts and privatisation and to assist them directly with real material and humanitarian aid, helping the Ukrainian working class to create their own alternative organisations, independent of capitalist politicians like Zelenskyy.
In late February 2024, it will be two years after the Russians started their imperialist invasion of Ukraine. Despite that the whole western world supplied Ukraine with weapons, the reality is now clear that the former Soviet republic is not in a position to start an offensive against the Empire of Vladimir Putin. The Russian imperialists have dug themselves in and the summer attack of Ukraine failed to capture the occupied southern parts. Volodymyr Zelenskyy has told the Ukrainians that their nation would win with NATO support, that is still the propaganda coming from Kyiv. Reality is that after two years the war has entered a stalemate, with Ukraine not able to recapture what it lost to Russian imperialism.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy losing military support?
Volodymyr Zelenskyy is the Ukrainian president since 2019. A pro-western leader and a populist, he failed to change Ukraine for working class people after winning the elections. It is much easier to play a president in a television series, then to be one in real life. Zelenskyy is a typical capitalist president, serving then needs of the deeply corrupt Ukrainian oligarchy. This is why in early 2022, he only had an approval rating of 30%. It is very possible he would have lost an election to a pro-Russian conservative candidate.
However then came 24 February 2022, the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. It boosted the popularity of Zelenskyy, who dropped the typical capitalist business suit and embraced a military outfit, which all Ukrainian ministers now use. He rallied the country to stand behind a government and state, which never cared for democratic rights. The Ukrainian state has always worked for a small capitalist minority as is any government or state on this planet. Ukraine did turn more western after 2014, but on the whole scale deep inequality remains with poverty around 24,1% of the population in 2022, just before the invasion.
The Ukrainian military had improved since 2014. They dumped their Soviet style uniforms and mentality. This maybe the only reason why the country was not overrun in 2022. Their use of western military methods turned out to be a save line as Russia’s military is still based on the mentality of the old Stalinist USSR, with deep mistrust between officers and conscript soldiers. Ukraine was able to hold on and their post-2014 military reforms did help them. It also motivated soldiers to take independent actions as opposed to Russian soldiers, who do not act unless direct orders are given from the top down.
Two years after the invasion, the Ukrainian military is becoming more critical of Zelenskyy. Valerii Zaluzhnyi is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine since July 2021. He has stated that Zelenskyy is painting a too positive picture of the war and the chances of victory for Ukraine. Zelenskyy and Zaluzhnyi are said to be in conflict and it is very possible that Kyiv will replace Zaluzhnyi. Should Zelenskyy indeed choose to sack the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, it will weaken his position. Ukrainians will know that the government is taking action against those military officials who dare to challenge the line that Ukraine is winning the war.
Ukraine cannot win
Despite what the Ukrainian propaganda may claim, the country cannot win this war. Reality is that their old Soviet military stockpile is depleted. They now rely fully on western military support from NATO and EU countries. Russia has around 300.000 occupation troops in Ukraine and although 800.000 Ukrainian men are mobilised, these men are conscripts and not fully trained. Meanwhile the imperialists from Moscow had the time to dig in and to build their defences in the occupied eastern parts. North Korea has agreed on becoming the ammunition supplier of Russia, which gives the Kremlin more space to build tanks and other high tech materials while Kim Jong Un builds the bullets.
The imperialists also have learned to use low tech weapons like drones. Early in the conflict it was Ukraine who was able to win battles due to the use of drones. But Moscow has learned and now drones are used by the imperialists as well, with western technology inside them. This shows us that the economic sanctions against the Russian ”Empire” have failed. Moscow is still getting its hands on western technology by using different routes, mainly from Central Asia and China.
NATO is now arming Ukraine, but cannot do this forever as billions are required for which western tax payers must pay. Western governments have just agreed for another round of billions in military support for Ukraine. Revolutionary socialists oppose this, not because we want Russia to win but because we know that under the current capitalist system, no victory is possible. What is needed is a revolution, a genuine socialist revolution in both Kyiv and Moscow. Because with right-wing nationalism, no victory for possible for either side. Workers have already been sacrificed and should not die for either the imperialist needs of NATO or Russia.
Western style capitalism is not the alternative in Ukraine
It is understandable that Ukrainians stand with NATO and the western world. They think that the western world stand for democracy, freedom and human rights. This is what the nine conglomerates keep spreading on their news networks. Nine capitalist media conglomerates control what 90% of western people see on television. Their names: CBS Corporation, Disney, Vivendi SA, Viacom, Time Warner, Sony, News Corporation, General Electric and Bertelsmann. These nine media conglomerates make sure that no media outlet turns against the dogma’s of western imperialism.
Many in Europe and the USA think that supporting Ukraine with guns will help them defeat Russia. What we then ask is, why no weapons are given to the people of Myanmar, why the people of Afghanistan and Iraq were not armed to fight the American imperialists? Why were no guns delieverd to the Kurds, when they fought Islamic State in Syria and Iraq? Because western guns and money are only given when you submit your group/country to the wishes of western imperialism. Defeating Russia is part of the new Cold War between western imperialism and eastern imperialism. China is the leader of eastern imperialism with the USA as the leader of western imperialism.
Ukraine is right in the middle of this new Cold War. For them the struggle against Russian imperialism is seen as a fight for national liberation, but they cannot win by siding with the western imperialist camp. Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that Ukraine would win since February 2022. Due to mistakes and corruption of the Russian Armed Forces, Ukraine did win back some occupied parts. But now there is a stalemate and Zelenskyy’s propaganda is facing the stone wall of battlefield reality. Ukrainians will realise that their country is not winning, despite the massive use of western weaponry.
For Ukrainian workers the only way out of poverty and occupation is through revolutionary socialism, not by siding with Volodymyr Zelenskyy or the western imperialist camp. The western world never cared for Ukraine, until president Petro Poroshenko (2014-2019) started to say things the western world liked and the eastern world opposed. Poroshenko, a member of the Ukrainian oligarchy, was loved (by the establishment) for his pro-western views, yet ordinary Ukrainians gained nothing with him. He was a capitalist president, working for the ruling class. This is why the population voted for the actor Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Poroshenko only got 24% of the votes.
Lies and propaganda
Revolutionary socialists say that there cannot be any trust in the Ukrainian capitalist establishment. Despite their nationalist propaganda and claims of victory, they will not win this war. Russia has not even mobilised its full army. Putin still calls his invasion a ”Special Military Operation”. This is done to hide the fact that over 120.000 Russian soldiers have died since February 2022, Ukraine lost around 70.000 soldiers. It remains difficult to say how many died as both sides are not telling you the real numbers. Both claim they have killed a lot of enemy troops while diminishing their own loses.
Russia can keep the stalemate going. Vladimir Putin is selling cheap crude oil to China and Asia, making huge profits. Also by using total control over the media, Russians are kept in the dark about the many young men that are death. Families of death soldiers are not allowed to report on the death of their sons, so the public does not know that more men have died in this war, then in the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The reactionary Russian media claims that they are fighting the ”inferior LGBT+ culture” of the western world. Ukraine is called an ”Gay Nazi State” and Russia; the ”beacon of tradtional family culture”.
For workers from both countries, revolution is the only perspective out of war and poverty. This means that they need to brake with capitalism and build a socialist alternative. For this, revolutionary workers parties are needed that can lead the masses into revolution. The biggest problem is that the established left-wing is not revolutionary. Social democracy betrayed workers and Stalinism has joined the Russian camp as the Communist Party of the Russian Federation proofs. The left-wing is not revolutionary, which is the biggest handicap for the workers movement.
In Ukraine, there is not even an established left-wing or any party that can be called centre-leftist. The political spectrum in the country has always been either pro-western (liberal) or pro-Russian (conservative). In reality, the left-wing has been demonised by the media of the Ukrainian state and oligarchy, by comparing Marxism to Stalinism. The fact that the Communist Party of Ukraine (banned in 2015) had a pro-Russian line, strengthen this perspective. A whole generation of Ukrainians is raised with lies about socialism as the only alternative out of the injustice that capitalism created.
Socialism means democratic control from below. Stalinism and social-democracy have nothing in common with that idea. Stalinist communists in Ukraine fully supported the two stage theory, this why they sided with pro-Kremlin conservatives. The Communist Party of Ukraine even joined capitalist Ukrainian governments in 1994 and 2006. Another reality remains that political parties in Ukraine are often vehicles for charismatic individuals with money, they do not function as typical political parties in western countries with an left or right ideology.
Finally, the Ukrainian workers movement at this stage is fully siding with the Kyiv government of Volodymyr Zelenskyy. This is the same government that is attacking workers by demanding longer work hours and lower pay. Zelenskyy did not vetoed bills that now can result in arbitrary dismissals, overtime work on spurious grounds, ignoring collective agreements in terms of wage payment. This show us that the pro-NATO government is not a government of the working class, but just another corrupt pro-capitalist regime. Workers will need to brake with Zelenskyy and the whole rotten establishment.
Against nationalism and imperialism
Ukraine and Russia are in a propaganda war. Although most western people know that Russia is misleading its own people, Ukraine is playing the same card. We are never told about the massive deaths of Ukrainian troops. We do not see destroyed Ukrainian tanks and killed soldiers. Ukraine has shown us enough pictures of destroyed Russian tanks, ships and guns. But at the same time we must not forget that over 70.000 Ukrainian soldiers are death and the summer offensive in 2023 failed. No pictures of this failed offensive are shown and since Russian media outlets are banned in the western world, we do not see what is filmed on the Russian side.
Nationalism is a powerful weapon and both sides use it. Russia and Ukraine are playing with nationalist icons and demonising their opponents. Russia plays on the Great Patriotic War, the use of Soviet symbolism and Tsarist claims about southern Ukraine. Kyiv is playing on anti-communist nationalism by claiming that Russia wishes to restore the ”Communist Empire”. Ukraine is also using far-right symbols and icons such as the fascist red-black flag of the Ukrainian Insurrection Army of Stepan Bandera. This far-right killer of 200.000 Jews and Polish workers is hailed as a hero by the Ukrainian state.
In this war, far-right nationalism is tolerated and actively used. Russian fascists and nationalists mix symbols of Tzarist Russia and Stalinist Russia into one toxic mixture. Nowhere is this perfectly shown as in the grotesque Main Cathedral of the Russian Armed Forces. Build in 2020, this Christian orthodox cathedral has icons of Stalinism, Tzarism and Orthodoxy mixed together. The cathedral glorifies the Russian army and its battles. Strangely only the Red Army of 1941-1945 is shown as Russian, not the original Red Army from 1917-1922, which fought against all what this cathedral and the Kremlin stand for!
Revolutionary socialists fully reject the abuse of Soviet symbols by the Kremlin and the Russian ”Empire”. We also call out the rehabilitation of the Ukrainian fascists and their symbols by Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The fascist red-black flag is not something to be proud of. Yet the Ukrainian Armed Forces use it as if the Ukrainian Insurrection Army was fighting for a free democratic Ukraine during WW2, when it allied itself to Nazi Germany. Bandera wanted a fascist Ukraine with no room for Jews, leftists, Russians or anything not ethnic Ukrainian. This is why his far-right thugs killed 200.000 and actively supported the Nazi’s as members of the Ukrainian Auxiliary Police of the Reich Commissariat of Ukraine.
The war in eastern Ukraine cannot be solved on the bases of nationalism. This is why we say that only a socialist revolution has the potential to end the conflict. Revolutionary socialists know that we are a minority, marginalised in Ukraine and oppressed in Russia. Yet our alternatives will proof to be the only way forward as more years will past and the nationalist rhetoric proof fruitless, in winning the war. The workers movement in both countries will have to be organised and willing to fight for a socialist alternative, that free’s them from the injustice of war, exploitation and opression, which are part of the daily lives of working class people.
Рабочие Украины и России, вам нечего терять, кроме своих цепей, вам есть что завоевать!
Трудящі України і Росії, вам нема чого втрачати, крім їхніх ланцюгів, ви маєте завоювати світ!
It is the biggest dream of any right-wing conservative, banning the whole LGBT+ movement. The Russian ”Empire” just did that! The Russian courts have branded the whole Russian LGBT+ movement as ”extremist” and therefore banned. This is what many right-wingers in the western world would love to do too. Russia has now done it, banning LGBT+ people from expressing themselves. The empire of Vladimir Putin already banned none-hetrosexual material in schools.
Russia is a conservative dictatorship. A brutal right-wing regime build on LGBT+ hatred and rejection of basic human rights. This is what the political right in the western world loves, many right-winger were close to Vladimir Putin like George W. Bush. With the banning of the LGBT+ movement the Russian ”Empire” has returned to the anti-LGBT character of Tsarist and Stalinist periode. We revolutionary socialists knew this long before the imperial court of Putin declared none-heterosexuals ”extremists”. The Kremlin is supported by the reactionary Russian Orthodox Church, a close ally of Vladimir Putin!
The Russian Orthodox Church is an institution that works against workers and youth. We denounce it as an enemy due to their slave love for the Russian state and their rejection of socialism. Orthodox priests spread the poison of Russian nationalism and anti-LGBT+ hatred in churches. They tell the masses to praise the state and its supreme leader Vladimir Putin. Dogmatic loyalty to religion, the state and its criminal leaders shows us why Karl Marx called religion the opium of the people, used by the capitalist class to control the masses.
For many western conservatives and nationalists, Russia is a prime model. They love the reactionary and dictatorial nature of the Russian state and its rejection of ”liberal” values. It comes to no surprise that Putin is still supported by conservative figures. Because there is a massive assault on LGBT+ rights in the western world. Right-wing governments wish to limit LGBT+ rights and in some American states, conservatives are trying to ban anything related to it. The LGBT+ movement dares to challenge the dogma that heterosexuality is the norm and this is what right-wingers fear above all, the fact that not all humans are ”straight”.
Now that the Russian imperialist invasion has stagnated, Russia needs to build up internal enemies to justify the growing poverty. Outside the big cities, the infrastructure is already in a very bad condition. After the Soviet-Union collapsed, most Russian local governments received little to no funding as Boris Yeltsin sold off state assents to former communist party bureaucrats, who became the oligarchs of capitalist Russia. The big cities keep all the money, while 2/3 of Russia is poorly maintained with infrastructures not modernised since they were build in the 1970’s to 1980’s.
Vladimir Putin knows that as long as he keeps the big cities in line, his regime can keep doing what it does since 1999, stealing the wealth from the Russian working class. This is possible because there is no opposition. The liberal opposition failed and was eliminated after 2008. Russia does not have genuine opposition parties as all political parties must support the line of the Kremlin. This is a common way of creating a democratic facade, Alexander Lukashenko also build up his presidential dictatorship on a facade of democracy.
What Russia (and all other countries) lacks is a genuine workers party on a socialist program. The small left-wing of Russia remains weak and sectarian. It is split between Stalinist supporters of the old USSR, anarchists and some Trotskyist groups with no real connection to the working class. Working in Russia today as a revolutionary socialist is very difficult. Between 1991 and 2014 it was possible, but after the invasion of Crimea the Russian state grew more intolerant each year. After February 2022, all opposition to the Tzarist regime of Vladimir Putin was outlawed.
As it was in the old Russian Empire, the revolutionary left-wing will need to work underground. This means that activists will have to be very careful as the FSB (successor to the KGB) is everywhere. Capitalist Russia is a paradise for those who favour an authoritarian government, with a deep hostility for liberals, LGBT+ people, socialists and anything that is not in line with the Kremlin bureaucracy. It comes to no surprise that Vladimir Putin has many right-wing supporters. Unfortunate the Kremlin is also supported by Stalinist communists in a false sense of anti-imperialism.
Stalinist communists have always rejected the LGBT+ movement. Stalin banned gay marriage in the 1930’s and returned to the conservative family traditions of the Russian Empire. Heterosexuality became the accepted gender norm of the Stalinist world. Even after the collapse of the Soviet-Union, many Stalinists remained hostile to the LGBT+ movement. Their social conservatism is the reason why communist parties in the former Soviet-Union have a deep rejection of the LGBT+ movement and call it ”bourgeois dirt”.
Revolutionary socialists oppose this rejection as we link the struggle for LGBT+ liberation with the socialist revolution. There cannot be true LGBT+ tolerance and acceptance inside the current capitalist system. We need socialism to build up a new society with full acceptance of all gender identifications. Capitalism is build on the dogma that heterosexuality is the gender standard. This is why we say that liberal LGBT+ groups fail to change anything. Woke-capitalism is also not the answer as capitalists do not care about true equality and gender acceptance.
We say that the LGBT+ movement needs to build a revolutionary socialist character in order to fight against capitalism and all dictatorships. We need a revolution in both the western world and the eastern world. We need to overthrow the capitalist dictatorships in order to end state oppression. This is why socialists fight with LGBT+ youth and workers, because their liberation can only come trough the revolutionary overthrow of capitalism. We say this because the workers movement need to link up with the LGBT+ movement. Both are needed in the struggle against capitalist regimes and their intolerance.
On 21 september 1993, the Russian constitutional crisis began. This led to the siege of the Russian White House and the end of parliamentary rule in Russia. It resulted in a centralised presidential system, which evolved into the nationalist dictatorship the Russian ”Empire” today is. The key player was Russian president Boris Yeltsin, who had become President of Soviet Russia in juli 1991. In the final year of the Soviet-Union, Yeltsin had abandoned Stalinism for brutal free-market fundamentalism. After the failed coup of the KGB and Stalinist hardliners, Yeltsin restored the flag of the Russian Empire and capitalism.
In 1989, the Congress of People’s Deputies of the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic was created. Until October 1991, the majority of seats were under control of the Communist Party of the Soviet-Union (CPSU), however none-partisan members made up a minority. In late 1991, the number of none-partisan members increased massively. A group of KGB and CPSU hardliners feared that the politics of Micheal Gorbachev would led to the destruction of the Soviet-Union. They decided to take power away from the President of the Soviet-Union.
Their State Committee on the State of Emergency lasted only four days as there was massive opposition from working class people. Although the KGB leadership supported the coup they failed to capture Boris Yeltsin, who barracked himself in-front of the Russian White House in Moscow and called on the Congress of People’s Deputies of the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic to reject the coup. Many working class people in Moscow joined Yeltsin, who had build a reputation of a fighter against corruption in the capital. This is why he was popular with many as he had denounced the communist party openly.
After four days, the CPSU/KGB coup failed as the local Soviet army in Moscow joined Yeltsin and the Congres of People’s Deputies. After the members of the State Committee on the State of Emergency returned to Moscow after speaking to Gorbachev they were arrested. Boris Yeltsin finally had a momentum to ban the Communist Party of the Soviet-Union. This was done on 22 August 1991 as the tzarist flag was restored as state flag of Russia, ironically the name of the country remained RSFSR until 25 December 1991.
With the CPSU banned, the Stalinist monolith on absolute power collapsed. Its members were paralysed. Local Stalinist leaders who supported the coup all declared themselves nationalist overnight. Those who had hailed Marxism-Leninism (Stalinism) in early 1991, now all declared their loyalty to nationalism and capitalism. Boris Yeltsin and Yegor Gaidar started to privatise the Russian economy in January 1992. Their capitalist politics led to the rise of oligarchs, a group of super rich who were able to become the new capitalist class by buying state owned enterprises and taking all wealth for themselves.
However the Congress of People’s Deputies of the Russian Federation soon got into conflict with Boris Yeltsin. They reminded him that his powers as president were limited as the early Russian Federation had a parliamentary system, not a presidential system. Yeltsin wanted to a president with almost unchecked powers like many post-Soviet presidents in Central Asia. However the Congress stood against him as his supporters were a minority. In fact the Congress was dominated by none-partisan members by March 1993. Many of them were not happy with the shock doctrine set out by Yegor Gaidar.
Boris Yeltsin decided that he needed to destroy parliamentary rule in Russia in order to build his presidential regime. On 21 September 1993, the President of the Russian Federation ordered the Congress of People’s Deputies of the Russian Federation and the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Federation to be dissolved. He had no right to do that as Russia was still ruled by the modified 1978 Soviet constitution. The Congress of People’s Deputies decided to remove Yeltsin as president for abuse of his powers.
The crisis escalated as Boris Yeltsin mobilised the Russian Armed Forces against the Congress. Although the general staff was loyal to the neoliberal president, he was not liked by many working class soldiers. Yet, the National Salvation Front and the none-partisan members of the Congres did not recruit ordinary soldiers. They did not called for massive strikes and workers councils/soviets to overthrow the ruling class and capitalism. In fact they barricaded themselves in the House of Soviets of the Russian Federation (Russian White House) and called on people to join them.
Yeltsin was supported by the whole capitalist establishment. Pro-western liberals and federalists stood on the side of Boris Yeltsin as well as the whole western world. Bill Clinton fully supported the privatisation of the economy. Stalinists of the newly created Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) fully opposed Yeltsin, together with far-right nationalists and monarchists. These three factions made up the National Salvation Front in the Congress of People’s Deputies. Yeltsin had one major advantage, he could play on fearmonger. His camp claimed that the Congress of People’s Deputies would reinstall a dictatorship.
In fact it was the Yeltsin camp that was the dictatorial side in this crisis. Yes, revolutionary socialists criticised the National Salvation Front for its reactionary and Stalinist ideas. But the Congress of People’s Deputies was democratic elected in March 1990 and had the right to stand up to the undemocratic President of the Russian Federation. On 4 October, twelve tanks of the Russian army opened fire on the House of Soviets, the Russian White House. Over 30% of the building was burned and many supporters of the Congres were murdered by soldiers.
Officially around 147 were killed and 437 wounded. However some say that over 1.000 were killed by soldiers. After the Congress of People’s Deputies was destroyed and its members arrested by force, the Yeltsin government banned the National Salvation Front and all remnants of the old Soviet administration were to be dissolved. On 12 December 1993, elections were held for the State Duma, the new parliament of Russia. The turnout proofs the distrust many had for this new organ. While 70% vote for the 1990 Congress of People’s Deputies election, only 54.34% came and voted for the first State Duma election.
After restoring the old tsarist State Duma, Boris Yeltsin made the last cosmetic change by restoring the two headed eagle as the national emblem of Russia. Between december 1991 and december 1993, the old emblem of the RSFSR was used. By restoring the tsarist eagle, the old Russian Empire was back in all but name. ”Tsar” Boris Yeltsin never got a popularity boost. By late 1999 he was hated by so many, he choose to walk away from the presidency after a bribe scandal. He appointed the unknown Vladimir Putin as his successor.
Was there a alternative in September 1993. Yes and no, the working class could have rebelled against the Yeltsin government. But the Congress of People’s Deputies did not called for a general strike nor appealed to workers. They simply hide in their parliament building and waited for the army to shoot at them. Yes, calls were made to support the Congres, but no real revolutionary organisation stood behind them. The National Salvation Front was a top down coalition of the Stalinist CPRF, far-right nationalists and monarchists, it was only united in their opposition to Boris Yeltsin and neoliberalism.
Vladimir Putin gave Boris Yeltsin a lifetime immunity from prosecution. The first tsar of the Russian Federation died in 2007, many Russians did not mourn his death. His successor build up the dictatorship and was able to bind the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and the nationalists to the side of the Kremlin. Today the Stalinist party is a loyal dog and no revolutionary alternative. It fully supports the imperialist invasion of Ukraine and is a supported of a state-capitalist economy.
For revolutionary socialists it is no possible to work in the open. Russia is now a nationalist dictatorship that does not tolerant criticism of the government. Despite the abuses, the Russian state is not as powerful as the Soviet one. It knows that it only has a minority of support among the working class. If a revolutionary workers party could be set up underground, then the base for a socialist revolution can be made. That is what Putin fears the most, another 1917. The current tsar may openly praise the Stalinist Soviet-Union, but he hates the socialist foundations.
This is why the flags of the House of Romanov, the Russian Empire and the Soviet-Union are now used by the Kremlin propaganda for great Russian chauvinism. It is also why revolutionary socialists should not use the hamer and sickle anymore. Yes, we know the true meaning behind the Soviet flag, but millions are told that it is ”Russian” and that stands today for imperialism, dictatorship and terror as we have seen in Ukraine. Our propaganda is too weak to counter the capitalist claims from both west and east, about the nature of the Soviet-Union and its symbols. For now we should therefore not use them!
Vladimir Putin, the imperialist invader of Ukraine and Russian tyrant, might just have murdered the leaders of the Wagner Private Military Company. Yevgeny Prigozhin was Putin’s cook and a powerful oligarch of the Russian ”Empire” because he owned restaurants and catering companies that provide services to the Kremlin. During Soviet times, Prigozhin was a thug who worked in criminal gangs. After the collapse of Stalinism, he entered the restaurant business and by 2002, Prigozhin was serving Vladimir Putin and his friends like George W. Bush. Twenty years later, Putin used Prigozhin and his private army for his illegal war in Ukraine.
Yevgeny Prigozhin founded the Wagner Private Military Company in 2014. The Kremlin used that group to fight its dirty wars across the planet. From Africa to Russian separatists in Ukraine, Wagner was there to fight. At first the group was not bigger then 250 men led by Prigozhin. But by March 2016, Wagner expanded itself and had grown to 1.000 combat fighters. Armed with Russian military material, Wagner grew into the largest private army in Russia with 8.000 members in April 2022.
The Kremlin realised that they could use the the Wagner Private Military Company in their invasion of Ukraine. Many of the Wagner men had combat experience as they had fought for the Russian separatists against the Ukrainian army. In Ukraine they lost many soldiers so the group started to recruit criminals and thugs into their ranks. Since Yevgeny Prigozhin himself was a criminal thug since his teens, it is no surprise that he personally went to Russian jails to recruit new members. For many, Wagner is an escape from the harsh reality of Russian prison life.
However relationships between the Wagner and the Russian Armed Forces soon degenerated. Prigozhin was one of the few who openly attacked the army and its inferior leadership. Wagner had grown to 50.000 active fighters in December 2022 and was fighting on the front lines. Prigozhin publicly shamed the Russian command structure and this the Kremlin did not liked. Putin ordered Prigozhin to stand down, yet the old cook was not willing to bow down again. Feeling strong, the Wagner group turned on the Kremlin by 23 July 2023.
Prigozhin could have started a civil war. There are enough Russians who support his criticism of the Russian military command. But the tsar was standing strong and denounced his former cook. Prigozhin did not moved on Moscow and ordered his units to stand down after 24 hours. His rebellion ended with the Wagner group moving to Belarus. Yet Prigozhin himself remained in Russia and this sealed his fate. Because on 23 August 2023, his private plane was shot down. It is save to assume that Vladimir Putin ordered the FSB to bomb the Embraer Legacy 600.
The tsar does not forget and does not forgive. Yevgeny Prigozhin had turned on the Kremlin, on Putin himself. By remaining in Russia, Prigozhin gave Putin a change to take him out. Let us not forget that the Kremlin is not afraid to murder people who openly turned on them. Both the KGB and FSB have been the instruments of murder on the orders of those who rule the Kremlin. By murdering Prigozhin in open air, the Kremlin also puts out a clear message: Don’t You Dare to Speak Out!
Killed in the crash of the Embraer Legacy 600 is not just Yevgeny Prigozhin. Wagner co-founder Dmitry Utkin also joined the flight. Utkin was the living proof of far-right Russians fighting for the Kremlin. He was an open Nazi, glorifying Nazi Germany and the instruments of terror like the Waffen SS. This far-right thug had worked for the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (GRU) for almost 30 years, which proofs us that the Kremlin is not anti-fascist. Dmitry Utkin left the GRU in 2013 and joined Prigozhin as a co-founder of Wagner.
With the death of their leaders, it is unclear if the Wagner Private Military Company can survive. It is reported that Wagner camps in Belarus have been removed. The killing of Prigozhin and Utkin might have been the start of the liquidation set out by the Kremlin. Since Belarus is a loyal puppet of Russia, Alexander Lukashenko could have been ordered to close down Wagner bases and disarm the remaining 25.000 soldiers. Putin meanwhile keeps up a facade by giving his condolences to those killed in the Embraer crash. He claims that Prigozhin and Utkin did good by fighting the ”Neo-Nazi” regime in Ukraine. What the tsar failed to say was that their usefulness had ended!
Revolutionary socialists do not mourn the death of thugs like Yevgeny Prigozhin and Dmitry Utkin. These men were far-right criminals who killed on the orders of Moscow. In the end, the empire they served turned on them and their private army. It is therefore that we oppose private soldiers as they fight for profit and kill for profit. Revolutionary socialists call for the banning of private armies like Blackwater USA (Constellis Holdings) and the Wagner Private Military Company. We first need democratic control over regular armies. Later under socialism, the old armies of capitalism will be replaced by democratic armies of the working class with no ranks and privileges!
Capitalism causes wars and fuels private armies and their greed. Since this system works internationally, we need to fight for a international alternative. Socialism cannot be build in one country surrounded by a hostile capitalist system. It is essential that we build international socialism in all parts of the world. Because if Wagner can send soldiers to Africa, we must be prepared to fight internationally too. The working class cannot stop in America or Europe. The battle against capitalism and its armies is a international fight. Therefore we call upon the workers of the world to unite in International Socialist Alternative (ISA). Let us fight against capitalism and its private armies.
The Royal Netherlands Air Force has decided to donate over 24 F-16 fighters to Ukraine. The Netherlands is joining NATO countries who donate tanks and planes to the Kyiv government in their fight against the Russian imperialist aggression. Despite that many Dutch support Ukraine, revolutionary socialists do not support the fact that western tax payers are funding the Ukrainian army. Also we must not forget that president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has subjugated his country to the wishes to western imperialism. The reality is that Ukraine cannot win this war by military means. Only a political revolution in both Kyiv and Moscow has any chance of ending this bloody conflict.
Revolutionary socialists understand that Ukraine want arms. We understand that many Ukrainians think that NATO is about freedom and Russia is about oppression. Russian imperialism controlled Ukraine for a long time and has stolen Ukrainian territories since 2014. But we warn against the illusion that the western world is good and the eastern world is bad. Western imperialism never cared about Ukraine before 2014. The country was seen as a typical ex-Soviet republic, poor and backward. It was only after a pro-Russian president was kicked out that the west started to support Ukraine.
Western imperialism was happy with the collapse of the Soviet-Union in December 1991. Ukraine was one of the ex-Soviet republics who dissolved the USSR, together with the Russian Federation. Between 1991 and 2014, Ukraine often had a good relationship with Moscow. Even the (failed) Orange Revolution did not changed much. The failure of the pro-European liberal camp in building a functional society led to the rise of Viktor Yanukovych, a conservative pro-Russian leader. Euro-Maidan led to the rise of Russian separatism and the hostile invasion of Crimea by Russia.
Today is said that Ukraine will never be pro-Russian again. This might be true but Ukraine is not a functioning democracy. It is a deeply flawed society with a government that is willing to use authoritarian methods. Anything related to communism is banned by law while far-right Ukrainian organisations and their symbols are fully legal. Ukraine has a problem with glorifying those who murdered around 200.000 Polish people. Despite this, the far-right has little support as elections have proven. Ukrainian nationalism is however as poison as Russian chauvinism.
Russia is a full nationalist dictatorship by August 2023. The facade of a democratic Russia has been destroyed by the Kremlin and the Federal Security Bureau (FSB). Russians know this and therefore do not dare to speak out. Because the regime has arrested and jailed over 19.673 people who oppose the war. Ukrainians often wonder why Russians don’t dare to fight back. The problem is that Russia does not tolerate criticism of the government. Since 2000, Vladimir Putin slowly restored the authoritarian state and many were happy because they hated the presidency of Boris Yeltsin.
Between 2000 and 2014, Putin only went after those who were organised like liberal oligarchs. But after 2014 he also turend against individuals, like us revolutionary socialists who oppose his tzarist style of ruling. Putin hates socialism (and communism). But he is willing to use the Soviet-Union for his nationalist propaganda. You can see huge flags of the Russian Empire and the Soviet-Union next to the banner of the Russian Federation on the beach in Saint Petersburg. Yet the Kremlin blames Lenin and the Bolsheviks for creating Ukraine.
For the tsar in Moscow, the Stalinist USSR was good as it enforced Russian culture and language on other Soviet republics. Stalin is praised, Lenin rejected. The Russian revolutions of 1917 Putin denounces, while praising the degeneration that came with Stalin in the late 1920’s. This the paradox of the Soviet-Union in the modern Russian Federation. It is praised, yet the socialist foundation is hated and rejected. This is why we revolutionary socialists need to expose the Putin regime and how it works in league with the Stalinist school of falsification.
The Kingdom of the Netherlands has been a loyal dog of the USA. Under prime ministers Jan Peter Balkenende and Mark Rutte, the country joined U.S imperialism in Afghanistan and Iraq. This was called NATO capacity-building missions. In reality, Dutch soldiers were fighting the opponents of the corrupt regimes installed by the Americans. 24 soldiers of the Royal Netherlands Army were killed between 2006 and 2010. Now the kingdom is donating its F-16 fleet to Ukraine. A move only done to strengthen the Kyiv government. Meanwhile the Autonomous Administration of North East Syria is completely ignored!
In North East Syria, the Kurdish led Autonomous Administration is fighting Turkish imperialism since 2016. Turkey is a member of NATO and was not sanctioned when it invaded Syria. The Autonomous Administration is not aided by western imperialism, because it is under siege by a NATO member. While the western world attacks Russia, the criminal invasion of northern Syria is ignored. Here we see the hypocrisy of western imperialism. Ukraine is fully supplied with heavy tanks and planes, while the Autonomous Administration of North East Syria is not!
Ukraine cannot win back their lost territories by military means. Even with all the western weapons it lacks the man power to defeat Russia. The Ukrainian offensive has not resulted in massive victories. Front lines have moved little as of late August 2023. The fact that Ukraine remains silent on this proofs that their offensive is not having the effect many in the west hoped for. What is to be done now? Some say that Ukraine must accept peace talks in order to stop the war. We say that there is an alternative!
The alternative is building socialism! This could rally Russian workers against the tsar in Moscow and his henchman. Socialism in Ukraine unfortunate is a dirty word. Like the USA, antisocialist politicians and their capitalist media have brainwashed a new generation with the idea that socialism stands equal to Russia. Young Ukrainians born after 1991 only know socialism as something undemocratic. While there is nostalgia for the Soviet-Union among elderly ethnic Russians, many ethnic Ukrainians oppose it. Also we must not forget that many (Stalinist) leftists in Ukraine have historically always sided with the Kremlin!
This makes it very difficult for revolutionary socialists to fight for a socialist alternative, in a country that equals socialism with Russian colonialism. Yet, socialism is the only alternative out the crisis that capitalism created. As International Socialist Alternative explains: We cannot rely on any of the imperialist institutions or war machines involved to create peace, let alone prosperity… We should have no trust in these imperialist bodies. Any ”diplomatic solution” agreed between them, while it would be welcomed initially by people worldwide, will ultimately be at the expense of ordinary people and only prepare the ground for further tensions and confrontations.
It is reported that the Ukrainian Army has begun their summer offensive against the Russian occupiers. Armed with western weaponry and tanks, the army of Ukraine is attacking the Russian lines in the Donbas region. We know that one Leopard 2A6 was abandoned, four M2 Bradleys damaged or abandoned and one BMR-2 tank was destroyed in the Zaporizhzia Region. If the Ukrainian Army can push the Russian imperialists out, the western world will see it as a victory and use that to supply more weapons to Ukraine. But for working class people, the defeat of Russian imperialism is not true liberation.
Revolutionary Socialist Media opposes western weapons for Ukraine. Despite that some leftists openly support western guns for Ukraine, we know that arming the Kyiv government will not bring about victory for working class people. At the same time weapons in the hands of a capitalist state will always be used against the working class in a potential revolution. Those who support western guns call the Ukraine war, a war of national liberation. This war is a proxy war in the new imperialist Cold War between western imperialism (mainly NATO and EU) and eastern imperialism (mainly China and Russia). Ukraine is a pawn in this game.
Putin invaded Ukraine because he wrongly thinks that he can annex the Russian speaking parts of the country, with the same ease he took Crimea in 2014. But the imperialists in the Kremlin were wrong, Ukrainians rallied behind the Kyiv government of Volodymyr Zelenskyy. For them this battle is a nationalist war, a ”great patriotic war” against a foreign imperialist country that does not accept their existence. Because Vladimir Putin blames the Bolsheviks for the creation of Ukraine, despite that the first Ukrainian People’s Republic was a bourgeois capitalist state in 1917.
In this imperialist conflict, the symbols of the former Union of Socialist Soviet Republics are abused by the Russian imperialists. The Soviet victory flag of 1945 is used by Russian soldiers as a war symbol. By using Soviet symbols, the Russian imperialists only strengthen the anti-communist propaganda of Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who now can equal the Soviet-Union with that of the Russian Empire. For Putin and the Russian imperialists, the USSR is indeed seen as ”Russian”. This despite the fact that Putin hates socialism and the foundation ideas of the Soviet-Union. This is why the Kremlin ignores Lenin, but praises Stalin!
Revolutionary socialists do not side with Zelenskyy, who has fully subjugated his country to the wishes of western imperialism. Zelenskyy wants Ukraine to join NATO and the European Union. We know that this will not help Ukrainian workers. The Kyiv government is already attacking the working class by preparing more deregulation and privatisation of state enterprises. Zelenskyy is using the war to push anti-worker and anti-union laws through the Ukrainian parliament. We never hear this in the western media, because western nations support these capitalist laws.
The summer offensive is now three days ongoing. Since both Ukraine and Russia remain silent on victories and loses, we do not know the fine details. Russian imperialism claims to stop any Ukrainian attack, but we know that Russia is a master in lying. The propaganda goes very far in claiming that Russia is fighting for religion, traditions and nationhood. The same words we heard coming from the Nazi propaganda, when they invaded the Soviet-Union in June 1941.
What is to be done? We revolutionary socialists oppose both western imperialist guns and the Russian occupation. Ukraine has the right to fight back and to accept western weapons. But we cannot expect western workers to pay for the Ukraine war. Sooner or later, the ammunition is depleted and the military industrial complex is the one who will get rich, if we allow our governments to spend our money on wars. This is why we call for socialist solutions to this conflict, meaning a alternative to the capitalist system and its imperialist Cold War.
It is understandable that Ukrainian workers rally behind Zelenskyy. But this is not helpful as Zelenskyy is not a socialist nor a supporter of the working class. He is a western type capitalist politician, who has this misguided view that European style capitalism works. Zelenskyy is a good actor and knows how to play the role of a leader under siege. But his (neo)liberalism changed nothing. He had lost the support of many voters and would have lost the elections had Russia not invaded in February 2022. Zelenskyy only had a 32% approval rating just before the invasion.
Revolutionary socialists of International Socialist Alternative say:
We fight against the trap of the “lesser evil” — supporting one capitalist or imperialist force against another. We stand for an independent working class position in all questions. This is not easy or automatic. It requires theoretical clarity and democratic discussion to reach a common analysis. Capitalism is a desperately sick system. It threatens the planet’s very existence. A new labour movement will be built in the titanic mass struggles ahead. With the genuine ideas of Marxism, the international working class will be equal to history’s challenge.
This is why we do not support one imperialist camp over another. We reject western arms for Ukraine as it would strengthen one capitalist class, especially the American/European military industrial complex. Ukraine can win this conflict by building a socialist alternative, this could rally Russian workers against Putin. Because this is what the Kremlin fears the most. If the Ukrainian government was a genuine product of the working class it would abandon the dictates of NATO, dissolve the far-right militia’s and expropriate the wealth of the oligarchs and capitalists.
But this is not what capitalist Ukraine is doing. Volodymyr Zelenskyy has put his country in the western imperialist camp. This is why we cannot give political support to the government in Kyiv, because it does not work in interests of the working class. At the same time we fully reject the imperialist agenda of the Kremlin. Ukraine might push the Russian imperialists back, but as long as Putin does not call for a full mobilisation, Ukraine has not faced the full might of the Russian army yet. This is why we say that this war cannot be won by western weapons.
A political revolution is needed in both countries to end the conflict. It is up to socialists and the labour movement to fight for a socialist alternative. Against Ukrainian nationalism and Russian chauvinism, against NATO and all who try to profit from war. Our enemy is the capitalist class and the oligarchy that has exploited workers in both nations since 1991. Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin are the public faces of two brutal capitalist governments. This is why we say no to western arms, no to the Russian occupation and NO TO THE CAPITALIST SYSTEM that is playing a GAME OF THRONES with our lives!
On 24 February 2022, the Russian army invaded Ukraine on the orders of Vladimir Putin. 180.000 Russian troops supported by 35.000 separatists attacked Ukraine from the east, north and south. It is the first major land war in Europe since May 1945. It is difficult to estimate how many soldiers have died in this first year of war. What is clear is that between 8 and 12 million civilians were forced to flee the eastern parts of Ukraine. 7.199 civilians are confirmed death and over 11.756 got wounded. But unofficial numbers say that 40.000 got killed and wounded. Revolutionary socialists call for solidarity with Ukraine, but we do not stand with those who blindly call for weapons and full support for the corrupt Ukrainian government.
Among the political left-wing there is a clear divide. There are some who fully side with the Kyiv government and ignore the reactionary capitalist nature of president Volodymyr Zelensky. Reformist leftists have fully fallen for the illusion that Kyiv must be armed to protect Ukrainian democracy. This Ukrainian democracy is deeply flawed and until 2014 was more or less ignored by western imperialism. Ukraine was seen as a corrupt ex-Soviet republic and little attention was given since the Orange Revolution had failed in 2005. It was Petro Poroshenko who promised to bring Ukraine fully into the camp of western imperialism. This capitalist oligarch turned on the Russian minority and fuelled the fear of Ukrainian nationalism.
The Kremlin abused this fear by arming ethnic Russian separatists. As Ukraine was in chaos, Russian forces invaded the nation and took Crimea and parts of the Donbas region. The so called ”people’s republics” in Donetsk and Luhansk were just proxy states of Russia. The façade of these independent states were kept up for 8 years, until Russia decided to annex them alongside occupied Ukrainian territories. Revolutionary leftists were divided. The Stalinists either fell for the lies of Moscow or call for peace win-out presenting a socialist alternative. Other revolutionary leftists see the conflict as a war of national liberation for Ukraine and therefore support western arms for Kyiv.
Because if this, some leftists denounce others as traitors for supporting Kyiv. This sectarianism, Revolutionary Socialist Media rejects. To support western weapons for Ukraine does not make you a class traitor, although this website thinks it is a wrong position. Western imperialism only supports the Kyiv government because they know it serve their needs. This is why the Kurds are not given weapons to fight the Turkish occupation of north east Syria, because Turkey is a NATO member state. Saudi-Arabia is using western weaponry to murder Yemeni workers, over 70% of all capitalist dictatorships are armed with weapons made in the USA or Europe.
The war has not resulted in a victory for Russian imperialism. Russia failed to conquer Ukraine and has not even captured Kyiv. Vladimir Putin has underestimated the desire of the Ukrainians to stand up to his brutal invasion. In the first months of the war, working class Ukrainians took up arms and some fought off the Russian imperialists on their own. Now there is no independent working class action anymore as the resistance leadership is centralized into the Kyiv government. It is naturally that Ukrainians look up towards Volodymyr Zelensky. But they seem to forget that this neoliberal only switched suits.
Like any bourgeois leader, Zelensky was seen in a business suit with tie. This bourgeois suit was quickly replaced by a miliary style outfit. Gone are all elitist cloths of a typical president, Zelensky knows that he has to appear as a commoner. A man who wears the cloths of the working class, all his ministers too no longer wear the typical business suits. But this is a strategy and it only hides the true right-wing nature of the government. Volodymyr Zelensky wishes for Ukraine to join the EU and NATO. He wants his government to have a deregulated free market economy. The Ukrainian government has already changed labour laws to force workers to work longer and harder for less money.
Russia has lost a lot of material. Their war material however is not made in Russia. Ukraine also has to fight with weaponry that was not made in Ukraine. Most tanks, heavy artillery and armoured vehicles used by both sides were never produced to fight each other. They were build for the Armed Forces of the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics and when the Soviet Union collapsed, Ukraine and Russia inherited a lot of weapons. Russia took the bulk of the USSR tank arsenal, Ukraine still got around 700 T-55 tanks and around 500 T-64. Most of the T-55 tanks were scrapped after the year 2000. This is why Ukraine lacked this old Soviet tank to be used in the current war. Russia however has rearmed T-55 tanks from storage.
The empire of Vladimir Putin is forced to fall back to vintage Soviet tanks because it has lost around 1500 tanks since 24 February 2022. Ukraine still has T-64 tanks in storage, but it is unknown if these tanks are made operational. Ukrainians captured around 40 vintage T-62 tanks from the invading imperialists and is now using them against Russia. The biggest price however is the T-72 tank, which was used the most by the Russians. Ukraine captured around 300 of them and will repair many. This shows how poorly the Russian army command is when the enemy is able to capture so many intact tanks.
This war will not be won on the battlefield or by western weapon gifts. Ukraine can only defeat the Russian imperialists if there is international solidarity and a socialist revolutionary change in Kyiv. Supporting the current Kyiv government seem logically and many due so out of solidarity. But when we speak of solidarity we mean solidarity with the working class of Ukraine. We know that Zelensky is a authoritarian neoliberal, who has used the war to ban political parties and who is willing to sell his country to western imperialism (NATO & EU). Victory against Russian imperialism cannot be achieved by the current Kyiv rulers. They are linked to oligarch-capitalist rule and only remain in power due to the heroic actions of ordinary Ukrainians.
Revolutionary socialists reject the war hawks in the western world, who now call for massive investments in the army. We say that only the working class can end this war by standing up to imperialism and capitalism. Yes, Ukraine has the right to fight Russia. But western workers should not be forced to pay for it. Because it is western tax money that our governments will use to buy more and more weapons for Ukraine. In the end, only the Military Industrial Complex will become rich at the expense of workers in both the western world and Ukraine. The task facing the labour movement today and especially its most conscious elements is to build a mass movement of workers and youth against the war, against all measures of escalation and against both imperialist camps!
The Union of Socialist Soviet Republics (1922-1991) was a major threat to capitalist world order. It dared to say that capitalism was not working and that working class people needed to brake from it. Naturally the ruling class tried to destroy the Soviet revolution by sending over 21 armies into Russia. The foreign intervention failed and the Soviet-Union was able to survive. From 1923 until 1991, Aeroflot was the largest airliner in the world. It operated over 10.000 aircraft and employed around 600.000 people. After the collapse of the USSR, the capitalist media started a witch-hunt, branding Soviet aircraft ”inferior”, ”bad” and ”frying wrecks”, in an attempt to smear the Soviet aviation and its products!
Now it is true that the Soviets were running a bit behind the western world in the development of engines. The bureaucratic top-down economy was ineffective and inflexible. It was also subjugated to the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of the Soviet-Union. If the political bureau did not wanted something produced it was not produced. This is why the economy stagnated as the old guard around Leonid Brezhnev grew old and alienated from the reality of Soviet life. The western world loved to ridicule Soviet aircraft, specially in the 1990’s after the collapse of the USSR. As new Russian airliners could not buy western aircraft at first, they were forced to fly with Soviet aircraft. These planes were called ”outdated” and ”inferior” in the capitalist media.
Many incidents and crashes also put fuel on the already growing myth that Soviet aviation was ”inferior” and ”bad”. It is therefore necessary to rehabilitate Soviet aviation and expose the cruel lies of the capitalist world, regarding Soviet airplanes. The USSR did not buy western aircraft and was banned from doing so. While the Chinese under Mao Zedong could buy British and American planes, the Soviets were forbidden from buying them. Moscow also preferred to design and produce their own aircraft which they did. One of the first planes they build in the 1950’s was the Tupolev 104, one of the first jet airliners.
The capitalist western world was in shock when the Tu-104 was shown in 1956. At that time only the British had an jet airliner, the de Havilland DH.106 Comet. 201 Tu-104 were produced from 1956 until 1960. Aeroflot Soviet Airlines was the main airliner using them, CSA Czechoslovak Airlines bought six aircraft. Out of the Tu-104, Tupolev build the smaller Tu-124 for short range flights. Another 164 of the Tu-124 were constructed. Aeroflot got the most of them, while some were delivered to CSA, Interflug (used by the East German military) and Iraqi Airways.
By the 1960’s, the Soviet-Union wanted a newer short range plane. Tupolev went on building a plane with two engines in the tail. The Tupolev 134 first flew in 1963, although it would take another four years before mass production would begin. The Tu-134 would become the main short range plane of the Soviet-Union and the east bloc for 35 years. Over 850 were produced and flew with airliners like Aeroflot, CAAC-China, Malev Hungarian Airlines, TARON Romania, Interflug and many post-Soviet airliners like Samara Airlines, Bashkirian Airlines, Utair and Ural Airlines. By the 1990’s, western capitalist commentators started to ridicle this aircraft. Calling it noisy, old, outdated and backward.
The 1990’s were the time of neoliberal arrogance. Right-wing commentators trashed anything Soviet. Every day western aviation writers would trash eastern airliners for the use of Soviet ”garbage”. The Tu-134 was indeed an older plane, but we must not forget that in the USA and many western airliners, 1960’s technology remained in aviation use. The Douglas DC-9 flew with almost all American airliners and remained in use in the 90’s. This plane was on equal levels with the Tu-134, yet it was never called ”ugly” or ”inferior”. The Tu-134 was a workhorse and remained in Russian aviation far longer then anybody believed. This was mainly because it was reliable and many Russian pilots knew how to fly it.
Most aviation disasters regarding Soviet made planes were the result of capitalist greed or neglect. The new airliners that grew out of Aeroflot Soviet Airlines after 1991, put profits above safety. This is why some Soviet planes crashed, not because of design faults but because of pilot error or inferior maintenance. Capitalist commentors never mention this when they criticized Soviet airplanes. They always say these planes were old, outdated and not on qual term with western planes. Reality is that the Tu-134 was not meant to live that long. Had the USSR not collapsed in 1991, there would have been a replacement for the Tu-134.
On the medium haul, the Soviet-Union had the Ilyushin Il-18, a turbo prop liner. Build in 1957, the Il-18 flew both medium and long haul flight for Aeroflot and many other eastern bloc liners. By the 1960’s, the Ilyushin bureau designed the Il-62. This plane used four engines in the tail section. It was a big plane, designed to fly long routes from Moscow to Havana. Western capitalist propagandists claimed that the Il-62 was a copy of the British VC-10. Although both plane look similar, there are huge differences mainly in size. The VC-10 was smaller and also build for military use, while the IL-62 was larger and not designed for the air force.
It is often said that Aeroflot flew with planes designed in the 1960’s, by the time of the Soviet-Union’s collapse. This is what capitalist commentators always said, that Aeroflot planes were old and outdated because most were designed in the 1960’s. This is ironic because the bulk of western airplanes in 2022 were designed in the 1990’s or even 1980’s. The Boeing 737-800 was first designed in 1996 and the Airbus A320 is from 1986. Yes, the modern B737-MAX and A320NEO are build with newer engines, but the core design is still based on 26/36 year old blueprints. Also the USSR had modernized its planes, this is often ignored!
In 1972, Aeroflot launched the Tupolev 154. This tri engine plane was designed in 1968 and like the Tu-134 became an icon of Soviet aviation. The most famous variation of the Tu-154 is the M version. Tu-154M first flew in 1984 and it would remain in use until 2019. Out of 1.000 Tu-154 build, over 320 were of the M version. An older version used until the end of the 1990’s was the Tu-154B2, a minor modernization of the Tu-154B-1. The airplane was designed to be converted from the 160 passenger version to a 180 passenger version by removing the galley.
Although the economy stagnated, Soviet aviation kept on designing updates and newer models. The Il-62M was launched in 1974 and the Tu-134A/B models became the main production line. In the late 1980’s, the Soviet-Union finally produced a high-bypass commercial turbofan engine. Until then Soviet planes could only use low-bypass turbofan engines like the Kuznetsov NK-8-2 (on the Il-62 and Tu-154B models) or Soloviev D-30KU-154 (Il-62M and Tu-154M). With the Aviadvigatel PS-90 build, Tupolev started on a replacement for the Tu-154. In January 1989, the Tu-204 was presented. Also Ilyushin was working on their Il-96 long range plane.
This exposes the lie that the Soviet-Union was flying on outdated material. The reason why so many older Soviet planes remained flying was not because of the USSR, but because of capitalist restoration and the collapse of the economy due to market fundamentalism. We must also point out that the Soviets did have a wide-body aircraft in service. Ilyushin was told to design a plane in the 1970’s for Aeroflot that was wide-body. This plane became the Il-86 and first flew in 1976. However due to the lack of a high-bypass commercial turbofan engine, the Il-86 was forced to use the Kuznetsov NK-8-2 which gave it a medium range capacity. The Il-86 would have been replaced by the Il-96 in the 1990’s had the Soviet economy not collapsed.
Soviet aviation was ready to replace their older planes by 1990. The Tu-204 would replace the older Tu-154 models, while the Il-96 could take the place of the Il-62 and Il-86. For the Tu-134 they did not had a replacement, mainly because it could fly on unpaved runways and it remained a work hose. Then on 25 December 1991, the red banner was lowered and the Soviet-Union was no more. Boris Yeltsin ordered free market fundamentalism and told Aeroflot to behave like a capitalist company. Many new airliners were created, but all of them lacked money to buy new planes.
The older Soviet aircrafts were all kept in service, mainly because nobody could afford western aircraft. Although Aeroflot bought some Boeing aircraft, the bulk of Russian aviation in the 1990’s remained based on Soviet era aircraft. Even the vintage Il-18 was kept in use, because it was reliable and spare parts were easy to get. Il-62M planes dominated the long haul routes of Aeroflot until 2002, while Tu-134 remained in use until 2007. Eastern Europeans dumped their Soviet planes for western aircraft faster, yet the Soviet planes remained flying for at least ten years after the collapse of Stalinism, in countries like Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary.
Tupolev and Ilyushin struggled to find buyers for their Tu-204 and Il-96. Aeroflot was not interested in buying planes based on Soviet designs. The capitalist propaganda also played a large role as Soviet planes were unfairly portrayed as inferior to Boeing and Airbus. The Tu-154M remained in production until 2013, while the Il-62 and Il-86 ended production line in 1995. Before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Tupolev had build 89 Tu-204 and Ilyushin build 30 of their Il-96. Now that Russia is under a trade embargo, the Tu-204 and Il-96 are put back in mass production. Aeroflot has ordered 40 new Tu-204 to be build before 2030.
Tupolev and Ilyushin have not done nothing, in the 33 years since their first Tu-204 and Il-96 flew. The most recent version of the Tu-204 is called the SM model with numerous upgrades, largely aimed at meeting the current and near-future Russian and international standards, including those of ICAO and Eurocontrol. The Il-96-400 model is a stretched version of the original plane and can carry 436 passengers. However Russia of 2022 is not the USSR of 1991. Russia lacks the infrastructure the Soviet-Union had to build many planes. Building 30 planes in seven years time is a shadow compared to the production capacity of the older Soviet-Union.
Ramzan Kadyrov is the reactionary tyrant of the Kremlin in the Chechen Republic. Installed in 2007, Kadyrov is the son of former Chechnyan rebel turned Kremlin loyalist: Akhmad Kadyrov. This first Kadyrov turned against the Chechnyan rebels who fought Moscow in the 1990’s. Kadyrov then became Vladimir Putin’s dog until he was assassinated in 2003. Putin installed a Kazakh to lead the Chechen Republic, until he choose Ramzan Kadyrov as the next puppet leader.
The younger Kadyrov quickly turned the Chechen Republic into his personal chiefdom. With the blessing and support from the conservative United Russia party, Kadyrov became first President and then Head. A undemocratic title as Heads of Russian republics are appointed by Putin himself. Like all puppets of the Kremlin, the Kadyrov family is very wealthy. It is estimated that Ramzan Kadyrov has at least 16 million U.S dollars in personal wealth. His wealth comes from the Russian state budget for Chechnya, which is around 600 million U.S dollars a year.
Kadyrov is not a dictator who keeps up a democratic façade. The tyrant has build a cult of personality around his death father and the czar in the Kremlin. You can see portraits of Vladimir Putin and Akhmad Kadyrov on billboards, buildings, military vehicles and Chechnyan flags. He wants to portray himself as a strong macho leader, a conservative who is using religion and tradition to justify dictatorial rule and the suppression of minorities, critics and none-heterosexuals.
Gay men in Chechnya are considered inferior and none-existing according to Ramzan Kadyrov.
He also called for:
Honour killings of seven women, based on the belief that they were engaging in adultery
Polygamy in Muslim-majority republics in Russia
Killing of police officers from other parts of Russia on the territory of the Chechen Republic
Torture of anybody insulted the honour of Chechens
Because Kadyrov is loyal to Putin, he is allowed to play the Great Leader of the Chechen Republic. During the recent invasion of Ukraine, Ramzan Kadyrov ordered 1200 Chechnyan men to fight for Russian imperialism. Although they are known to film and photograph their so called ”victories”, the Ukrainians say that these Chechnyan soldiers are not that good and fled many battles. When Kadyrov came face to face with his inferior troops, he pulled them out by claiming that they had ”done their work”.
When the Ukrainian offensive turned against the Russians, Ramzan Kadyrov was one of the few who spoke out against the inferior Russian command. He personally ordered three of his teenage sons to prepare themselves to join the fighting. Yes, Ramzan Kadyrov is ordering his children to die for Vladimir Putin in eastern Ukraine. This proof his backwardness and why Chechnyan workers need to rise up against him. The Kadyrov regime is build on massive state corruption, it cannot survive a revolution from below!
Chechnya has around 1,5 million people. The country was created as a pseudo-autonomous republic of the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic in 1936. During the German invasion, parts of the Checheno-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (CIASSR) were occupied and when the Red Army retook them, Stalin claimed that the Chechnyans had collaborated with the Germans. Moscow dissolved the CIASSR in 1944 and its population was forcibly deported.
In 1957, the Soviet government restored the CIASSR. As Stalinism collapsed between 1989 and 1991, nationalist separatism grew. In the final year of the USSR, nationalist forces turned on Moscow and started a brutal campaign of ethnic cleansing in the Caucasus. The East Prigorodny conflict is just one of them and by November 1992, the Checheno-Ingush Republic was split into the Ingush Republic and Chechen Republic. By that time, Moscow had lost control over Chechnya.
Stalinism in the Chechen Republic ended when nationalist separatists led by former Soviet air force general; Dzhokhar Dudayev, took control over Chechnya in September 1991. They stormed the Supreme Soviet of the Checheno-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic and abolished the whole Stalinist system. Moscow was at that time unable to intervene due to the collapse of the communist party apparatus. The Soviet military was in chaos, this allowed Dudayev to become the first president of Chechnya.
However the former air force general was unable to rule as a effective leader. Between 1991 and 1993 Chechnya had only declared sovereignty from the Russian Federation, not yet full independence. When Dudayev did declare independence, Boris Yeltsin ordered troops to attack the separatists and restore Russian rule in Chechnya. The First Chechen War ended in a defeat for the Russians, they had underestimated the separatists. Chechnya was independent de-facto for the next six years.
Dzhokhar Dudayev was unfamiliar with politics and soon led the country into bankruptcy. His autocratic nature also meant that critics were suppressed and by 1996, Chechnya was a deeply flawed and corrupt country. On 21 April 1996, the Russian military was able to kill Dzhokhar Dudayev. His successors declared that the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria was to be a Islamic state, which gave Moscow the perfect reason to attack the failed state again in the year 1999.
Vladimir Putin always wanted to restore Russian rule in Chechnya. The Second Chechen War began on 7 August 1999 and lasted 8 months and 24 days. Over 42.000 civilians were killed by Russian and Chechnyan forces. In the end, the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria was overthrown and Moscow installed former rebel Akhmad Kadyrov as President of the Chechen Republic on 5 October 2003. After Chechen Islamists used a car bomb to kill Akhmad Kadyrov, Moscow started to spend a lot of money to improve Chechnya for outsiders.
On the inside however, the country remains deeply poor. The chiefdom of Ramzan Kadyrov is build for himself and local elitists of the United Russia party. UNICEF believes that 50% of all people in Chechnya are at poverty risk and that was before the Covid-19 pandemic and the sanctions against Russia, due to the their invasion of Ukraine. Officially the Chechen Republic claims that only 16% lives below the poverty line, but since the state is all about building facades we cannot trust what comes out of that corrupt chiefdom.
Workers will need to unite under a socialist program to overthrow the kingdom of Kadyrov. This is not easy as the country is a dictatorship build on massive repression. However there is also the fact that the government is not that stable. Kadyrov has enriched himself and his elite because they get 600 million U.S dollars from Moscow each year. If Putin cannot feed his dog, that dog will lose weight and strength. The regime is protected by the so called Kadyrovites, the 141st Special Motorized Regiment of the National Guard of Russia.
This 12.000 men strong regiment is the backbone of the whole Kadyrov kingdom. If the working class is able to rally into a democratic resistance movement that is armed and willing, it can defeat these 12.000 men and their chief Ramzan Kadyrov. As we have seen with the Kurds in Syria, it is possible to unite all working class ethnicities into a armed militia. What is missing is a organisation and leadership that has a class consciousness and revolutionary program.
On 5 October 2022, Moscow turned Ramzan Kadyrov into a colonel-general in the Russian Army. Despite his criticism, the Chechnyan dog of Vladimir Putin is still seen as useful for the Kremlin. He opted for the use of low-level tactical nuclear weapons against Ukraine. This shows us that Ramzan Kadyrov is a true reactionary enemy of the working class. A tyrant that needs to be overthrown by the Chechnyan working class. This cannot be done by outside forces, only the workers of Chechnya have the numbers to end the chiefdom and Putin’s loyal dog Ramzan.
Revolutionary Socialist Media 