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social protests in Donbass (rebel held ukraine) getting violently repressed
source: http://libcom.org/news/social-protes...nbass-19102014Social protest and repression in Donbass
News about social protests is coming out of Donbass, the region controlled by separatist forces in eastern Ukraine.
The protesters in eastern Ukraine have faced violent repression and threats from the separatist governments whose policies they are challenging.
On 4 October, local people in Sverdlovsk (in Luhansk region, in separatist-controlled territory) protested at the headquarters of the security service of Ukraine (SBU) about the shortage of wage payments and of food, the collapse of the banking system, and against plunder and robberies by the paramilitaries. That night, protesters’ houses were attacked with hand grenades.
On 5 October, the protesters went out again, demanding the payment of wages and the restoration of the city infrastructure. Armed men shot at the demonstrators. Three people went to hospital with gunshot wounds.
These events were reported on informator.lg.ua, a site set up in May by journalists from Luhansk, who left the region after some of their colleagues were kidnapped and tortured. The site reports news received from the occupied area, as “an answer to the pro-Russian extremists’ attempts to silence independent media and journalists”. (Details here in Russian.)
Meanwhile, the government of the “Donetsk People’s Republic” has adopted a new taxation system, which – just as in Russia itself – is anti-social. For example, the income tax and the tax on enterprises in the republic will not be progressive: the tax rate will be fixed (regardless of the level of income) at 13%, and the enterprise tax fixed at 20%, the semi-official Russian news agency Itar-Tass reported. The bourgeoisie has been exempted from the payment of tax debts for recent months. In the “Luhansk People’s Republic”, the adoption of the same system is scheduled for 15 October.
On 22 September, the people of Antratsit (Luhansk region) went out to the city central square, to protest in front of the City Executive Committee building, according to a report in Novyi Region newspaper. This “revolt for cash” demanded wages, pensions and welfare benefits, which were promised. but which people did not receive for a couple of months.
The local separatist military commanders reacted with direct threats against the protesters. saying: “If you demonstrate here again, we will shoot you all. Forget what a miner’s wage is, and what a pension is, not to mention welfare benefits”. Nevertheless, some aid – namely, a can of meat and a package of cereal for each person – was immediately distributed.
Before the demonstration, the Komsomolskaya mine at Antratsit was shut down. The government of the self-proclaimed “Lugansk People’s Republi”c announced that the miners will from now on receive a wage of 1200 hryna (around $100) – far less than they had earned previously. In protest, the miners all absented themselves from work the next day.
On 27 September, around 200 citizens went out to protest in Rovenky (Luhansk region). The majority of the protesters were the retired people, but there were also young people in the crowd, the Liga.net news site reported. There was indignation that the “Lugansk People’s Republic” government does not keep its promises to pay pensions and wages.
The demonstrators accused the government of plundering humanitarian aid, so it does not reach the people, including old people living on their own who are starving and have no-one to help them. There is neither running water nor heating in the town.
The protesters, who do not receive the payments they are entitled to from the new local authorities, collected signatures on a petition to the Ukrainian government in Kyiv, demanding that it pays them.
These reports were published last week on the Russian web site of the anarchist International Workers Association, and in English on the Ukraine Activist Perspective facebook page. Thanks to both. The links in the story are to the local newspapers and web sites that first reported the information. GL,
The mind is its own place, and in itself Can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven. What matter where, if I be still the same, And what I should be, all but less than he Whom thunder hath made greater?
Here at least We shall be free
That's a shame. So is Ukraine 'stabilized', and just the separatist regions are having trouble? I haven't heard of incidents, such as protests, in Kiev and other Ukraine controlled cities in a while.
"Maybe some day... I'll find a way... without you.."
Sure...looks legit...and for good measure everything to do with rebel institutions is in scare quotes.
I see there's already filthy pro-Putin shillin' going on here. Great.
So anybody who broadly supports the Peoples' Republics of Luhansk and Donetsk is a "filthy pro-Putin" supporter eh. Nice one.
Do you feel the same way about the people who oppose the US-sponsored protests in Caracas as well? Such struggles as the one in Free Ukraine will always be unpleasant but it is a big mistake to argue that those who want to see a victory for the Marxist-Leninist forces are thus supporters of Putin and the oligarchs.
The ultra-right neocons who comment on anti-Russian articles on the Guardian website say the same sorts of things. Of course I wrote you off as one of them awhile back anyway, so whatthefuckever, carry on with your discussion bludgeoning. Mostly crickets here anyway.
And Sasha, I don't know, you're just so predictable.
"Only a fool lets somebody else tell him who his enemy is." - A. Shakur
"There is nothing here, no oil, no strategic location. We will recommend to our government not to intervene as the risks are high and all that is here are humans."
- Rwanda, 1994
i'll be posting articles as in the OP as long as there are people writing these kind of insanities;
The mind is its own place, and in itself Can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven. What matter where, if I be still the same, And what I should be, all but less than he Whom thunder hath made greater?
Here at least We shall be free
The Stalinoid social chauvinists are tireless in their defence of their far-right comrades. Ultranationalists from Europe have joined the pro-Russian separates, New Russian forces, to fight 'Western decadence'. Again and again we have exposed their far-right and ultranationalist nature, but their wishful thinking impairs reason (which is incidentally very similar to anarchist wishful thinking in regards to Kurdish 'democratic autonomy').
New Russia is headed by the far-right New Russia Party, and it flies the Czarist Romanov flag! These 'Marxist-Leninist forces' are oddly similar to the Whites. Yet Stalinoid social chauvinists keep deluding themselves into thinking that they represent some leftist or progressive, even Marxist-Leninist cause. Unbelievable.
And of course, adicpore writes off Hafrn as 'ultra-right neocon' for opposing the ultranationalists in Donbass. What an absolute and utter joke. Absolutely infuriating in fact, how detached these social chauvinists (not even worthy of the name Stalinist) are from reality.
Marxist-Leninist forces in Russia:
Last edited by Tim Cornelis; 30th October 2014 at 09:32.
pew pew pew
Is this meant to be a joke? "Marxist-Leninist forces"? It'd be bad enough if they stuck to Stalinism ("Marxism-Leninism"), but they're even worse than that. In fact, they're just some ultranationalist assholes who are in with Putin with "THE EAST IS LEFT THE WEST IS RIGHT SUPPORT THE EAST - IF THE WEST IS MORE PROGRESSIVE THEY ARE DECADENT". Basically the world geopolitical battle which has been fought for long now has expressions in multiple forms and this would only fool an idiot. Of course, Putin has alliances with other pseudo-leftists, populists, charismatic leaders, quasi-authoritarians etc. in the non-first-world. To anybody who has a brain, there is nothing surprising with this.So anybody who broadly supports the Peoples' Republics of Luhansk and Donetsk is a "filthy pro-Putin" supporter eh. Nice one.
Do you feel the same way about the people who oppose the US-sponsored protests in Caracas as well? Such struggles as the one in Free Ukraine will always be unpleasant but it is a big mistake to argue that those who want to see a victory for the Marxist-Leninist forces are thus supporters of Putin and the oligarchs.
And you realize protests necessarily involve the masses and these in Caracas have such a base in real problems (and portions of the masses) even if the protesters vote for the wrong parties, right? If Venezuela is a paradise, why don't you go there? That's coming from a person interested in Bolivarian Revolution, but never mind logic when talking with people like you.
Last edited by RedWorker; 28th October 2014 at 20:28.
may i ask, what exactly is free about the so called "people's republics" in east ukraine?
other have allready point it out but lets say it again, the leadership of these "people's republics" are ultra nationalist far rightists who put tsarist symbols everywhere they can. not to mention the nazbols who are also there. so yes, "those who want to see a victory for the Marxist-Leninist forces are thus supporters of Putin and the oligarchs" is exactly true. there arnt marist-leninist forces there, besides social-conservatives who call themselfs communists and go hand in hand with nazbols and other right-wingers.
All i want is a Marxist Hunk.
It is true that labor produces for the rich wonderful things – but for the worker it produces privation. It produces palaces – but for the worker, hovels. It produces beauty – but for the worker, deformity. It replaces labor by machines, but it throws one section of the workers back into barbarous types of labor and it turns the other section into a machine. It produces intelligence – but for the worker, stupidity, cretinism.
Wer hat uns verraten? Sozialdemokraten!
Ukrainian Gov. Uses Cluster Munitions on Donetsk
Source: http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/10/20/u...ster-munitions
The humanitarian aid mentioned in the OP's article, and those white trucks that delivered said aid(that the media claimed was an invasion) came from the CPRF: http://www.solidnet.org/russia-commu...rian-aid-en-ru
I'm not sure why you think that it's relevant to the topic. No one is defending Ukraine/Kiev.
pew pew pew
It was on the page of one of the links. I doubt the shortages and overall shitty conditions aren't related to the war. Dropping cluster bombs is pretty violent repression of the opposition. And I posted a link about who was trying to help those people who protested, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, but it seems it either it's not enough or it's being hoarded by the rebels.Good.
Usually, when I get hyperbolic I like to sarcastically call things I don't like or support the Great Satan of X, in reference to a catchphrase of the Ayatollah's. In Ukraine, however, there is no Great Satan and Little Satan - both sides are, more or less, equally vile and reactionary.
No one would be stretching the truth to say that those who cite openly pro-Ukrainian partisan sources such as the OP are shilling for Ukraine and the west. As for the use of Russian nationalist symbols, the use of Soviet symbols is equally if not more prevalent. The legislature of the Donetsk People's Republic is called the Supreme Soviet and its leader is a member of the Ukrainian Communist Party. For every "Romanov" flag there are Soviet and Ukrainian SSR flags. Suffice it to say the Ukrainian rebels have no defined political character in terms of the left vs the right wing of capital. The only cause that holds them together is the defense of Easterners against the government. The Kiev government and its supporters are a completely different story, but in both cases the left has pretended otherwise.
But to put this in context, because it falls in love with anything 'in motion', the western left's first reactions to the conflict were to romanticize the Maidan putsch and fall in line with our ruling class' narrative of evil Russians. Russian support of the rebels was immediately compared to 1848, 1956, 1968, and so on. Of course, many have backpedaled to take a 'neutral' stance on the conflict as it unfolded, but the basic narratives remain: protests in Maidan in Kiev were due to social conditions and are fundamentally legitimate. Protest and armed rebellion in Donbas is because of Russian chauvinism and their war is bullshit. Putin is responsible. This mirrors the leftist delusions about the rebels of Syria and Libya that led the left right into the arms of the war camp in support of so called armed revolutions against independent Arab states. For the past half decade the left has never failed to show its loyalty to the "progressive" west and its proxies against others. Anyone who opposes this is just shilling for dictators.
In fact, this unity against Gaddafi, against Syria, against Russia, etc. across the spectrum of the European left from anarchists to liberals is nothing less than the new postmodern Burgfriedenspolitik. If you doubt it exists, ask Borotba, whose activists were beaten by fascists and anarchists at Maidan.
I really hope I never have to witness the shitstorm that will ensue when an overtly leftist government like Venezuela or Cuba becomes the target of a proxy war, because all the hints that much of the left will choose the side of imperialism are already there. In 2011 at my university, the anti-imperialists and the pro-rebels almost came to blows at more than one antiwar gathering.
Maybe if your dear "anti-imperialist" leaders spended a bit more time on being actually popular progressives and less bein corrupt, clinging to personal power at all costs and torturing unionists and such they wouldn't be at risk of gettin ousted when popular support collapses.
The mind is its own place, and in itself Can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven. What matter where, if I be still the same, And what I should be, all but less than he Whom thunder hath made greater?
Here at least We shall be free
Shilling presupposes that the person in question replicates a false narrative. Whether this is interpreted as such depends on what narrative you subscribe to. But you need to bring more to the table than pointing out the origins of sources.
That seems an outlandish claim to me. What I've seen is more of a 'historical' use of the hammer and sickle, whereas the Romanov flag is the official national flag of New Russia. The other, former official and now battle flag, was the Imperial Russian Navy flag. So the two official flags of New Russia are both imperial, nationalist symbols. This makes it really difficult to believe that 'soviet symbols' (which are by no means synonymous with socialist symbols in Russia as they have been appropriated by chauvinists) are equally or more prevalently used.
Soviet symbols and such have been appropriated by Russian nationalists since the USSR was 'Russia as superpower'. It isn't in and of itself indicative of any socialist support.
Transnistria has a hammer and sickle on its flag and national symbol, its parliament is called the supreme soviet as well, yet it has no socialist content. Its economy is dominated by one private corporation.
The Communist Party of Ukraine is also notorious for its racism and homophobia. Boris Litvinov is the speaker of the supreme council and chairman of the communist party of donetsk, yes, but how much power is that, and how much credentials as communist does he have given the track record of post-Soviet 'communists' in Russia and Ukraine?
Moreover, the communist party of donetsk has been barred from participating in the Donbass elections, supposedly for administration errors.
Some evidence or reasonable arguments for this please.
The leadership of New Russia overwhelmingly is made up of Russian ultra-nationalists.
There's some tendency of the far-left to support things 'in motion' without any critical insight, yes, but I think you're overstating it. I also think you're creating a false dichotomy.
It's a good thing that 'pro-rebels' 'came to blows at more than one antiwar gathering', they support far-right ultranationalists. It's also a good thing that the far-left is against Syria, against Russia, against Gaddafi. You imply as if that's a bad thing. Communism is opposed to bourgeois dictators and imperialist countries, it doesn't mean favouring western imperialism over dictators, nor dictators over western imperialism.
And who cares about Borotba? Fascist collaborating social-democrats.
Last edited by Tim Cornelis; 30th October 2014 at 23:56.
pew pew pew
One of the ideological co-founders of Novorossiay is Aleksandr Dugin. I.e. this guy. Don't take the chauvinistic use of old-school symbols to be something positive.
Lol the "Fourth Political Theory". Fascists never cease to amazing me with how they portray themselves as anything but a genuine fascist.
Fashionable avatar in solidarity with Five Year Plan.
NATO and the west are still telling filthy lies about Putin sending tanks to East Ukraine. Photos show tanks captured from forces of fascist Kiev being renovated in a giant factory in Donetsk. The Donbass is the industrial heart of the territory and this looks good to those of us who support the defeat of the Kiev fascists. Comrades should give full support to the Peoples' Republics of Luhansk and Donetsk and we should especially support their elections and their efforts to build socialism. We ought to remember that even though there were dubious elements in the Spanish Civil War (like POUM) the communists and the International Brigades did sterling service there. The situation in Ukraine is similar and we ought to keep our support strong for Borotba and the other good comrades fighting against the pro-NATO fascists.
