UKRAINE
Collaboration of pro-war anarchists with the far-right
From libcom.org
September 23, 2024
Masks are off, or the failure of the "anti-authoritarian resistance" myth
Yesterday post by a recently appeared internationalist blog. Screensaver with Makhno's monument during the war is from the translator. Some references are edited on September 27 at the request of the authors.
Stupidity does not stop being stupid because someone died for it.
- Nicolás Gómez Dávila
And now that we have finally dotted the "i"s in the issue of neo-Nazism of the "Azov" brigade, let's move on to our pro-war anarchists.
About 3 months ago, pro-Ukrainian anarchist channels began to spread information about an anarchist who died at the front... who fought in Azov! They also said that he was in the so-called "anti-authoritarian platoon", but after nothing really came of this "anti-authoritarian platoon", he decided to join the neo-Nazi brigade.
Information about him was disseminated by such a pro-war anarchist group as the "Ecological Platform".
And do you know what's most remarkable?
Back in 2018, Azov members attacked and beat activists of the Ecological Platform.
But now 2024 has come, and the Ecological Platform is already honoring a fighter died in the ranks of Azov!
By the way, another self-proclaimed "anarchist" Ruslan Tereshchenko, who helped the Ukrainian government suppress the separatist uprising back in 2014, also died as part of Azov. But the pro-Ukrainian anarchists have already decided not to talk about his membership in Azov. Judging by the messages of these same pro-war anarchists, this may be due to the risk of losing support from "Western comrades".
Well, considering that the pro-war anarchists themselves have to to regretfully admit that their adventure with the support of the so-called "national liberation" movement is increasingly losing support in the anarchist community, where internationalist sentiments are gaining strength, this is a very reasonable consideration!
But these are far from the only examples of cooperation between pro-war anarchists and the far-right.
The hole, as they say, turned out to be even deeper...
How it all began in the winter of 2013-2014. These words turned out to be not obvious to everyone at the time. Added by the translator
So, let's begin the study of the connections of anarcho-militarists with the far-right directly with BOAK:
As is known, after the death of BOAK founder Dmitry Petrov near Bakhmut in 2023, as well as his "comrades-in-arms" Finbar and Cooper, it turned out that they all collaborated with Korchinsky's far-right "Brotherhood" battalion (in which such people as neo-Nazi Vita Zaverukha[1] also serve), and, according to Korchinsky himself, they all joined the ranks of his unit.
BOAK itself, however, denied this information, writing the following[2]:
"Dmitry, Finbar and Cooper, who died in the battle near Bakhmut on April 19, were indeed there together with the members of the "Brotherhood". However, the indisputable fact – confirmed by the words of the guys themselves, their friends and our comrade, who was in the same unit with the guys - is that they never joined the ranks of this organization. Joint participation in the battle, as well as preparation for it, was a temporary solution imposed on them by the army command.
These warriors gathered together specifically to create an anarchist unit, but were forced to use extremely limited opportunities for this. Arriving for training with their group, they were faced with the fact that they would train together with the members of the "Brotherhood", and later – that they would go on the next mission together. For the sake of their goal, the anarchists were ready for any trials, so they were not stopped by the unpleasant necessity of such temporary proximity. After all, personal comfort is nothing compared to with challenges and the possibility of achieving the ideals of the anarchist movement."
Submission to decisions "imposed by the army command" on cooperation with the far-right in the name of "achieving the ideals of anarchism"!
I wonder if the BOAK members themselves were not amused when they wrote this nonsense!
And what kind of "imposed by the army command" decisions are these? You yourself were constantly demagogues that "you are not fighting on the side of the state, but on the side of the people." Well, this "people" who gave you orders imposed this "unpleasant decision" on you! Why are you indignant!
This BOAK message ends with calls for revenge, after which, by the way, the newspaper that "dared" to report on BOAK's connections with the "Brotherhood" began to receive threats[3].
Nevertheless, despite all the denials from the BOAK, later there was confirmation of the information that at the time of the death of Petrov and his "comrades-in-arms", they were members of the "Brotherhood", and this is what volunteer Danil Yugoslavsky testified to[4].
It turns out that independent evidence corresponds to the official statement of Korchinsky, and on the side of the BOAK there are only unfounded allegations!
What can be said here: while "the damned dogmatists are cowardly wiping their pants in their dusty offices", our pro-war anarchists are already in full swing "building a new Makhnovshchina" under the command of Zelensky, Korchinsky and Prokopenko!
Another would-be anarchist, Alexei Makarov, who is now being actively promoted by "our" supporters of the war[5] [6], also collaborated with the "Brotherhood". Makarov himself joined the "Siberian Battalion", where his "comrades-in-arms", judging by the footage of the interview with "Mediazona", wore the "Dead Head" patches and the flags of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army – UPA (the same organization that participated in the Holocaust, the Volyn massacre, and also killed Gypsies, Russians and Czechs) [7] [8].
Ukrainian "anti-fascist" (sic!) Yuriy Samoylenko, who was also glorified by the resources of pro-war anarchists and who died in September 2022, also joined the "Right Sector" unit before his death [9] [10].
We can see another deceased fighter, Sergei Petrovichev, who called himself an "anarchist" and "anti-fascist" and also became an official "martyr" on the same photo with Korchinsky [11], and at an event of the neo-Nazi organization "White Rex". Also, in various photos we can see his regular meetings with the leader of the far-right "OUN Volunteer Battalion" Nikolai Kokhanovsky (with whom he literally hugs on camera) and the famous neo-Nazi Martsinkevich. And finally, a photo of himself in a T-shirt with a fascist graphic image[12].
Let's also mention the Solidarity Collectives, whose members gave an interview to French anarchists in 2023 and who were actively promoted by the pro-war anarchist magazine Égalité [13].
In their interview, they stated that "they fundamentally do not help far-right groups like "Azov", but at the same time they help the "Kalinowski Regiment". The same "Kalinowski Regiment", which was founded and led by... a member of "Azov", who fought in it since 2014 and even rose to the rank of instructor there[14].
In Kalinovsky's regiment, under the command of the Nazi, there also fought such Belarusian national anarchists as Yevgeny Zhuravsky[15]
and Emil Yanovsky, who wore a patch with the OUN fascist symbol [16] [17].
How can one not recall old man Magid:
"It is funny to read articles by Ukrainian "anarchists and leftists" who support the state army of Ukraine, the ATO and the "fight against separs". In practice, the entire difference between the Ukrainian left and the Ukrainian right has been reduced to the attitude towards gay and lesbian issues. The leftists are for them, and the so-called "Right Sector" are for conservative values.
It seems that all these people, the Ukrainian leftists and rightists, stand on opposite sides of the barricades only at gay parades, so that later after them they can unite amicably in a state-patriotic burst of unity."
It should also be noted that pro-war anarchists constantly hide behind the name of Stanislav Markelov, writing his name on their shells[18].
That same Markelov, who devoted his entire life to fighting Nazis and nationalists, speaking out against Chechen fighters, Russian imperials, Ukrainian Banderists, and Belarusian national democrats[19].
And pro-war anarchists, who, I remind you, also fight in the neo-Nazi "Azov", which dispersed rallies dedicated to his memory[20], and also collaborated with BORN fighters, at whose hands Markelov was cynically and vilely killed[21] [22][23], hide behind his name.
In connection with this, I have a rhetorical question:
Isn't all this an insult to his blessed memory?
***
And finally:
But how did we get to the point where people who are at least "anarchists" at the level of declarations went to serve in a brigade of Nazis and war criminals?
I have one guess on this matter. Tracking the resources of pro-war anarchists (and I emphasize that I will be touching on the most media-friendly and authoritative people in the pro-war camp, who are also interviewed by foreign anarchists), I have identified two intentions that are more or less inherent to them:
Firstly, complete unscrupulousness in the means.
Thus, the infamous Anatoly Dubovik not only engaged in rudeness and the most brazen dirty slander against internationalist anarchists[24]
[25], but also, together with Sergei Shevchenko and Alexander Kolchenko, engaged in doxxing - publishing the home addresses of anti-war anarchists with a direct call for their murder[26] [27].
(And, yes, this is the same Kolchenko who was arrested in annexed Crimea for throwing a Molotov cocktail at the "United Russia" office, which, as it turned out, was located in a residential building, and then after his release, when a journalist asked him, "Did he think that random people could get hurt?" he was unable to give a clear answer[28].)
It is also worth noting that other followers of Dubovik also voiced calls to "eliminate" the anti-war anarchists with state force[29].
However, all these meannesses towards the internationalists did not prevent such platforms as the Czech magazine Kontradikce, the website Anarchist Federation and "Pramen" [Ray] from providing a platform for the dissemination of Dubovik's slander and even inviting him and Shevchenko for an interview!
Moreover, even after the editors of the same "Pramen" were refuted Dubovik's lies with evidence, they... no, they did not apologize to the internationalists for spreading slander, and, no, they did not apologize to their readers for misleading them – they deleted the message with the internationalists' detailed response to this very slander[30]!
Moreover, the same people, who had previously seriously complained about the internationalists because... they ban their critics[31], cowardly banned and deleted messages with this very response in various chats!
Also, pro-war anarchists in Europe regularly try to disrupt events of anti-war anarchists, spreading the same vile slander against the internationalists – in their alleged support for Putin and other ridiculous nonsense[32].
Secondly, chauvinism.
See for yourself:
Dubovik, who wishes death and suffering to ordinary civilian Russians, while justifying the war crimes of Ukraine[33].
Shevchenko, who calls Palestinians "cattle"[34].
Kolchenko, who glorified chauvinists and pogromists from the UPA[35], just as the so-called "left-wing" nationalists from the "Autonomous Resistance"[36] had done before, who also did not hesitate to put on a portrait of Makhno and some of whom even called themselves "anarchists"[37], but in fact were only "national Bolsheviks in embroidered shirts".
The pro-war "anarchist" media blogger Yigal Levin (known for constantly lying and making up stories about his alleged combat experience in the Israeli army, while posing as a "military expert"[38]), who after the start of the war actively promoted our "trench anarchists"[39]. In addition, he also openly stated that "Russophobia is a matter of hygiene and survival"[40], openly justified Israeli war crimes in Gaza[41], and called Azerbaijan's violation of the ceasefire, the bombing of civilian areas in Karabakh[42] and the expulsion of 120,000 Karabakh Armenians[43] "an example of how conflicts can and should be brought to their logical conclusion"[44].
Or the same pro-war group "Nihilist", which after the war began writing not only militaristic, but also openly Russophobic texts[45].
Complete unscrupulousness in means + chauvinism: here we have come to the point where pro-war would-be anarchists "amicably came together in a single patriotic impulse" with neo-Nazis, war criminals and other cannibals.
It would be strange if they did not come together!
At the same time, unfortunately, such national-anarchists still have a support network in Europe[46].
In this regard, we strongly urge all anarchists who have not figured out the situation and who support this nationalist adventure:
Come to your senses!
Distribution of the material is highly encouraged!