For this year’s International Anarchist Prisoner Solidarity Week, Freedom interviewed the Anarchist Black Cross-Moscow to discuss their long history in Russia supporting imprisoned Russian anarchists, the challenges they face under Putin’s regime and their work during the war on Ukraine.
We have stated from the very start that the beginning of a full-scale war in Ukraine on February 24, 2022 is an imperialist aggression of the Russian state. That is still true.
According to Solidarity Zone, the lawyer Igor Popovsky visited Ruslan Siddiqui in the Moscow detention centre SIZO-5 and received a confirmation from him that the report by TASS about the anarchist's desire to go to fight on the side of the Russian Federation was a lie.
More about the international initiative:
Shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Putin outlined five goals for his war: Ukraine’s non-alignment with NATO; a change in Ukraine’s government; a severe limitation of Ukraine’s defence capacity; the seizure of Ukrainian territory (with international recognition); and the lifting of Western sanctions on Russia.
A veteran of the anarchist and anti-fascist movement of Ukraine, Maxim Butkevich, has been a prisoner of war of the Russian army for two years. Anarchists could write more about him, and my text about him also comes late, but there is little that can be done to help him.
June 11th is the International Day of Solidarity with Marius Mason & All Long-Term Anarchist Prisoners. This action day has a long history, it was organized first time 20 years ago in 2004. In the first year, we managed to paint a graffiti to wall of one of the most guarded objects of Moscow, the US embassy.
The call for this years International Day of Solidarity is here.
And list of supported prisoners is here.
Original article on the website Crimethinc. The title photo shows letters of solidarity to Alexey in prison.
The anarchist Ruslan Siddiqui is accused of attacking the Dyagilevo military aerodrome, using quadcopters, and of damaging railway lines (in Ryazan region) that were used to transport military equipment and fuel to the Russian army in Ukraine.
Anti-War Human Rights Initiative Solidarity zone launching a fundraiser to pay for the next six months’ work by Ruslan’s lawyer. For six months’ legal work we need to raise €4290.
Anarchist group ANA Regensburg hosted my online-presentation on 16th of May 2024, in which I discussed tactics of anti-war activism in Russia, and reasons why the anti-war movement has not been able to make an impact to change the course of events yet. Cases of anarchists repressed for anti-war activities are presented, as well as strategies of support for political prisoners, and modest successes in supporting their struggles.
Listen in Spotify. Video embedded below.
On May 25 we invite you to the 'Solidarity zone' event in Leipzig (13.00, gallery Jochen Hempel, Spinnereistraße 7) in support of political prisoners in Russia. It will be held in the framework of the exhibition 'freedom is a verb' by Alla Gutnikova.
Our translation of the Antijob project article.
Not so long ago we wrote about the occupation of mills and factories in Argentine, but as our subscribers rightly noted something similar, but unfortunately on a smaller scale and with its own specifics, had happened in Russia’s modern history as well.
Yuri Mikheev is an anti-fascist from Lobnya, just outside Moscow. On 10 November 2023, he and a friend were detained on the territory of a military unit in the Moscow region. The FSB accused the young men of planning to set fire to military equipment. A case was initiated under criminal articles regarding "preparation for sabotage". Yura faces up to 10 years.
In January, the Father Frost against Putin-festival was organized in Helsinki for the ninth time. The first festival was organized in 2014, but there were no festivals in 2021 and 2022 due to border closures and Covid.
An evening of solidarity with veg prisoners from Russia will take place on May 3 at 18.00 in Helsinki (Ulrika, Leppäsuonkatu 11).
Late last year, opposition politician Alexei Navalny, who had been sentenced to 19 years in prison for a number of trumped-up cases, was sent to a special regime penal colony in the settlement of Kharp in the Far North, one of the most hard-to-reach colonies. This region colonies are famous for its harsh regime and torture of prisoners.
Translation from the site freedomnews.org.uk. Original in Russian here.
~ NinaT
The compilation of music in support of prisoners. In 2022, punks and anti-fascists from Siberia and the Urals were tortured by police to fabricate a case. They are accused of terrorism, but they did not use any violence. Confessions were extracted with torture of electric shocks, strangulation with a bag, beatings and threats of rape with a mop. Antifascists face huge prison sentences
Alongside the general decline in attention to the war in Ukraine, a so-called "internationalist" position has been visible in the anarchist milleu in Europe. Basically, it consists of two points: the first rests on the equalization of the forces of the aggressor and the invaded country, presenting this conflict as yet another capitalist war in which one cannot take sides; and the second is based on the view that NATO wages war against Russia, in which Ukraine is seen mainly as an opportunity for Western countries to fight Russia at the expense of Ukrainian lives.
Maroon communities of Americas are of interest to anti-authoritarian left of the area, looking for inspiration outside White/European context. One way to explain history of Cossacks of Ukraine to an American Leftist would be to define it as European analogue of a Maroon society. Listen this...
I will give a presentation about repression against anarchists and anti-fascists in Russia at the Baltic Anarchist Bookfair in Tartu next Saturday at 1 PM EET/Moscow time (12 PM CET) at Hell (Tiigi 76A). You can also follow the presentation on Twitch. Short summary fo the talk: After...
In September 2024, I gave a presentation in Dresden about struggles against the right-wing government in Finland. Freedom published a text based on that presentation last September, but due to character limitations I had to skip an introduction to the Finnish party system. This background is...
Repression targets Chita anarchists already jailed for war resistance and anti-regime graffiti The regional prosecutor’s office for the Trans-Baikal region in eastern Siberia has submitted a petition to a local court to recognize the “Trans-Baikal Left Association” as a terrorist...