On Saturday, the Bristol Anarchist Bookfair will take place at The Elmgrove Centre (Elmgrove Road, Bristol, BS6 6AH) from 10:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The event will feature 20 free workshops and presentations, including Anti-War Resistance in Russia and Anarchists by Antti Rautiainen in the Frome Room.
Two years of anti-government protests raise questions about organising around collective struggles
On Saturday, September 20, the Anarchist Bookfair will take place in London — one of the main annual events of the anarchist movement in England. As part of the program, Antti Rautiainen will give a talk titled “Anarchism and Anti-War Resistance in Russia.”
Time: 11:00–12:45
Presentation in Apertus squat of Agrinion, Greece, 21 of June 2025. Presentation in English, translation to Greek.
Ελληνική περίληψη μετά το αγγλικό κείμενο του ιστολογίου.
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.
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 April 19, Dmitry Petrov, a Russian anarchist fighting on the side of Ukraine, died in battle near Bakhmut.
For almost twenty years, Dima contributed immensely to the anarchist movement in Russia and Ukraine. Over the last ten years, we had only met once and our paths rarely crossed, so he may have altered his views on some questions. But, as his final message shows, in many ways, he remained unchanged.
Anarchist anti-war action and the growing nationalism in Russia
Interview with Portuguese Mapa - Jornal de Informação Critica -paper, published in issue 35. Interview by Pedro Morais.
Ever since the beginning of the Russian invasion against Ukraine, we have seen statements by anarchists, communists and leftists not from Ukraine, on how Ukrainian anarchists, communists and leftists should not defend themselves against attack of Putin, but lay down their arms and flee instead.
Podcast-versions: Soundcloud, Spotify
The results of the first 30 years of “democracy” in Ukraine are, to put it mildly, unconvincing. The economy and the media are in the hands of rival oligarchs, corruption is at staggering levels, economic development lags behind many African countries, and in addition, the country has become the center of the neo-Nazi movement around the world. And these problems are basically home-grown, not the result of the Kremlin’s intrigues.
This blog as a podcast: Spotify, Soundcloud
This blog as video.
In April 2017, a bombing took place in the Saint Petersburg metro. The explosion killed 16 people and injured 103.
According to the pre-trial investigation, the suicide attack was carried out by Akbarzhon Dzhalilov and organized by the “Katibat al-Tawhid wal-Jihad” jihadist group consisting of Uzbek fighters, active in Syria, previously with support from Al-Qaeda. The group however, did not claim responsibility for the attack.
In February, a critique of Moscow-based bands What We Feel(WWF) and Moscow Death Brigade(MDB) written by “Antifascist Subculture Worldwide”-collective appeared on the German website, Linksunten (in English). Both WWF, MDB (1) as well as 210 (2) have since responded to the criticisms. I would like to add few points to answers of WWF and MDB.
Despite the bleakness of the situation in Ukraine, at least I was amused by the fact that Nazis were fighting on both sides of the front, killing each other.
But then I found out that some "anti-fascists" have been doing the same 1) 2) 3).
I am sure that in terms of the entire former Soviet Union only a minority of the Antifas is willing to die for Poroshenko or Putin. However, the scale of this problem is significant, and any attempts to react to it 4) also have their shortcomings 5).
On Friday, the 2nd of May, the House of Trade Unions in Odessa caught on fire. Altogether at least 42 people lost their lives during the clashes in the city, most of them in the fire and the others in streetfights. There is an excellent Russian language, eyewitness account of the events available here.
On Friday 10th of January Basmanniy district court of Moscow ceased criminal case against Alexey Olesinov, Alexey Sutuga, Alyon Volikov and Babken Guskasyan. All four were accused of “hooliganism”, a criminal offense which is included in the amnesty bill, approved as a PR stunt on initiative of Vladimir Putin himself in advent of the Sochi Winter Olympics – most known amnestied political prisoners being 30 detainees of the Arctic Sunrise ship of Greenpeace, and two imprisoned members of Pussy Riot.
28th of November Lenin district court of the city of Tyumen uphold a request of the prosecutor of the Lenin district on recognition a text I wrote two years ago as “extremist”.
Some claim, that anarchism opposes violence, as for anarchists means and ends meet. But only second statement is correct, wherease first is not. This because in anarchism violence is not only means, but in a certain sense a goal in itself.
With this, I do not mean childish boasting about hanging last bourgeois to guts of last priest or anything like that. Destruction of class enemies as individuals is not a revolutionary goal. As Kropotkin wrote, one may hardly avoid some excesses from side of most angered people, but obviously it is goal of anarchists to minimise them.
Presentation in Apertus squat of Agrinion, Greece, 21 of June 2025. Presentation in English, translation to Greek. Ελληνική περίληψη μετά το αγγλικό κείμενο του ιστολογίου. Listen on Spotify Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, domestic anti-war...
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...