{"id":9399,"date":"2023-02-24T01:15:10","date_gmt":"2023-02-24T06:15:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tempestmag.org\/v01_2020\/staging\/?p=9399"},"modified":"2023-03-02T01:32:02","modified_gmt":"2023-03-02T06:32:02","slug":"we-say-war-on-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tempestmag.org\/test02\/2023\/02\/we-say-war-on-war\/","title":{"rendered":"We Say: War on War!"},"content":{"rendered":"

T<\/span>empest marks the one-year anniversary of Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022 with this statement from the Russian socialist and anti-war movement. This statement is the latest in a year\u2019s worth<\/a> of coverage that has had three aims<\/a>. First and foremost, to give voice to two key principled and strategic historical subjects: that of the Ukrainian people<\/a>, through the eyes of its Left<\/a> and social movements, and that of the Russian Left<\/a> in opposition<\/a> to Putin\u2019s far right<\/a> Great Russian chauvinism<\/a>. Second, and relatedly, to recognize Putin\u2019s invasion<\/a> as the proximate cause of the mass death and destruction<\/a> in Ukraine. Third, to defend the right of Ukrainians to obtain arms<\/a> from wherever and whoever will provide them while cautioning against any illusions in the intention and role of NATO<\/a>, the European Union<\/a>, and the U.S.<\/em><\/p>\n

Underlying our analysis is a strategic imperative. That is the need to rebuild an antiwar<\/a> and anti-imperialist movement<\/a> on the strongest political<\/a> and historical<\/a> footing, and oriented to the latest phase of imperialism<\/a>. It is about rebuilding internationalist solidarity<\/a> with the Left and social movements in Ukraine and eastern Europe where the legacy of Stalinism<\/a> continues, to steal a phrase, to weigh like a nightmare on the horizons of the living. Thus, the strategic imperative is about supporting the reconstruction of a democratic, socialist movement – including its revolutionary current – in this region as a precondition to building a truly internationalist<\/a>, i.e. anti-campist, anti-imperialist movement; a movement opposed to imperialism per se, in all its manifestations. Doing so, in turn, demands an unflinching commitment to the defense of basic democratic rights, including the right of national self-determination<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

The voices of the Ukrainian people, its Left and social movements, and those resisting in Russia must be at the center of our efforts. Their historic agency, their self-activity, is at the root of our politics and our tradition. And while we recognize and spotlight the perfidy and hypocrisy of the U.S. and NATO, Ukraine\u2019s heroic defense against the brutality of Putin\u2019s invasion cannot be reduced to western arms or imperial machinations and should be honored both materially and politically.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

For a year now, Vladimir Putin\u2019s regime has been killing Ukrainians, sending hundreds of thousands of Russians to their deaths, and threatening the world with nuclear weapons in the name of the insane goal of restoring its empire.<\/p>\n

For us Russians who oppose Putin\u2019s aggression and dictatorship, it has been a year of horror and shame over the war crimes committed daily in our name.
\nOn the one-year anniversary of this war, we call all those who yearn for peace to turn out for demonstrations and rallies against Putin\u2019s invasion.
\nUnfortunately, not all the \u201cpeace\u201d rallies taking place next weekend will be actions of solidarity with Ukraine. A large part of the Left in the West does not understand the nature of this war and advocates compromise with Putinism.<\/p>\n

We have written this statement to help our comrades abroad understand the situation and take the right stand.<\/p>\n

A counterrevolutionary war<\/h4>\n

Some Western writers attribute the war to causes like the collapse of the USSR, the \u201ccontradictory history of the Ukrainian nation\u2019s creation,\u201d and geopolitical confrontation between nuclear powers.<\/p>\n

Without denying the importance of these factors, we are surprised that these lists overlook the most important and obvious reason for what is happening: the Putin regime\u2019s desire to suppress democratic protest movements throughout the former Soviet Union and in Russia itself.<\/p>\n

The 2014 seizure of Crimea and hostilities in the Donbas were a response by the Kremlin to the \u201crevolution of dignity\u201d in Ukraine, which overthrew the corrupt pro-Russian administration of Viktor Yanukovych, as well as to Russians\u2019 mass demonstrations for fair elections in 2011\u201312 (known as the Bolotnaya Square protests).<\/p>\n

Annexing the Crimean Peninsula was a domestic policy win for Putin. He successfully used revanchist, anti-Western, and traditionalist rhetoric (as well as political persecution) to expand his social base, isolate the opposition, and turn the Maidan into a bogeyman with which to frighten the population.<\/p>\n

\"A
Molotov cocktails made by members of Kyiv territorial defense in 2022 next to a Crimean self-defense group from 2014. The Russian oppression of democracy in Ukraine today echoes Russia\u2019s seizure of Crimea. Photo Credit: Left<\/a>: palinchak. Right<\/a>: Elizabeth Arrott\/VOA.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But the popularity boost that followed the annexation was short-lived. The late 2010s saw economic stagnation, an unpopular pension reform, and high-profile anti-corruption revelations by Alexei Navalny\u2019s team that dragged Putin\u2019s ratings back down, especially among young people. Protests swept the country, and the ruling United Russia party suffered a series of painful defeats in regional elections.<\/p>\n

This context has driven the Kremlin to place all its bets on conserving the regime. The 2020 constitutional referendum (which required rigging unprecedented even by Russian standards) effectively made Putin a ruler for life. Under the pretext of containing the COVID-19 pandemic, protest gatherings were finally banned. An attempt was made to poison extra-parliamentary opposition leader Alexei Navalny, which he miraculously survived.<\/p>\n

The popular uprising of summer 2020 in Belarus confirmed the Russian elite\u2019s belief that the \u201ccollective West\u201d is waging a \u201chybrid war\u201d against Russia, attacking it and its satellites with \u201ccolor revolutions.\u201d<\/p>\n