Ukrainian, Russian young communists give lesson on proletarian internationalism

By Nikos Mottas.

In a period when the various modern Kautskyites and other opportunists continue to promote the interests of the Russian bourgeois class thus becoming eager servants of the reactionary Putin government in its fierce competition with the western imperialists, young communists from Russia and Ukraine send a powerful message of proletarian internationalism from Athens.

The photo from the 48th KNE-Odigitis Festival, where 35 foreign delegations of Communist Youths are represented, is revealing: Side by side, the Revolutionary Communist Youth League of Russia (Bolsheviks) and the Youth Wing of the Union of Communists of Ukraine remind us that the only thing that can actually oppose bourgeois nationalism, chauvinism and fascism, is proletarian internationalism. 

These young communists from Ukraine and Russia refuse to choose any of the imperialists' camps. They defiantly refuse to become the “useful idiots” in a war that is taking place exclusively for the interests of the big capital - of the “western” monopoly groups on one side and of the Russian bourgeois class on the other.

The Russian and Ukrainian young communists acknowledge that both the Euro-Atlantic imperialist bloc (USA-NATO-EU) and capitalist Russia are the two sides of the same coin. They are fully aware of Lenin's words that “the working class, in case it is conscious, will not support any group of imperialistic predators” and that the perception of “supporting the least aggressive imperialist” is totally anti-Leninist and disastrous for the working class interests.

Yes, the young communists from Russia and Ukraine who participate at the KNE-Odigitis Festival these days are the best answer to all those Kautskyites and social chauvinists who call the workers to fight under false flags. The youth, the working people from both countries who are experiencing the consequences of a devastating war have nothing to divide. On the contrary, they want and must live peacefully, side by side, like they did for over 70 years in the past, within the framework of the Soviet Union.

There is only one solution and this solution lies on the independent struggle of the working class against monopolies and bourgeois classes, for the overthrow of the exploitative capitalist system that generates imperialist wars. Proletarian internationalism is now more timely and necessary as ever.   

The kiosk at the KNE-Odigitis Festival in Athens where the two young organizations are side by side. Photo: 902.gr.

* Nikos Mottas is the Editor-in-Chief of In Defense of Communism.