Discussing Karimov

All of these pressing issues may very well be solved in a way that would disastrously impact the country, already after the death of the politician, during whose rule they were laid down.

There are politicians that are remembered for what they did. In the case of the president of Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov, who passed away yesterday (according to the unofficial version a few days ago) it is the opposite: even those who mourn him, in terms of his achievements, remember only the things that did not happen in Uzbekistan.

As we are told, there has not yet been a full-scale civil war in the country and the islamists have not come to power. Despite the surge in nationalism, which occurred in the Fergana valley toward the end of 1980’s early 1990’s, Uzbekistan has avoided a complete expulsion of the non-titular population, even though many observers cautiously waited for this to happen.

Briefly, there have not been any striking calamities, just the regular villainy of periphery capitalism and autocracy decorated by a near-to-complete absence of ideology aside from a moderately cautious bureaucratic nationalism.

Nevertheless, such an image would lose its rosiness if one were to look closely at the results and evaluate the possible consequences of ‘peaceful governance’, in order to understand the price that may be paid for it.

Yes, the islamic movement is suppressed in the country; however, as a result of preventive cleansings no organised adherents of any other political ideas remain in Uzbekistan. Besides, there is, basically, an absence of public politicians that would express any coherent political position in this Central Asian state. Even ministers and provincial heads are practically unknown to the majority of its population.

It is known that the secret behind the spread of islamism in middle-eastern countries to a large extent lies within the large-scale financial injections on the part of Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar; in some cases from the USA or France. Fergana valley, suffering from overpopulation and poverty, remains an ideal ground for the spread of islamist ideology, and, if local islamists were to receive large-scale support from outside, the country’s leadership may only be able to oppose this with its army, police and the SNB (Uzbekistan’s National Security Service), whose leadership is neither too difficult to outbid nor to win over. And who can be assured that Karimov’s successor will not start an islamisation in order to get closer to the oil monarchies; will islamism arrive in the country on its own after Islam?

Let’s take a look at the other achievements of this regime. Large-scale construction of railways? If we were to observe the foreign policy position of the country as something that is present once and for all, then yes, the uniting of railway sectors, previously divided by the neighbours, into a single network seems to be quite useful. However, if we were to look at the railway construction by Uzbekistan and its neighbours altogether, then we would see a reverse trend. Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and even the penniless Tajikistan, which recently inaugurated a railway link between Dushanbe and the country’s south, are obliged to invest money in the construction of railway sections, duplicating the lines built in soviet times, like the cowboys from that anecdote, who spent their own money to eat shit.

What are the advantages of maneuvering between the centres of power, endlessly zigzagging between the US, Russia, EU and Turkey? Basically, this is a logical policy for a relatively weak country, but, then again, if one player would decide to change this rickety balance in his favour, it would be fraught with collapse. Moreover, such a collapse will be much bloodier than the Ukrainian one.

Uzbekistan behaved exclusively from a position of strength with its weaker neighbours. And instead of becoming the centre for the integration of the region, surrounded itself with enemies. Furthermore, the reasons for these conflicts were purely economic. The murder and expulsion of the Uzbek population from Osh in Kyrgyzstan, at the very border of the country, was met with olympian serenity on behalf of Uzbekistan, without even demanding the presence of peacekeepers.

Tashkent’s civilised appearance, which is even praised by the supporters of the late president, is a mirror reflection of the poverty, underdevelopment and backwardness of the periphery regions. Yes, the integration of rural and provincial population, which is moving to the capital, is not an easy task. But a solution to implement harsher policing, which made internal migration practically impossible, has done nothing more than fossilize the problems of the province; in the future, this may aid the reactionary religious-nationalist ideologies, which will have a receive to incite provincials against the residents of Tashkent, a city that remains multi-ethnic.

The construction of new factories? True, Uzbekistan has even retained its own automobile industry; however, in a country, where about half of the population is involved in agriculture, two agricultural machinery factories are irretrievably lost, the tractor plant is dragging out a miserable existence, whereas the aircraft industry is not even worth being mentioned.

All of these pressing issues, which are symptoms of a precipitous crisis delayed in time per se, may resolve in a quite tragic way for the country, already after the death of the politician, during whose rule they were laid down.

At last, it is worth saying a few words about Islam Karimov’s personality. This is a person who betrayed and banned an ideology, to which he swore allegiance for several decades, which helped him shape his career. It has come to the destruction of monuments to revolutionaries and the vandalism of ‘communist’ architectural relics decorated by hammers and sickles. Even the monuments to those that died in the Great Patriotic War were affected; some of them were replaced by new monuments with ‘national’ symbols.

Apart from that, the deceased president treated the population of the privatised country frankly arrogantly. All you have to is remember that the most important and cost effective tram route in Tashkent was closed due to a slight overlap with the route of the government convoy. Tens of thousands of people were being trampled in overfilled busses, due to a lack of transportation, so that the president could travel along a wide street without tram rails.

So, is it possible to mourn such an ‘exceptional leader’ while being in possession of even the smallest drop of respect to oneself and one’s country?

Written by: Marat Kamalov

 

 

Translated from: http://liva.com.ua/itogi-karimova.html

Originally published on 03.09.2016 on the internet journal liva.com.ua.

 

Yakutsk: A Tricolour Cake Meant for Orphans Was Eaten by Officials

Yakutsk government officials ate a tricolour-themed (a.k.a. Russian flag) cake, which was baked expressly for the Federal Flag Day celebration. Children from the local orphanage, seniors and all interested were invited to the celebration, yet only the officials got to have the cake, as they came before everyone else. This was reported by Bloknot.Yakutsk.

The planned festivities started at 12 pm local time with a rally at Lenin Square. At 12.40 a bicycle race with the participation of members of the regional government was expected to take place. The route ended at Komsomol Square, where, at 1.10 pm, all participants in the festivities would gather at a table set up, with a celebratory cake in the colours of the Russian flag.

However, the government officials managed to finish the bicycle race faster than expected and arrived on the cake’s supposed location before the rest and ate the entire delicacy. The publication notes that initially the plan was to give out small cakes in the shape of the Russian tricoloured flag to orphans and children from low-income families.

“Today we were brought to Komsomol Square and told that we would be treated to cake due to the holiday. Even though we arrived 20 minutes before the beginning of the event, the cakes had already finished”, explained the children from the Bereginya orphanage to the publication.

The local seniors, who had been also invited to the festivities and were promised cake, lashed out with critique at the event’s organisers.

“Why was it necessary to indicate the time at which the cake would be served? We were told that changes to the program had been made, but who is then guilty? That means that the organisation is bad”, told one of the participants at the event to the publication.

The total mass of the cake was 280 kg. It consisted of 1400 pastries weighing together 200 kg. Each pastry was decorated with Yakutia’s landmarks as well as nature, flowers and Yakutian horses.

 

 

Translated from: http://www.gazeta.ru/social/news/2016/08/23/n_9029213.shtml

Originally published on 23.08.2016 on the news portal gazeta.ru.

Rostov Miners Declare Hunger Strike as Pay is Withheld

Rostov-on-the-Don, August 23. In Rostov oblast, the miners of the mining company, Kingcoal, announced the start of a mass unlimited hunger strike. The miners decided to take such measures due to multi-month delays in the payout of the salary.

More than 100 miners are participating in the action. They demand that the company’s management fully repays the wage arrears, which accounts to more than 300 million rubles (approx. 4.6 million USD). It is indicated that the salary must be paid out to 2.2 thousand persons, which worked at the mines Rostovskaya, Almaznaya, Zamchalovskaya and Gukovskaya. Currently, these mines are declared bankrupt.

The representatives of the miners have reported that the Almaznaya mine has equipment for a total value of 200 million rubles, however, its sale alone will not be enough to pay off the debt to the miners.

Let us remind you, that earlier it was reported that mining complexes, belonging to the mining company Kingcoal in Rostov oblast, are about to make official their bankruptcy. Rostov oblast’s prosecutor’s office has already opened a criminal case against the general director of OOO Kingcoal, Vladimir Pozhidayev. He is being accused of abuse of authority for personal gain, which entailed the failure to pay the salaries to the employees.

The governor of the region is currently searching for solutions to the problem. According to him, it is not possible to allocate to the miners 300 million rubles from the reserve fund, nevertheless, the authorities are analysing other possibilities of solving this issue…

 

 

Translated from:  http://riafan.ru/548211-rostovskie-shahtery-obyavili-golodovku-iz-za-nevyplaty-zarplaty

Originally published on 23.08.2016 on riafan.ru (Federal News Agency).

An Uprising in Heroic Style: Summary of the Recent Conflict in Armenia

After taking over the police station in Yerevan, the armed activists of Sasna Tsrer seem to be old-fashioned heroes of the folk epic. However, their romantic nationalism impresses many. To better understand how the Daredevils of Sasun came into existence, we talked with Zara, an Armenian anarchist.

On July 17, in Yerevan, a group of people took over the headquarters of a patrol and inspections service’s regiment in administrative district Erebuni, which is known for its large supply of arms and military equipment. On the same day, the militia, which called itself the Sasna Tsrer group (from the Armenian medieval epic “Daredevils of Sasun”), published the text of a declaration, in which, among other things, they formulated their main demands: the liberation of Jirair Sefilian and of the remaining political prisoners, the resignation of Serj Sarkisyan and the formation of a (temporary) government of ‘national trust’, doing what it takes to protect the districts adjacent to Nagorno-Karabakh.

On the day of capture, a police officer by the name of Artur Vanoyan died in the shootout; 3 police and 2 militiamen were injured. Four police officers were held hostage, later they were joined by the vice deputy chief of the police and the vice deputy chief of the police of Yerevan, who arrived on the regiment’s territory to conduct negotiations. They were not tortured, they were not starved, they were not abused (apart from their epaulets being torn off). After a few days, the militiamen released one of the hostages – his engagement was to take place soon; the others were released on June 23, 7 days later, in exchange for a possibility to conduct a press conference on territory of the captured police station.

On July 24, information arrived that the militiamen were left without communication and electricity and that the food procurement ceased. An ambulance crew was withdrawn from the regiment’s territory. Family members of the participants in the uprising started being arrested. Families of many participants in the uprising were in a difficult financial situation, whereby some of them were deprived of pension and benefits. The militiamen, in protest to these measures, started setting fire to police cars.

An assault, however, never took place. It was obvious that the authorities decided to challenge the militia to starvation. Along with that, attacks on the territory of the regiment started multiplying. A gradual liquidation of the members of the armed group began; as they were injured by sniper fire one after the other.

On July 31, 15 days later, Varujan Avetisyan, a member of Sasna Tsrer, who seemingly was responsible for public relations, stated the group’s intention to surrender in a conversation with journalists. On the evening of the same day, the remaining 21 members of Sasna Tsrer along with Artur Sargsyan, who, on July 26, broke through the police cordon in his private vehicle loaded with food and was compelled to remain on the regiment’s base, entirely cordoned off by the police; surrendered to the authorities, explaining it by their reluctance to shed blood and that their ‘mission’ is now complete, since the rest must be done by the people. They, on the other hand, will continue their struggle as ‘war prisoners’ from the jail cell.

Such a combination of armed mutiny and subsequent attempts to avoid death seemed strange; during this whole time they did not kill one person, apart from Artur Vanoyan, whose death can hardly be called intentional murder, they released the hostages, they did not forcefully keep doctors and behaved quite carefully, as they guarded against the attacks of the police and the secret services. However, on the day before their surrender, the police issued a statement about the murder of an ordinary policeman by a sniper from the captured regiment’s territory. As proof of it, they published several obviously trumped photos. Varujan Avetisyan gave an interview on that same day, in which he assured the public that their group is in no way associated with this incident.

As of July 18, mass demonstrations and marches in the centre of Yerevan and on Horenaci street, adjacent to the captured territory, started taking place occasionally. The ralliers demanded the resignation of the President, to do what it takes to protect the territorial integrity of Karabakh, they rallied to avoid bloodshed or to express solidarity with the insurgents.

Violent clashes with the police occurred; gas and sound grenades were used. Hundreds of people were arrested, dozens were lying in the hospital (with fractures and burns), as of the first day, the police started arresting the members of the Constituent Parliament, against some of whom criminal cases were initiated. A man, who on July 30 attempted self-immolation, passed away in the hospital several days later. Politicians and activists that participated in the rallies were arrested; some of them have not been released so far. Meanwhile, cases at varying levels of severity are being brought to court.

The question, where Sasna Tsrer came from, is a trick question. Because there’s Sasna Tsrer as a concrete group, which captured the headquarters of a police regiment, and Sasna Tsrer as a proposition to a long-existing social demand.

If we are to talk about the latter, then it is appropriate to begin with the collapse of the USSR and the political crisis along with the impoverishment of the populace that followed. And with the Karabakh war, which was only aggravating an already difficult situation. It is worth remembering 1999 – the famous Armenian parliament shooting, and 2008, which continues to be the greatest disappointment to those, who believed in the possibility of peacefully changing an (illegitimate) government.

Demonstrations with many thousands in attendance, overall, don’t yield any results. There is no opposition. Unemployment is growing. Half of the country lives on credit. Everyone is frightening one another (and themselves) with migration, and no one has any solution. There are many conditions in Armenia and enough developments, which made the idea ‘shoot the president’ one of the most popular political dreams.

The first attempt at the incarnation of the ‘dream’ looked ridiculous: in 2013, Shant Arutyunyan, the leader of the nationalist party Cegakron, announces that he is “starting a revolution” and storms the presidential palace along with comrades, armed with wooden sticks and homemade explosives out of manganese and bronze powder. Result: 12 political prisoners.

The second ‘armed’ insurrections instilled even less hope: Ayk Kyuregian, during Shant and Co.’s court hearing, climbs onto a car roof, opens fire with an air pistol in the police’s direction, then he takes out a grenade and threatens to detonate it if they will try to arrest him. Plus one political prisoner.

Sasna Tsrer seems to be very serious when compared within this sequence. The main reason, as it seems to me, is the political past of the group members on one hand, and the political situation, which developed after the April escalation in Karabakh, on the other.

The members of Sasna Tsrer are presented as “fighting comrades and allies in Jirair Sefilian’s political struggle”. Jirair Sefilian is the leader of the extra-parliamentary political alliance Constitutional Parliament (UP, earlier known as Pre-parliament, later shortly as New Armenia). They are anti-Russian nationalists, focused on the construction of a technocratic state and adhering to meritocratic ideas, who live a national-liberation struggle against the “external and internal enemy”.

They operate (operated) an extensive network of cells, remaining nevertheless quite small in numbers. They adhere to the principles of anti-parliamentary struggle. The leaders are mainly former militaries and political strategists. Sefilian was arrested in May of this year on an overtly fabricated case. Before then, members of UP had been repeatedly subjected to beatings, searches and detention.

Many participants of Sasna Tsrer have a quite complicated individual political past, which partially explains their action.

Pavlik Manukyan, for example, who became one of the symbols of the group, is a ‘hero of the Karabakh war”. In 2005, in Karabakh, which he ‘liberated’, he was brutally beaten in Seyran Oganyan’s office (current Minister of Defence) and was forced to drink saliva. Many times he was subjected to political persecution along with other members of UP. He went to capture the police station along with his son.

Araik Handonyan, is another symbol of the Karabakh war, father of five, who lived in a village and barely made ends meet. Member of UP, who was beaten along with other comrades from Sasna Tsrer during the auto-march in Berdzor.

Areg and Sergey Kyuregyan, the brothers of Aik Kyuregyan, who was sentenced to 9 years after the events described above. They were trying to seek justice in their brother’s case by all available means: from legal action to protest. After they surrendered, their father was arrested on suspicion of participating.

Vardan Geravetyan, who has been fighting the last years along with his neighbours against the demolition of the building in the centre of Yerevan, in which he lives. The authorities were evicting by force and continue evicting people, offering in return minuscule compensations.

In an interview with journalists, Geravetyan explained their action so, and, I think that it’s quite an honest description of the situation:

“They forced us to take this step. We have tried all civilized methods prescribed by law, but it’s pointless. If you can remember, they burnt our cars, beat Gevorg Safargyan, and staged a slaughter in Berdzor, which was completely ignored by Serj Sargsyan… When the authorities are not defending the rights of the people, the citizens have a right and must themselves defend their interests and dignity. You saw, how for many years, they are trying to take my apartment from me, they broke into my house, organized searches, and, as you already know, they didn’t find anything. We had nothing else left to do. We hope that something will change. We are ready to sacrifice our lives, and our biggest request is that the police officers do not sacrifice themselves. We are sacrificing ourselves for the sake of the future, for the sake of our motherland, for freedom, whereas they will sacrifice themselves for a jerk, for this Serjik and his clique, which steals and gets richer at our expense all these years.”

It goes without saying that these people are outspoken nationalists, misogynists (woman-haters) and statists just like the absolute majority of the Armenian society. Their struggle leaves absolutely no room for involvement. But there is an obvious class element in their action, even if displaced onto the sidelines. If they had even the slightest chance to build a ‘New Armenia’, which they dream about in a politically-principled fashion for the last several years, I would obviously be among their active political opponents.

But they did not have even the slightest hypothetical chances to accomplish this on July 17 nor do they today. This is clearly an action of self-sacrifice, the consequences of which we shall be compelled to dig up. But what seems evident is that they were really “forced to take this step”. And it is important to take note of that.

Zara (Armenia)

Translated from: http://avtonom.org/news/armeniya-vosstanie-v-geroicheskom-stile

Originally published on 10.08.2016 on the libertarian communist platform, avtonom.

Jirinovsky Talking Geopolitics …

[Translator’s note: Although this article is politically irrelevant to the content of Left Russia, it can be used to understand Russian parliamentary ultra-nationalism and its main proponent apart from giving you a good laugh and a glimpse into Russian geopolitics albeit just a healthy tad exaggerated.]

Today, the leader of the Liberal-Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), Vladimir Jirinovsky gave a sensational interview on life.ru television channel.
On the events in Turkey:

Jirinovsky: We will benefit from a border with Turkey. We need an ally country next to us with a population of 70 million.We don’t need an enemy NATO-allied Turkey, it is obstructing us from using the Black Sea to its full potential.

Hostess: But Turkey will not exit from NATO.

Jirinovsky: I assure you, in 5-10 years we will create a new country in the south – Russia, Turkey, Iran, Syria and Iraq (by then it will have peace). It will be better than Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. Here, just have a look at these orthodox Slavic brothers, most of the traitors are among the Slavs and the orthodox. They are all traitors. Whereas these ones will be loyal, because we will ensure their security. It will be a great alliance!
On the elections in the USA:

Trump, Hillary; we don’t give a damn about all of America. We live separately, and they are of absolutely no interest to us. The one, who shall be elected President, will do exactly the same things that Barack Obama is doing. And Barack Obama did what Bush did. And Bush did what Clinton did. It does not matter, just like earlier our General Secretaries. For that reason, you can, of course, think [sic].

We should be in a neutral position, otherwise we bother him. Over there, there are very strong anti-Russian and anti-Soviet sentiments. For each one of our [sic] nods, for any feeling of sympathy to anyone, they will tear to shreds.

On the events in Armenia:

Hostess: Vladimir Vol’fovich, America is far away, Armenia is close. So describe the events in Armenia.

Jirinovsky: Screw Armenia.

Hostess: Oh, really?

Jirinovsky: Screw the Olympic Games. Do you understand that millions of our people are not interested in the Olympic Games and whatever this Doping may be.

Maybe people themselves will be in need of doping. What about the people in Armenia? There will occasionally be performances. A small country, mountainous, sandwiched between mountains, between Azerbaijan and Turkey, no perspectives, no economy. Already only one million Armenians remain there. Whereas in the world there are six million. They all scattered. Lebanon, Iran, Russia, France, USA; they stroll all over the world. There’s no place to live there, mountains. Naturally, different factions will do nasty things to each other there.

Hostess: No, well, but we have a base there, it is our strategical partner, I mean, well, should we screw our strategical partner?

Jirinovsy: Well for God’s sake! If they stop giving a damn about us, we will take the base. They will be rolling in our feet, so that we return the base. This base is their salvation, otherwise they will be erased from both sides by the Turks and the Azerbaijanis. That’s why you shouldn’t worry about Armenia. They will never abandon us because then their end will come, that’s all, a decisive end.

Azerbaijan will immediately seize Nagorno-Karabakh; Turks will help. Whereas already 300 years ago Armenia was saved by Catherine II.

Translated from: https://vk.com/krasnaarmenia?w=wall-51536286_561

Originally published on 02.08.2016 on Krasnaya Armeniya, a page hosted by vk.com social media.

New Monthly Record of Casualties in Donbass

The total number of killed and injured in Donbass for July 2016 is the highest monthly total since August 2015. This has been published in a report of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, reports the news channel 112 Ukraina.

The report states that, between July 1 and 31, 73 civilian victims were recorded, out of them, 65 injured and 8 killed. In June, 69 victims were recorded; out of them 12 killed and 57 injured.

“The average monthly number of victims among the civilian population, recorded in June and July, is two times higher than the monthly totals for the period between September 2015 and May 2016, when, on average, 34 casualties per month were recorded”, mentions the organisation’s report.

The UN stated that he main cause of death and injuries were bombardments. Other causes of death and injury are landmines and explosive remnants of war.

According to the organisation’s information, in total, since the beginning of the conflict, 9 533 persons were killed and 22 137 persons were injured.

 

 

Translated from: http://www.novorosinform.org/news/58923

Originally published on 15.08.2016 by Novorossiya Informacionnoye Agentstvo.

Alexey Selivanov: Military-Patriotic Education in LNR

Aleksey Sergeyevich Selivanov, senior operations officer for particularly important affairs of OPDN MVD LNR (OPDN (?) Ministry of Internal Affairs of Lugansk People’s Republic), leader of the military-patriotic children and youth upbringing project:

The demonstrations that were held by the Ministry of Emergency Situations (MChS) of LNR in the Lesnyye prostory camp have become a very bright and memorable event. Children were not only shown firefighter equipment, but were even given the chance to feel themselves out in the role of lifesavers. They were dressed in firefighter uniforms and were given the possibility to try themselves out operating a fire truck and fire extinguishers in real life. On the next day, camp pupils gathered at the lake in order to watch a scuba diver at work. Of course, all of this generates interest. Whereas the activity conducted by MchS engineers, which included the demonstration of different types of landmines, including booby-traps and explosives, carried an enormously useful role. It is no secret that the military action that swept through the area has left behind a lot of deadly ‘surprises’, which are first and foremost a danger to children, since children are the ones, who are attracted to everything unknown.

But demonstrations are only the tip of the iceberg, even if the brightest and most noticeable. The most important is, however, not the rousing coverage, but the work that takes place in children’s souls. The civil war has become possible only because the enemies were able to fill the heads of the residents of South-Western Rus’ with foreign values, to raise them to become consumers, indifferent to the Truth and the Motherland, to make them believe lies.

Today we are also struggling, by force of arms included, with the consequences of the degradation of our youth. Crimea and Donbass turned out to be stronger than the rest of the territory of former Ukraine. But even today, here, the children become the first victims of the media war. If all tastes and habits are formed by the stupefying mass culture, the child absorbs the false values of the consumer society, if songs are playing at night clubs, which reduce the holy notions of family, love and loyalty to the satisfaction of bestial instincts and casual sex, will such children become worthy citizens of the heroic young republic, of the Russian world? We, educators, see much work ahead of us.

We concluded the second military-patriotic shift in the Lesnyye prostory camp with a tactical game, in the process of which our fighters overcame the assault line (rus: огненно–штурмовая полоса). The teams passed all of its stages, being: a history of the Fatherland and the Donbass people’s struggle against the aggression of 2014-2016 quiz, the obligatory assembling and disassembling of AKs and PMs. Afterward comes the most active section. At this stage, we were greatly helped by the staff of the juvenile affairs department of the MVD LNR. They brought along firearms, ammunition and pyrotechnics, ensuring that the kids would pass the obstacles to the sound of gunfire and the explosions of smoke grenades and flares. The tasks were to hit the target with assault rifle fire, throw two grenades into an agreed enemy trench, then to crawl under the obstacles, to evade an enemy attack with a jerk of the body and to show hand-to-hand fighting skills. After that, the transportation of an injured fighter, who is given first aid by boys and girls from the medical division. The republican centre Sport for all of the Ministry of Family Affairs, Youth, Sport and Tourism of LNR helped organising the relay race. Its director, A.M. Tambovcev rewarded the winners and participants with medals, certificates and prizes. We are trying to involve in working with the younger generation all those people, who have something to pass on to our children. And it is very good that the leadership of the republic, the leadership of the ministries (especially of MVD LNR, Ministry of Information, Ministry of Health, MGB LNR (Ministry of State Security), and nowadays MChS), took over the leadership of the military-patriotic project, that they give so much attention to the worthiest cause, the patriotic upbringing of children and youth.

 

 

Translated from: http://www.novorosinform.org/articles/6897

Originally published on 14.08.2016 on Novorossiya Informacionnoye Agentstvo.

 

History of ROT FRONT

The idea that led to the creation of a Front of anti-imperialist class forces is, of course, not new. The experiences behind the struggles of antifascist people’s Fronts of the 20^th century, with Thälmann’s Rot Front in the foreground, are well-known. On the whole, this idea comes from a conclusive deductive call out of the Manifesto of the Communist Party “Workers of the world, unite!” In Russia, during all the years of the war against capitalism, starting at the times of Gorbachev, the question of uniting the left forces always stood on the agenda and was being decided in a variety of ways: Coordination Committees were active, party leaders held meetings, headquarters and diverse alliances were being created. In some cases cooperation functioned, in other cases it did not. Naturally, particularly deep differences were observed on steep political turns. For example, after the fusillade of the Supreme Council of the Russian Federation in October 1993, most left organisations (RKRP, RPK, RKP-KPSS, VKP (b), SK and others) positioned themselves for the boycott of the elections upon blood. However, due to the actions of the leadership of KPRF (Communist Party of the Russian Federation) and some other patriotic organisations, the boycott front was breached. They assisted Yeltsin to get the voter turnout to just above 50%, to drag the antipopular Constitution through the so-called referendum. This allowed Yeltsin to wash off the traces of the crime and to declare before the whole world that we have democracy and that everyone participates in the elections ranging from communists to liberals.

Since then, the question of the unity of left-wing forces has become more urgent, since right-wing opportunists, moderate nationalists and further petty bourgeois forces are clustering around KPRF. None of them carry the task of organising the working class for struggle. Yet this task is becoming all the more pressing. The situation in the country and in the world, particularly with the onset of the world economic crisis accompanied by intensified reaction requires the creation of an organized revolutionary working class – a class for itself. Such an organisation can only appear as a result of independent political struggle of the working class. For this reason, the idea of involving the working class in political struggle, the idea of uniting communist ideology with the worker’s movement has become as relevant as never before.

In the years 2003-2007 the authorities have conducted a legislative reform (“Regarding parties”, “Regarding elections”), by means of which the authorities received the possibility to fully regulate the composition of political forces that are eligible to participate in official political life. After the establishment of a draconian membership requirement (at least 50 000 members), which parties were obliged to prove within one year, with the help of the Supreme Court, all inconvenient parties were denied registration. The number of registered parties narrowed down to 7. In 2007, RKRP (Russian Communist Worker’s Party) was denied registration. It was clear that to counter this impudent swaggering policy a necessary step would be the consolidation of genuinely popular oppositional forces, the achievement of unity in struggle in all spheres: economic unity in the enterprises, protest unity in regions and cities, political unity (including through participation in elections).

Due to the fact that the membership quota of an organisation (no less than 50 000), for a chance at participating in elections, remains a requirement, the idea was put forward to bring together all active organisations that have a stance on class positions, that were in the process of being dislodged from big politics. Thus the idea of creating the Russian United Labour Front as a block of class forces was born.

More than a year was spent on the harmonization of positions, the determination of participants’ composition and on the rules of cooperation (the regulations). In February 2010, the First Congress was held. It took practically more than two years to register, the Ministry of Justice denied registration 6 times, it went to court, which, naturally, took the side of the authorities. Once again four congresses were held. The authorities were not the only ones to express their dissatisfaction. The Leninist-opportunists represented by Gennadiy Zyuganov also saw the Front, which was in the process of being created, as their rivals, which led them to declare that it is a “Kremlin project”. Nevertheless, on the seventh attempt in November 2012, the Front was allowed to register as a political party.

During the time spent building the Front, many different petty bourgeois socialist organisations and parties of a barely left orientation, which, yet, were guided by the idea of uniting all opposition forces (going as far as planning a visit to the president) tried to take part in the process. After, they all jumped off the moving train. Conclusively, this lead to a genuine class-conscious working nucleus to stand out from within the Front along with RKRP, RKSM(b), other left organisations and, most importantly, activists of class-oriented labour unions.

In the recent times after 2012 and Putin’s elections, mockery of the electoral law continued. During the times of Medvedev, the visibility of the process of democratization was presented clearly, the membership quota of a party was lowered to 500 members and all parties were permitted to participate in the elections without the signature collection requirement. Then, the authorities started to make corrections to the electoral law, which made these opportunities not achievable (once again the signature collection requirements were introduced and tightened – 200 000 for participation in parliamentary elections, diverse filters and etc.). At the same time, as of 2003, parliamentarians have not forgotten to increase the per-vote subsidy of their parties by 100! The goal of the said measures remained the same: the parties admitted to occupy seats in the parliament by the authorities wanted to safeguard their position and to suppress the possibility of any other rival’s potential participation in elections.

Some of our fellow opposition parties (KR, OKP and others) started registering their organisations as political parties. We wish them lots of success, although we believe that it is at the very least a tactical mistake. The problem is that parties with their own program, regulations and methods of struggle do not really require registration (RKRP is not registered nowadays), whereas to participate in elections, including overcoming the constantly renewed barriers, the forces must be explicitly united. Thus, the relevance of the common Front’s tactics will only grow, and we think that sooner or later our closest allies will understand that, too.

Yet the Front’s main task, as noted above, is the involvement of the broadest masses of working people into the political struggle.

Pressroom CC RKRP-KPSS
Pressroom CC ROT FRONT

 

 

Translated from: http://www.rotfront.su/%d0%b8%d1%81%d1%82%d0%be%d1%80%d0%b8%d1%8f-%d1%80%d0%be%d1%82-%d1%84%d1%80%d0%be%d0%bd%d1%82%d0%b0/

Originally published on 07.05.2014 by the political party ROT FRONT

 

Sinenkov: VSU’s Leadership Is Reinforcing Diversional Activities on LDNR’s Territory

Due to VSU’s (Armed Forces of Ukraine) great losses, a lack of coordination and cooperation between the subdivisions while conducting combat operations, a low level of moral and psychological conditions of VSU’s troops, the Ukrainian military’s leadership made the decision to activate the Special Operation Forces under the leadership of the bloody diversionist, general Lunev, has announced today to journalists the leader of the People’s Militia of the Donetsk People’s Republic (NM DNR), Denis Sinenkov.

“Their main task is to conduct sabotage and intelligence activities on the territory of the Republic focusing on critical infrastructure and the civilian population. In this manner, on the night of 7-8 August, the pumping station, Mayorskaya, which acts as a backup water supply source for settlements in Gorlovka area, was powered down. Also, due to damages caused to the gas pipeline and electrical transmission line, a part of the Petrovsky area of Donetsk city was left without gas and light”, told Sinenkov.

He also added that the so-called ‘specialists’, stepped up their activities even in the areas, where the entry-exit checkpoints are located. Particularly by artificially creating queues at junctions and shooting sniper fire without aiming, the goal being to spread panic among the civilian population, create a tense atmosphere and subsequently blame NM DNR for making provocations at checkpoints. During the past week, DNR border control points, Aleksandrovka and Mayorsk, suffered from this kind of bombardments.

These actions, according to Sinenkov, are facilitating the task of extorting the civilian population at the control checkpoints by VSU servicemen.

 

 

Translated from: http://www.novorosinform.org/news/58752

Originally published on 12.08.2016 by Novorossiya Informacionnoye Agentstvo.

Russia: Great Fatherland Party (PVO) Removed from Ballot

The federal list of the Great Fatherland Party (PVO), led by the writer, Nikolay Starikov, has been removed from the upcoming electoral list for the Russian Federal Duma. 14% of signatures in support of PVO have been declared invalid, whereas the permissible spoilage threshold lies at 10%.

“United Russia has fully turned into the Ukrainian Party of Regions. The Party of Regions, not basing itself on the interests of the Ukrainian government, but rather on its own desire to hold power, pulled Ukrainian nationalists along with them into government. They thought that, with them in the foreground these small parties will be perceived as respectable patriotic politicians and this will ensure them victory. The result of this politicking is well known. This is the exact scheme that United Russia is realizing. It is pulling along Russian liberals. In order to look like a patriotic and respectable party in the foreground”, commented the leader of the Great Fatherland Party, Nikolay Starikov on the Central Elections’ Committee’s decision.

 

 

Translated from: http://www.novorosinform.org/news/58758

Originally published on 12.08.2016 by Novorossiya Informacionnoye Agentstvo.