We are glad to publish a translation of an article by the democratic Brasilian Newspaper A Nova Democracia that was sent to us.
'Death to the invader!': Facing Russian invasion, Ukrainian masses fight back
Residents of Uzhhorod prepare Molotov cocktails to defend the city. Photo: Serhii Hudak
In Ukraine, since the Russian invasion of the country on the 24th of February, the people' masses of the country have been militarily resisting the invasion of Russian imperialism. As part of the National Resistance, and despite the accelerated march to capitulation and national betrayal by the Zelensky government, thousands are lining up to receive weapons, patrolling the streets and building barricades. In regions where war has not broken out, in addition to the organisation of militias, Ukrainians are organising mutiroes to assemble Molotov cocktails at a factory pace.
In a News 360 Tv video, dozens of Ukrainian citizens, ranging from men of military age to old men and women, assembled Molotov cocktails to send to cities invaded or besieged by Russian imperialism, such as Lviv and Kiev.
They made the bombs from donated cloths from which scraps were made, while others filled the bottles with inflammable liquid. One of the men assembling the bomb stated, "There should be no bloodshed, but what they are doing now goes beyond war, it is war terror." The man continued, "We will either be victorious, or it will be total collapse, capitulation. Capitulation is not acceptable. After capitulation they will have to face partizan [guerrilla] war. There is no way they can win. They can only win if they destroy all of us, and that is not possible!".
In the Brovary region near Kiev, and which is already mostly occupied by the Russian invader, the local population forms civilian militias to defend the road to Kiev against the enemy Army. A civilian who is part of the resistance told the press monopoly France24: "We are civilians of the territorial defence, we are not prepared to fight against tanks, but we will fight the ground troops." Another Ukrainian who has taken part in the Resistance added: "We have caliber 26 5.45 Kalashnikovs, but there are not enough for everyone."
An elderly woman from the region stated, "We are not afraid. I know I am being defended. We are not afraid, I am not afraid of dying. I feel sorry for my children, for my grandchildren. I am not afraid of anything."
In Energodar, the city where Europe's largest atomic power plant is located, local masses and plant workers have built barricades with trucks and sandbags, blocking the roads. Hundreds of citizens meet at the barricades to stop the Russian advance.
In the capital, Kiev, hundreds of Ukrainian and also foreign men and women lined up to receive weapons to fight the invasion. In an interview with the New York Times, a civilian waiting in line to receive weapons reported: "The people are supporting us, they are encouraging us. I haven't seen anyone nervous about the fact that we have weapons. On the contrary, the more Ukrainians arm themselves now, the better our people will sleep."
A civilian who was also waiting in line said, "When I heard the explosions I decided I was ready. I am a grown woman, I am healthy, it is my responsibility."
In cities already occupied by Russian imperialism, but which still have Ukrainian populations, protests are daily and multitudinous.
All the Ukrainian masses are mobilised against the invader in some way. During the war of aggression, metal workers have devoted their production to building anti-tank traps. Health workers volunteer to practice their profession in the midst of the armed conflict. Men, women and even children tirelessly manufacture Molotov cocktails and fill sandbags to be used as anti-missile barricades. Even churches have served as places where volunteers and elderly people cook for those at the front: the priest in charge of a church near Kiev, who coordinates the citizens' volunteer work, said that their "neighbours [Russia], and also other nations, do not want to see the truth that in difficult times Ukrainians are very capable of organising themselves. They do it with honesty, courage and good intentions, that is something you cannot fight and you cannot defeat, because you would have to destroy many, or all, and that is impossible."
A recent poll by the Kiev International Institute of Sociology found that more than a third of Ukrainians are willing to take up arms to defend the nation against the Russian invader. That would be the equivalent of about 15 million people out of Ukraine's 44 million inhabitants.
An imperialist invasion
In a document entitled 'OUR POSITION AGAINST THE IMPERIALIST WAR OF AGGRESSION OF RUSSIAN IMPERIALISM AGAINST UKRAINE', the Communist International Newspaper, guided by Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, analysed the war in Ukraine as "an unjust war of aggression, the criminal aggression of an atomic superpower against an oppressed country".
Pointing to the complexity of the situation, the magazine highlights that „with the Russian imperialist invasion of Ukraine, the contradiction nation-imperialism has become the principal contradiction in Ukraine. Therefore, it is possible, and moreover necessary for us, that the different classes in this country, except for a small number of traitors, temporarily unite in a national war against imperialism. The complex situation between the imperialist (super)powers, the oppressed nations and the rotten regimes of the sell-outs, in combination with the extensive propaganda of the various parties involved, which has been going on for years, harbours the possibility of losing one’s orientation. We must guard against this and clearly emphasise the class character and the main contradiction without losing sight of the third contradiction, that is the imperialist struggle.“ And on this contention it says: "This war of aggression of Russian imperialism against Ukraine is the result of its contention with Yankee imperialism for hegemony after decades of encirclement of Russia by Yankee imperialism, with its “allies” in NATO and its constant attempts to destroy Russia’s nuclear capabilities. This is the other contradiction that is expressed in the current developments, that is, the inter-imperialist contradiction.".
The magazine also highlights that the current war, unjust and criminal because it aims to subjugate the Ukrainian nation (even denying its national condition, as Putin did), is in turn the result of the manoeuvres of Yankee imperialism and the other imperialist powers of Europe, which have buffeted Russia, with the Zelensky confabulation, as part of the Yankee strategy to neutralise Russia's nuclear capabilities and neutralise it as an imperialist superpower.
"The Ukrainian people must, can and will liberate themselves by their own efforts, sweat and blood with the frank and unrestricted support of the international proletariat and the peoples of the world. For this, our class in Ukraine must reconstitute its Communist Party as a militarised, Marxist-Leninist-Maoist Communist Party, heir to the great and glorious CPSU, the party of Lenin and Stalin. Only such a party, opposite and opposed to all bourgeois parties! – can really lead the national liberation struggle to victory as part of the struggle for socialist revolution (counter-restoration) and bring the criminals stained with the blood of the class and the people to the people’s justice. Our solidarity is with the Ukrainian people and their resistance. Their armament is correct, necessary and important. They must form their own military detachments. We defend the fraternal friendship of the Ukrainian and Russian peoples against the “Great Russian” chauvinists. The Ukrainian and Russian peoples are brothers and as such were the victors over German fascism and were the builders of socialism under the leadership of comrade Stalin. Our class in both Russia and Ukraine has the task of leading the proletarian socialist revolution as a counter-restoration through people’s war. But the Ukrainian proletariat and people have a task as an oppressed nation, that is to free themselves from the yoke of imperialism, at this moment to smash the Russian imperialist invaders," it concludes.
