The Militant (logo)  

Vol. 79/No. 8      March 9, 2015

 
(editorial)
Solidarity with Ukraine workers!
A year ago the Militant joined millions of working people across Ukraine in celebrating the toppling of the pro-Moscow regime of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych following months of mass mobilizations and clashes with government forces. At the heart of the struggle was the aspiration of the Ukrainian people to break free from oppressive Russian domination that has lasted for centuries, with the exception of the early years of the 1917 Russian Revolution under the leadership of V.I. Lenin. Yanukovych, hated for his corruption and repression of political rights, had bowed to pressure from Russian President Vladimir Putin to maintain Moscow’s economic and political stranglehold on Ukraine.

Many of the workers, youth and others who took part in the Maidan protests in Kiev and around the country told worker-correspondents from the Militant that while Yanukovych had fled, those who took his place were the same old faces, servants of the “oligarchs,” as the Ukrainian capitalists are described. That’s why it took months, and pressure from growing combat in the east, for the new government, headed by billionaire Petro Poroshenko, to dismantle the last of the Maidan encampments.

Without a revolutionary change of government, the Ukrainian ruling class and their imperialist backers in Washington and Europe will continue to squeeze workers and farmers — from cutting real wages and social benefits to closing mines and factories with no effort to provide other jobs. Their approach to the separatist war, including treating civilians in the east as the enemy and clamping down on democratic rights, will continue to undermine the effort to defend Ukrainian sovereignty from Moscow’s assault.

The Maidan victory spurred the growth of independent union fights against the attacks of the bosses and their government. Out of these and other battles, and collaboration with revolutionaries worldwide, workers can build political organizations independent of the bosses and their parties and forge a revolutionary working-class leadership in Ukraine. Such a leadership can chart a course of uniting working people in both the east and west, in defense of Ukrainian sovereignty, labor and political rights, on the road toward workers power.

A key part of that struggle is building international working-class solidarity. That’s why workers should oppose the imperialist-led sanctions that are increasingly squeezing the toilers in Russia today. What Putin and the rest of the ruling class in Moscow most fear is that working people in Russia will follow the example of the Maidan protesters in seeking to take their future into their own hands.

Working people around the world should continue to stand in solidarity with the toilers in Ukraine. Moscow’s troops out of Ukraine! End the occupation of Crimea! End the sanctions against Russia! Solidarity with workers’ struggles in Ukraine!
 
 
Related articles:
Ukraine toilers fight separatist war moves, boss attacks
Pussy Riot protests police brutality, Ukraine war
 
 
 
 
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