Anarchist Black Cross Dresden
Why is it still important to continue supporting people in Ukraine?
Russian state continues to torture and murder people in different parts of the world. Full scale invasion plans of Ukraine failed in many directions, but the war continues with a huge price to be paid by people. Cities are destroyed, hundreds of thousands are dead, and there is little to no chance that Putin will give up his political ambitions. Instead, we see that the regime in Moscow is ready to mobilize more and more people to throw them into the meat grinder of war machine. In the first months of full scale invasion, we were hoping that people in Russia will rise and destroy not only Putin’s regime but the whole imperial project. This didn’t happen…
And because working class in Russia is not ready to destroy so called “russian world” simple people in Ukraine have to continue their fight. However, a lot of people in West already pay little to no attention to what is happening just around the corner from their home. Amount of donations for different initiatives supporting Ukrainian fighters and civil population have dropped dramatically. With that, the role of the state support have increased even in humanitarian sector and we are leaving the cause of solidarity to corrupt politicians that will steal big chunks of that support, while people will get nothing.
That’s why it is important for us to stress one more time the importance of solidarity with people in Ukraine. These days, both military and civil population still relies heavily on support outside of state organized structures. Equipment, infrastructural projects, humanitarian aid – all of that still requires help from the normal population as the states fail in their bureaucracy to answer quickly and effectively to certain challenges. This dependency leaves all of us in anarchist and antiauthoritarian movement with responsibility to support not only anarchist fighters on the front lines, but all the organizers as well as general population as they continue to struggle on daily basis in war torn areas close to the current front lines. And we have to take that responsibility very seriously, as with our support we actually make certain parts of ukrainian society stronger, those parts that can stand up in the future against the state who will for sure try to push more neoliberal reforms and more control over the lives of simple people.
Our strategy in this war should continue to be the support of progressive forces in Ukraine who fight today russian invaders but perfectly understand that the state is not a friend but at best a temporary ally in the struggle for survival. Many see that even when Russia leaves Ukraine, the fight against the state will continue. And in that fight, dependency of the people on the state will have very serious costs. So instead of giving people up to EU politicians or some state affiliated NGOs, we should push further the cause of solidarity that will show the power of the people instead of the power of the state.
Since 2022 we’ve heard a lot of voices also from the left and anarchists calling people in Ukraine to lay down their weapons, to give up and hope for the best. Leave themselves on the mercy of victorious russian state, who on multiple occasions already showed its genocidal face. Those people prefer to ignore the fact that the victory of such power will end in further violence. It will show Putin, but also many other authoritarian rulers, that brute force can bring big victories. So-called “defeatism” is a fairy tale of those who prefer to ignore a very simple fact – if people in Ukraine loose this war, we all loose. The wildfire of destruction burning so bright in Moscow will continue to the other regions of the planet, and the war will become reality for way more people. That is why if we really want to stop the wars between the states, if we really mean that solidarity knows no borders, we have to continue our support.
Donate 1%, 5%, 10% of your salary on the regular basis. Make solidarity events and raise funds. This work requires a lot of collective efforts, and we believe that we are indeed stronger together!
Until all are free.