First, I would like to thank the international revolutionary community for their consistent support of the Ukrainian resistance. It is not a self-evident position: a massive portion of the Left in the world is still confused by abstract pacifism and campism, which sees every opponent of the U.S. as an automatic ally.
Every day, in Ukraine hundreds of people die at the front lines, every night Russia bombs the civilian population. A communal hospital was destroyed near my house. Although I was lucky that my loved ones are alive. Still, every Ukrainian has suffered their own losses, we all are feeling the effects of this war, and our future is uncertain. We are under pressure from Russia, from a corrupt bourgeois government, and from far-right extremists. Despite all of that, antifascists in Ukraine, the feminist movement, the queer community, workers, the Armenian, Crimean, and Romani communities unanimously spoke out against imperialist aggression.
This war did not start in 2022, but earlier – in 2014. It started with the annexation of Crimea and the war in Donbas, when Putin and his forces set up so-called “people’s republics”, using people’s dissatisfaction with social issues. He was able to do that because only recently the people in Ukraine had overthrown the autocratic, corrupt president Yanukovych, whose mansion was turned into the museum of corruption. Hundreds of thousands of people across the country had taken to the streets, unhappy with low wages, the standard of living and the corruption, striving for a better future for themselves and their loved ones. It was a movement that had a truly revolutionary potential. Unfortunately, a true revolution did not happen due to a multitude of reasons, including the failures of the Left, but the spirit of resistance is still alive in Ukrainians, and Ukrainian society proves this year after year. Putin fears this. That is why he attacked in 2022: to ensure that no place emerged on his doorstep where people could freely choose their own future.
Just 4 years ago Putin believed that he would be able to take Kyiv in a few days, but he was mistaken. He wasn’t faced with a powerful army or a determined West, since at the time there were virtually no regular forces capable of defending the capital. He miscalculated when he faced the people: ordinary workers, who met tanks with rifles in their hands. Many people prepared for a partisan war, made Molotov cocktails, and I personally stood guard at a checkpoint at 17 years old, with an old Soviet pistol. We were preparing for the worst, but we won the battle for Kyiv. It was not weapons that saved us, but the solidarity and unity of the working class that reveals itself in moments of crisis.
From a strategic perspective, Russia has already lost, but nonetheless it continues to advance. Slowly, but thanks to drones, massive attacks, and shelling, Russian soldiers are destroying Ukrainian land one kilometre at a time. They occupy the ruins that they make. The war has changed, and the enthusiasm and determination of the working class has given way to the need for high-quality equipment, technology, military industry and fair rotations. In many countries of the world people protest militarisation and seek disarmament, but we, as a nation resisting imperialism, call for weapons to be given to oppressed peoples fighting for their freedom.
We want peace, but Putin and Russian elites do not agree to that, that’s why we’re forced to fight and do our very best. That is what people in the rear and in the front are striving for, but there are those whose political points and power are more important to them than the survival of the people. It is precisely these who are currently in power in Ukraine and Russia, yet we stand strong. Not because of leadership or the laws they pass, but first and foremost because of the masses, the working class that suffers the most in this war.
We, Ukrainian revolutionary socialists and anarchists, call for the international community to support Ukrainian resistance. We will respond with solidarity and victories in our national and social struggles.
However, consistent support does not mean turning a blind eye to what’s happening inside Ukrainian society. Of course, Ukrainians are putting up a heroic fight, and they are in the right in this war. But the Ukrainian government and its institutions are passing laws that are against the people’s interests. Zelensky is pursuing anti-union and anti-democratic policies amidst martial law; it’s not surprising that Ukrainian oligarchs are getting rich off the war. In our country, there are no elections or many of the other bourgeois freedoms. Daily, Ukrainian workers face rising prices, stagnant wages, attacks on their rights and restrictions on their freedom of speech. The Ukrainian government is pursuing a market-based economy and cutting social spending; it is counting on the support of the United States and other imperialist powers. The state is carrying out rapid privatisation, but we demand the nationalisation of key industrial sectors and of the defence industry; we seek to strengthen social guarantees and expand local self-government. We are doing everything in our power to achieve that. And every day we face pressure from fascists and liberals.
Time and time again, mobilisation legislation is used not to fairly share the burden of war, but to place it on the most vulnerable – whereas the children of lawmakers and oligarchs have an amazing ability to avoid the front lines. It’s not uncommon for the powerful to use mobilisation as a tool of repression. The labour code is revised to accommodate employers and take away protections from the employees – right when they’re least capable of resisting it.
At the same time, Zelensky’s government is flirting with the far right, and that’s the reason behind the ongoing rehabilitation of OUN and UPA figures – rehabilitation that glosses over the darkest chapters of this history; collaboration by some of the leaders of these organisations with Nazi Germany, participation in the Volyn tragedy and instances of antisemitism in the rhetoric and practices of these movements. The far right is turned into national heroes, streets and parks are named after them, despite the fact that for millions of people – not just outside Ukraine but also inside – this heritage is at the very least ambiguous, and for many, particularly the Jewish and Polish communities, it is downright repulsive. We realise that this might scare a huge number of revolutionaries from all over the world away. However, we also realise that this is no reason to turn our backs on the Ukrainian people, who need protection and support. The actions of the government are aimed at a very small minority of right-wing radicals prominent at the front right now, but the Ukrainian people care little about such things when there’s no electricity or heat in winter. Most of the Ukrainian army consists of people from working-class backgrounds.
These problems did not appear out of nowhere for the Ukrainian people. In many ways, they are a reaction to the real trauma: to the imperial policies of both Tsarist and Soviet Russia – and now Putin’s Russia – and to the war itself, which is raging right now. It is necessary to understand the roots of such reaction. This policy has consequences: it narrows the space for solidarity and alienates a part of its own population precisely when unity is most needed, and – most tragically – plays right into the very same Kremlin propaganda which for decades has presented itself as a champion for “anti-fascism,” even though it is waging one of the most brutal imperial wars of our time.
But it does not mean that we should stop supporting Ukrainian people. The same way that we support Palestine in its struggle against aggressive imperialism despite all of Hamas’s undeniably reactionary attitude – and at times outright brutality – toward its own population, we support Ukrainians in their struggle against Russian imperialism despite the reactionary attitude of some segments of its government and society. It is not a double standard, but the same standard applied consistently – the right of an oppressed nation to resist aggression should not depend on the quality of its leadership. Criticism of nationalistic excesses and unconditional support of the right to resist occupation are two positions that the revolutionary left must uphold simultaneously, rather than one at the expense of the other.
Ukrainian people have demonstrated their will to resist the ruling class. Last year, it was the large protests that changed the state’s ruling to disband an anti-corruption agency. Anarchists and communists have also participated and were a noticeable force in those protests, and we talked not only about corruption but also about capitalism. We proclaimed, “Power to the millions, not to the millionaires!”. A few days ago, Ukrainian civil society also emerged victorious. It was thanks to those mass protests that commander-in-chief Syrskyi has resigned. And today we are protesting the increase in transit rates for workers in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. Hundreds of people are taking to the streets to protest and agree that the price change is anti-social and hostile to the people. We’re radicalising the discourse and demand not just that fares not increase but also that everyone has the right to transit free of charge. We can do this because we have fought for the right to influence the government’s decisions. It is happening since the distribution of power between classes is not stable in Ukraine. The spirit of revolution is present in Ukrainian society, and the power fears it. Today we learned that criminal proceedings have been initiated against our comrade, trade unionist Maksym Shumakov in connection with his activities. He needs our support; it’s important to talk about this, and we all need to put pressure on the Ukrainian government to ensure that nothing like this happens to anyone.
Nevertheless, the situation is even worse right now for our comrades that are in Russia. We ask that you pay attention to this.
We call for an increased effort to secure the release of political prisoners. I cannot talk about resistance without mentioning those who are carrying it out from behind bars. Ukrainian society is closely following the situation of those held captive by Russia. These are not only military personnel, but also thousands of activists who have spoken out against the war and Putin’s authoritarian government. Many of them are native people of Crimea, Crimean Tatars – they were the first to bear the brunt of the Russian authorities’ crackdown. As of now, in 2026, we know of at least 247 political prisoners from Ukraine, of which 169 are Crimean Tatars. It’s becoming absurd: if they find a Quran in your home, that’s terrorism; if you splash the building of the occupation administration with paint, you get a 15-year sentence (it’s a real case, that of Bohdan Ziza). People are taken to the Simferopol Detention Centre, where they are tortured, and those who are “lucky” are simply denied medical help for years, while their relatives are fruitlessly trying to send them something. Many prisoners are women.
Not long ago, a Ukrainian anarchist who had been fighting against Lukashenko’s pro-Russian regime was released. A young girl, only 17 years old, was sentenced to 13 years of prison, but now she is free. This happened thanks to campaigns showing solidarity with her and pressure on the Belarusian government. Anti-fascist Vladyslav Zhuravlov was also released. Right now, we are actively monitoring the state of Ukrainian political prisoners. It’s worth mentioning Denys Matsola, a native of Crimea and anti-fascist who is currently imprisoned in Russia; we recently received a letter from him. There are quite a few human rights activists in Ukraine who are working on this issue, but it’s worth raising awareness about it around the world.
There is also resistance among Russians that recognise the criminal and imperialist nature of the Russian invasion. Some Russian anarchists are fighting for Ukraine, yet many Russian opposition figures are currently imprisoned for activities carried out within the Russian Federation. There are people jailed for stickers and slogans, as well as simply for their opinions. A striking example is that of the anarchist Azat Miftakhov, who was convicted on fabricated charges because of his views.
Yet I am standing here not just to ask for mere solidarity, but to claim that we already practice it. The Ukrainian working class, despite the government, despite the oligarchy, and despite pressure from both sides of the front, proves every day just that: the struggle against imperialism and the struggle against capitalism are one and the same struggle, not two separate ones between which one has to choose. We are taking to the streets against the transit fares increase in Kyiv at the very moment when our friends are holding the line near Pokrovsk. We do not split between national and social – we are fighting both battles at the same time, because otherwise, a victory in one will mean defeat in the other.
That is why I don’t ask you for sympathy. I ask you to act – write letters for political prisoners – both Ukrainian and Russian – because publicity is the weapon that really works. Put pressure on your governments when they compromise principles for the sake of gas or contracts. Build unions and solidarity with Ukrainian workers – with the working class. Because victory in this war, if it’s only a victory for the government, will leave us as we were before – without food on the table, without rights, without voice. But a victory of the working class – over Putin, over Russian imperialism, and over our own oligarchy all at once – will be the first true victory in decades worth celebrating without reservation.
I want to finish my speech by referencing a Ukrainian artist, Davyd Chychkan, who died at the front fighting for his dream of a better world. In his painting, he depicted Ukrainian revolutionary figures with the inscription, “Long live an independent, autonomous, anti-authoritarian, classless, progressive, feminist, socialist Ukraine”.
Arseniy is an activist of the independent student union Priama Diia and a member of the anti-authoritarian network “Solidarity Collectives”, which helps Ukrainian anti-fascists on the front lines.
Translation into English by Tamila. First published on the Left Renewal Blog, with permission.
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