Funerals of Vladislav ‘Pirate’ Iurchenko

Vladislav ‘Pirate’ Iurchenko was killed in action on August 9th, 2024 and He was 23 years old. Vladislav was part of the “Siberian Battalion” of the International Legion, and he was martyred in a fight during a landing operation on the Kinburn Spit.

Originally from Russia, Pirate joined the Ukrainian resistance to fight against the tyranny of Russian colonialism.Before his death, he wrote a letter explaining his decision to take up arms :

Greetings to all our comrades. My name is Vladislav, nom de guerre “Pirate”.

I decided to leave this letter in the event of my death in the war against the Russian imperial regime, the war against the state in which I was born and raised, the war against the dictator who usurped power yet before my birth.

I want this letter to remain as a historical document about the participation of anarchists-revolutionaries in the resistance of the Ukrainian people against the Russian tyranny.

I, like all sane citizens of the Russian Federation, was shocked by the beginning of this war, terrible injustice, and crimes committed by the Russian army in Ukraine. From the first days of the full-scale invasion, I only thought about what I could do against this injustice, how I can stop the madness that my people made.

When I got to know about the emergence of military units in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, in which the citizens of the Russian Federation were accepted, I immediately realized that I had to fight for the freedom of the Ukrainian people and our ideals in this way, with weapons in my hands.

And even if I do not see the victory of the Ukrainian people over the occupiers, the bright future anarchist communism, justice and freedom for all people on Earth, I believe.

I believe that the future will certainly come. While our comrades continue to fight, totalitarianism, authoritarianism and fascism will not capture humanity. I wish my comrades also not to lose confidence in the struggle for freedom.

It’s available on the channel of our comrades here.
https://t.me/boakom/181

https://www.solidaritycollectives.org/en/funerals-of-vladislav-pirate-iurchenko/