"We condemn Russia's aggression against Ukraine, but we see that the real victims of this war are representatives of the working class of Ukraine and Russia, people deprived of the remnants of the illusion of freedom, forced by the powers that be to kill and let themselves be killed.
The class war in these countries was raging long before the invasion and will probably continue after. We are not to judge those who stayed to fight, feeling the need to do so and see sense in it. But by what law is this imposed on people who refuse to participate? For what kind of independence can a person involuntarily involved in the army fight for? This position is not an isolated voice, tens of thousands of people in Ukraine have signed petitions calling for the opening of the borders, and tens of thousands more have gathered around the channels reporting the raids. It is impossible to evaluate how many still share such views.
The authorities, ignoring their demands, deprive them of the most basic right to self-determination and the right to decide their own life and death. This dilemma does not concern the bourgeoisie, because the rich citizens of Ukraine can leave the country by paying a ransom at the border. The testimony of these people has no place in the media, controlled by nationalist and militaristic narratives, straight out of Hollywood films in which Zelensky is Captain Ukraine, the hero who personally comes into conflict with the supervillain Putin, and Russians and Ukrainians are a homogeneous mass of faceless pawns.
And yet each of these people, against their will, detained by the state, is a hostage of a repressive regime, a person of flesh and blood, like you and me. Putin is undoubtedly a supervillain, but there are no superheroes in this story, and only a pro-state narrative is accepted under the guise of giving voice to the victims. The organizing of street actions is criminalized, and signed petitions, which are currently the only legal way to convey the public mood of the authorities, are ignored. As long as the Ukrainian authorities keep people against their will, they will be responsible for the dead and maimed people.
For us, the war is terrible not because governments and borders change, but because people die. The Ukrainian authorities do not give a damn about this, they are no more worried about another mass grave than lost military property or a strategic position".
Originally in Polish
Anong wuth this, we recommend you such a story of disaster profiting - how recruitment agencies for employment in Europe cash in on the deception of Ukrainian refugee women during the war.
Also you may be interested to look at this article about how the inflow of Ukrainians enhances the labor struggle in Poland.
Comments