Alexander “Communist,” militia fighter and representative of Red Guards of Donbass, co-author of letter from ordinary militia to leaders of Donetsk and Lugansk: The militia formed was formed by volunteers to protect their homeland without too much thought about the bigger issues. A process of questions and answers eventually led us to a class understanding of the events taking place on our soil. We identified the forces that we oppose – tycoons and oligarchs of all stripes: Russian, Ukrainian, international, whatever. Once, a very long time ago, it was said there are only two classes: proletariat and bourgeoisie. No matter how long it has been, only external things have changed; the essence remains the same. We who are taking part in the events unfolding at such a rapid pace, we poor militia, have posed the question of raising the red flag, which is now being discussed by commanders. … Militia leaders who came to the fore in the field, earned the trust and respect of fighters, are now forced to sit on the sidelines [of negotiations]. Their struggle is an unenviable one. Arms and uniforms require money. We are preparing for protracted war ahead of the cold rains of autumn, then winter. On the other hand, the commanders cannot ignore the views of those who report to them, and unconditionally trust them. The commanders will have to make a decision if their efforts are on the side of Donbass labor or on the side of those who fund the opposite interests. In our land … [there are] forces which are capable and ready to defend our class interests. We went through enough political parties and politicians and structures and finally set up our own red, anti-fascist headquarters, which helped us to eventually join forces with other piecemeal, anti-fascist, anti-oligarchic formations throughout the territory of the former Ukraine, Donetsk, and the Russian Federation. In fact it is one fight, under the banner of common cause. But the problem lay in the fact that for 23 years [since the collapse of the USSR] we were scattered, we lived our ambitions small and severed by contradictions, often artificial, that kept us at a certain distance apart. … Life pushes us to unite in the interests of the working class. Our fate is in our hands. At the present moment it is a matter of survival.
Posted on: Thu, 11 Sep 2014 11:41:17 +0000
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