K. Gunnarsson: First of all, we would like you to present your organization to our readers. How was the party formed? Can you briefly tell us about the organization's history?
RFU: The Workers' Front of Ukraine (Robitnychyy Front Ukrayiny, RFU) is an underground Marxist-Leninist organization. We were founded at the end of 2019 by a small group of young people with no connections to the old and decaying Ukrainian left movement. We started from scratch and have since worked with agitation, propaganda and education.
In 2020, we established the RFU's statutes, which were based on the principles of democratic centralism. In the same year, our manifesto was also written, which describes and strengthens our ideological orientation. The year 2021 was an important year for us as we managed to spread our propaganda by exploiting the growing discontent with the regime among the people.
The year 2022 was also decisive. In February, before the war broke out, we formulated a clear position on the escalation of the imperialist conflict. This position was made public on February 23, less than a day before the first explosions in Kharkiv. Unlike many other communist organizations, we were not split by the war. Internationalism was the obvious choice for all of us.
During the first month of the war, many were worried that the organization's existence would be threatened. Many RFU members, especially those in eastern Ukraine, faced enormous difficulties. Despite this, we were able to quickly return to our work and in the summer of 2022 our activity level was even higher than before the war.
Since then, we have grown significantly, both quantitatively and qualitatively. We have made great progress in improving our Marxist study circles. We have also been able to expand our operations significantly since the outbreak of the war. In addition to agitation, propaganda and education, we now work more directly with workers, students and soldiers. We also work with Ukrainian refugees and migrants in Europe.
Now, in 2024, the question of mobilization is acute in Ukraine. We are developing plans to counter the authorities' mobilization terror against the population.
Struggle between the oligarchs over alliance with East or West - Euromaidan and the background to the war
K. Gunnarsson: The Euromaidan revolution is an important event in modern Ukrainian history, especially if you see it in the context of the ongoing war after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. How does the Workers' Front of Ukraine see the Euromaidan?
RFU: To understand the history of an event, we must always understand its background. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, many economic ties between the former Soviet republics were severed. A huge industrial potential was lost during privatization. Foreign capital strove to maximize the opportunities to gain a foothold in new markets.
These processes were similar in various countries that had previously been part of the Soviet Union, but Ukraine had its own specific conditions. First, it was primarily through Ukraine that gas was transported from east to west during the Soviet era. When we talk about Ukraine's economy and politics, we should always remember the gas pipelines. Second, Ukraine lost a large part of its military power, including nuclear weapons, in the 90s. Thirdly, Ukraine occupies a special geographical position on the map of Europe. Finally, Ukraine is a country rich in natural resources.
Since the 90s, there has been an invisible but significant struggle between various oligarchic clans in Ukraine. This manifested itself both economically, in the division of Soviet industry, and politically in the form of confrontation between a large number of bourgeois parties. Of course, the political orientation of these parties often coincided with the economic orientation of their sponsors. For the oligarchs in eastern Ukraine, it was of course more advantageous to maintain economic and political contacts with Russia than with the West, and vice versa. There were also oligarchs who managed to cooperate with capitalists from both the West and the East for a relatively long time: for example, Akhmetov, the richest man in Ukraine.
The division into East and West was determined not so much by geography as by production itself. The industrialized eastern part of the country with a developed mining sector sought cooperation with Russian industry in order not to lose markets in competition with Western countries. On the other hand, the western and central parts of Ukraine, which were more agriculturally dominated, naturally wanted to sell more "raw material resources" for the manufacture of goods to the US and the EU. It should be noted that cultural differences were also exploited in this struggle, contributing to the deliberate fueling of enmity between Ukrainians from different regions.
There was also a working class in this chaos. Today, the strike in 1993 that shook the entire country is rarely remembered. However, in the 1990s, the workers failed to establish themselves as an independent force. The Communist Party of Ukraine, in turn, became more and more integrated into the bourgeois political spectacle every year, moving further and further away from the real struggle.
What we are trying to say is that Ukraine has actually been divided since so-called independence. It has been divided by various groups of Ukrainian capitalists with the help of their foreign partners (or masters). What happened in 2014 was a logical continuation of this division. In 2013, the government under Yanukovych failed to hold two seats, so Yanukovych chose to integrate Ukraine into the customs union, while the part of the bourgeoisie that was in opposition wanted integration with the European Union. The opposition carried out a successful propaganda campaign, received support from Western partners and won. Yanukovych fled the country and Russia seized the opportunity and annexed Crimea.
At the same time, pro-Russian demonstrations took place in the east. Like Euromaidan, pro-Russian forces sought to reach the broadest sections of the population and were therefore prepared to use any slogan – from “anti-fascism” to Russian nationalism. In April, "people's republics" were proclaimed in Donbass with the support of Russia, and since then blood has flowed non-stop in Ukraine.
In the end, blood was not shed for the ideas that the supporters of the Maidan and their opponents believed in. Blood was spilled for the right of the Russian and Western bourgeoisie to get as big a piece of the Ukrainian pie as possible. For a country like Ukraine, war was inevitable, because that's how capitalism works at its highest level.
K. Gunnarsson: What do your organization think are the reasons for the Russian invasion of Ukraine?
RFU: The Russian invasion in 2022 has the same roots as the war in the East in 2014. It is just a new phase in an old conflict. Here are some important factors:
- Economic crisis (Corona crisis). Under capitalism, war is often a way out of economic crises.
- Fierce competition between international oil and gas companies in 2020-2022. Above we mentioned, for example, the gas pipelines in Ukraine.
- Construction of Nord Stream 2.
- Rapprochement between Russia and China and Russia's distancing from the West. While Russia was still trying to keep a foothold in the West in 2014, it has now completely reoriented itself towards the Chinese bloc.
- The failure of the Russian capitalists to win the battle for Ukraine between 2014 and 2022.
The fascists are the watchdogs of the oligarchy
Karl Gunnarsson: Russian President Putin has claimed that one goal of the invasion of Ukraine is to "de-Nazify" the country. This is no doubt a pretext, but the fact remains that there has been and still is a fascist presence in Ukraine. What does fascism look like in Ukraine today, and how involved and influential is it in the Ukrainian government and other state institutions?
RFU: Ironically, the extreme right in Ukraine has strengthened manifold after Putin's so-called "de-Nazification" began. Before the Russian invasion, there were indeed fascists, but they were marginalized in the eyes of the majority. Their peak strength was in 2014-2015, when the government needed them as a military force. During the period 2016-2021, year by year they lost more and more influence in Ukrainian society.
A full-scale war raised the fascists to a level they could never have dreamed of in 2014. The far-right ideas grew in popularity and many volunteers joined far-right units in the armed forces. During the battles in Mariupol, a successful campaign was carried out to glorify the Azov battalion. At the beginning of the war, repression in Ukraine also increased significantly, and the state police used and continue to use right-wing extremists as auxiliary forces.
The fascists cannot be said to have had any great political success in 2022, but they definitely increased their influence in the army and police. In general, they have served as lackeys of the Ukrainian oligarchy and continue to be its watchdogs. Another thing is, of course, that the stronger they become, the more they can try to take political power into their own hands.
Now, in 2024, the situation is better compared to 2022. The fact is that the fascists, including former "heroes", actively support the state's policy of mobilization against the people. Therefore, fascists are now losing popularity, as many are beginning to see their destructive nature.
The future: no possibility of any kind of normal life under capitalism for Ukraine
K. Gunnarsson: The Ukrainian people have suffered a lot because of the ongoing war. What do you want to say to our readers about the situation on the ground, both for the population and for your organization and your struggle? Do you have any thoughts on how a reconstruction of Ukraine should take place? Will the Ukrainian people be able to return to some form of normalcy after the end of the war?
RFU: In the areas near the front the situation is predictable: mobility is limited, many lack electricity, gas and water, food prices are high and the threat to the lives and freedom of civilians is high (it is important to note that the threat comes from both sides of the conflict ).
In the central part of Ukraine, civilians are also killed by rockets, as was recently the case in Kharkiv, but this is far from the only burden of the war on the population. Russia destroys Ukraine's energy infrastructure, leading to blackouts. It's a big problem for our organization as well because we do a lot of work online. But the biggest problem for Ukraine's civilians is mobilization. We have made a video on this topic on our YouTube channel, it has English subtitles and we highly recommend you watch it.
In Ukraine, the mobilization takes place through the constant use of violence. Local centers for recruitment and social support are responsible for the process. There, people are kidnapped on the streets and forced into the war. Those kidnapped are sometimes mistreated, and people are often forced to sign documents against their will and sent directly to the fighting without preparation. Even people with disabilities are sometimes forced into war. Recently, a disabled man was murdered by recruiters in the Zhytomyr region.
At the same time, Ukraine's borders are closed to all men between the ages of 18 and 60. Because of the terror of the mobilization and the closed borders, many Ukrainians now feel that Ukraine is like a concentration camp.
As for post-war reconstruction, we have no confidence that it will be able to take place on a full scale under capitalism. Ukrainian infrastructure was largely destroyed by Ukrainian capitalists themselves - without war - so it is unlikely that they will be able to rebuild what was destroyed in the war.
All those who speak for Ukraine's recovery pin their hopes on "external investment". They completely ignore the fact that the only thing Ukraine currently receives from external sources is debt. For example, the government will receive $15.5 billion in new loans and it will pay $14.9 billion to the IMF for previous loans. So if there is any "reconstruction money" it will just go back to the lenders.
There is no possibility of any kind of normal life under capitalism for Ukraine. Ukraine is not like the USA, Germany or Sweden. It is one of the poorest countries in Europe and is almost entirely dependent on foreign capital. After the start of the war, only fools can hope for prosperity in Ukraine under the current system. The path to a communist revolution is the only path for Ukraine to have a future.
Karl Gunnarsson: Do you have anything special to convey to our readers and to the people of Sweden in general?
RFU: Organize yourselves in the workplace, study theory together with your peers, join SKP. Don't forget to involve the Ukrainians in Sweden in joint struggle with the Swedish working class.
If you are interested in what is really happening in Ukraine, you can watch our videos on YouTube - all the most important ones have English subtitles.
Our countries are far apart, but I hope that Ukrainians, Swedes and other nations will one day work together to throw off the shackles of capitalist slavery.
As the Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko said: Glory and honor to the heroes of the new civilization!
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