In response to NATO expansion along its border and the imperial dreams of Russian oligarchs, the government of Vladimir Putin has invaded Ukraine in a military aggression that has already resulted in thousands of deaths. But, even with a far superior military force, the Russian aggressors have so far failed to conquer the Ukrainian resistance.
There is a stronger resistance than expected, and with each day of fighting the Russian government becomes more isolated. Large demonstrations around the world have gathered millions of workers and students demanding the end of the occupation and Russia out of Ukraine. Meanwhile, NATO’s sanctions on Russia have deepened its economic crisis, with its official interest rate rising, massive capital losses and companies withdrawing or boycotting the country.
We reject Russian aggression and say that it is essential to provide unconditional support to the people of Ukraine, to defeat the Russian invaders and their war of aggression. This defense of Ukrainian territory and people is being taken up by workers who are arming themselves and appealing to the Russian soldiers to turn back.
Putin is an enemy of the workers and the oppressed. He has criminalized homosexuality and opponents of the regime are executed or imprisoned. There are no free elections, Putin decides who can run and candidates that oppose him are jailed; much less is there freedom for trade unions or political action. Putin’s government maintains violent oppression against ethnic minorities and supports the dictators who control Belarus and Kazakhstan, helping these governments to crush uprisings in these countries, where workers struggle against unemployment, lack of social rights and freedom.
The only countries in the world that support the military invasion of Ukraine are countries that rely on Russia for trade and military support against U.S. imperialism, including Syria, where the Russians bomb the Kurdish and Syrian resistance, thereby protecting the genocidal government of Assad.
We condemn the governments that call themselves leftist yet take the side of Putin against the Ukrainian people, such as those of Maduro, Ortega and in Cuba. Likewise with the organizations and parties that capitulate to them.
At the same time, we reject any imperialist intervention in Ukraine or Russia. The United States, Germany, France and England want to take advantage of the crisis to further exploit Ukraine, as well as the whole of Eastern Europe.
We do not fall into the bourgeois simplification of supporting a “democratic” Ukraine against a “dictatorial” Russia. This is not the criterion that determines the side of revolutionaries in a conflict among capitalist regimes. We are on the side of the working class in both Russia and Ukraine and fight alongside them in the struggle to end the war and overthrow capitalism and imperialism which breed worldwide suffering and have brought us to the edge of a nuclear conflict.
To expel the Russian troops, it is necessary to fight in military unity with all those who want to repel the aggression, but at the same time to put no faith in the pro-imperialist government of Ukraine, which is incapable of defending the working class’s interests whether from NATO imperialists or Putin’s Russia. We are for a socialist Europe and world.
- NATO out of Europe! Russian occupation troops out of Ukraine!
- Support the Ukrainian resistance and the Russian antiwar movement.
- Multiply popular demonstrations against the Russian war of occupation. It is the mobilized masses of Europe and the world that can end this war and force the Russian occupiers to withdraw from Ukraine.
- For the unity of the Ukrainian and Russian working class in the struggle for workers and people’s governments.
- For the dissolution of NATO and withdrawal of all imperialist troops.
- For dismantling CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization), the military alliance used by Russia to massacre the protests and uprisings of neighboring peoples.
Committee for Revolutionary International Regroupment (CRIR)
Partido Socialismo y Libertad – Argentina
Movimento Revolucionário Socialista – Brasil
Partido Obrero Socialista – México
Freedom Socialist Party – Estados Unidos y Australia
Established in 2013, the Committee for Revolutionary International Regroupment (CRIR) is an effort to promote collaboration among revolutionary forces around a common platform that prioritizes the promotion of women’s revolutionary leadership in all political struggles. Contact: cririnter@gmail.com
