Chicago, IL – On Sunday, August 29, there was a parade commemorating the 30th anniversary of the “renewed independence” of Ukraine. While this may at first glance seem to be no threat to labor, progressives and anti-racists, the true character of the event is revealed by the Nazi-coded language used in a letter written by the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America inviting other Ukrainian organizations to participate.
Washington D.C. – On the second anniversary of the neo-Nazi-led turmoil that led to the downfall of Ukraine’s elected government, the U.S. State Department hailed those 2014 events as a “revolution of dignity.”Deputy Department spokesperson Mark C. Toner issued a statement Feb. 20 calling the reactionary takeover a “European choice.”
Tampa, FL – Over a dozen students at the University of South Florida (USF) gathered outside of Russell M. Cooper Hall on campus, March 30, to condemn recent interventions by the U.S. in Venezuela, Iraq, Syria and Ukraine. The students made speeches and chanted, attracting other students to listen.
Moscow – Vanya is a determined boy of nine. He has a competitive streak, especially for races and bike riding. Because of the war being waged on the people in the Eastern Ukraine region called Donbass, he’s become a celebrity. That’s because he survived shells fired by the Ukrainian army that hit his home, although he lost his legs, one of his arms, and his eyesight. His five-year-old brother, Artem, didn’t survive the blast.
St. Paul, MN – 15 people braved the cold and wind to say no Cold War with Russia and no U.S. weapons to the Ukraine, Feb 18. The vigil took place on the Lake Street Marshall Avenue Bridge over the Mississippi River between Minneapolis and Saint Paul.
After the U.S.-backed fascist coup in Kiev, Ukraine in February 2014, the people of Donbass rebelled for independence from Ukraine. A popular anti-fascist resistance quickly emerged. The breakaway state of Novorossiya, or New Russia, was formed and Kiev sent in troops and tanks to crush the people’s resistance. Civil war gripped the country. Now, almost a year later, while the resistance soldiers on, a humanitarian disaster perpetuated by the Kiev government’s war of aggression has struck the citizens of Donbass.International Students Aid to Donbass, based in Wroclaw, Poland, is one of many aid groups springing up across the world in solidarity with the ongoing resistance and the victimized people of Eastern Ukraine.Fight Back! interviewed one of the founders of International Students Aid to Donbass (ISAD), who wished to remain anonymous.
Moscow, Russia – A group of anti-war activists from the U.S. is in Russia at an international conference entitled “The Right of Nations to Self-Determination and the Struggle for a Multi-Polar World.” At the conference was a young man who goes by the name Maxsim, who is part of the people’s defense forces in Lugansk, Ukraine. Maxsim sat down with U.S. activists for an interview about the anti-fascist resistance to the coup government in Kiev.
Newark, NJ – The destruction of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 has generated a huge furor from the U.S. government and the corporate media. It is a convict-by-stampede campaign to blame Russia and the anti-fascist People’s Republics of the Donbas for the disaster.
The Ukraine crisis is an attack by U.S. imperialism, along with local fascists, on the people of Ukraine. The European Union has been ally of the U.S. attack.
Over the past two weeks, the U.S. and NATO-backed junta in Kiev has persistently pushed Ukraine further down the path of civil war. Regime-orchestrated violence against the anti-fascist resistance is escalating, with a crackdown on both independent militias and civilians in the east.
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following May 27 statement from the United Electrical Workers (UE) on developments in the Ukraine and U.S. intervention.
Tucson, AZ – Tucson activists organized a presentation and discussion on the crisis in Ukraine, May 23. The teach-in was part of the nationwide emergency action campaign, initiated by the United National Antiwar Coalition, against U.S. intervention in Ukraine.
Chicago, IL – In spite of the coup government in Kiev, an electoral referendum on autonomy saw huge voter turnout in Donetsk and Lugansk in the east of Ukraine. People lined the streets and waited patiently to cast their votes for self rule.
Newark, NJ – Some veteran Newark activists set up shop at noon, May 3, on a busy street corner here. They were there to protest against the U.S.-instigated crisis in Ukraine. The objectives were several. The first was to get something going. A local peace organization had given a fundraising dinner a few days earlier. The Ukraine crisis was mentioned exactly once and only in passing. A union-supported May Day march had raised many issues – school closings, stronger protections for unions, raising the minimum wage, etc. The only mention of the Ukraine crisis was a sign against U.S. military involvement carried by a marcher. Nonetheless many people expressed an urgent interest.
Thugs of the neo-Nazi political party Right Sector assaulted and set ablaze the House of Trade Unions in Odessa, Ukraine, May 2, murdering dozens and injuring over 200 anti-fascist, anti-coup protesters. The Right Sector is one of the fascist parties in the new, U.S.-backed coup government of Kiev. The vicious attack on the House of Trade Unions is only the most recent explosion of violence backed by the Kiev government.
Tampa, FL – Tampa Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and anti-war activists from the community protested U.S. interference in Ukraine at Senator Marco Rubio's office, April 16. Marco Rubio supports efforts in the U.S. Senate to increase U.S. intervention and spend billions of taxpayer dollars in Ukraine. Students made three demands at Rubio’s office on the University of South Florida campus: No more U.S. intervention in Ukraine or Crimea; Stop U.S. aid to the illegitimate Ukrainian regime; and Oppose U.S. sanctions against Russia.
Chicago, IL – Under attack from aggressive Ukrainian fascists, 40 anti-war activists held a teach-in here on the unfolding Ukraine crisis and NATO expansion, April 12. An equal sized crowd of Ukrainian reactionaries, one carrying the battle flag of the fascist Ukrainian Insurgent Army and another man wearing a scarf bearing the insignia of the violent neo-Nazi Right Sector, attempted to push their way into the door of the union hall during the speakers’ presentations.
What the U.S. is doing in the Ukraine is nothing short of criminal. The U.S. is backing outright fascists, in an effort to put the country under the domination of the West. The White House and Pentagon are acting as a threat to peace by imposing sanctions on Russia and sending warships and missiles into the region. All progressive people should oppose the ongoing U.S. intervention in the Ukraine.