Ukraine: interview with comrade Sergei, from the front lines

This interview was conducted byOleg Vernik to comradeSergei, activist of theUkrainian Socialist League currently fighting in the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Donetsk region. Many socialist and union activists in Ukraine stood up for their country after the armed aggression of Russian imperialist capital against Ukraine and it is very important that we know their motivations., his feelings and his socialist work among Ukrainian soldiers.

OV: Sergei, socialist greetings to you from all our colleagues at the LIS and the LSU. Tell us how you ended up on the front. Did you have combat experience? What is your military specialty and tell us how you apply it on the front?

Sergei: greetings to you, Oleg, and to all our colleagues. Until Russia's imperialist aggression against Ukraine in 2014, He had no military experience or in the army. I was deemed medically unfit for service in 2006. I had never been interested in anything military., I was a pacifist and anti-militarist in my left-wing convictions. After the Maidan victory in 2014, when Russian aggressors attacked my country, I changed my attitude a little towards "pacifism", I made it more classist, closer to the real situation of the struggle of the Ukrainian people against the imperialist aggressor.

The Maidan 2014 It's a complex phenomenon for me.. It's a shame that their left flank was much weaker than the right.. Nevertheless, Its important achievement was a popular mass protest movement against the authoritarian regime of Yanukovych and in favor of the expansion of democratic rights and freedoms.. Russia took advantage of the difficult situation in Ukraine in the spring of 2014 to send their troops to Crimea and Donbass. It became clear that an obvious evil could not be defeated by the goodness of abstract pacifism and that to confront the aggressors we would have to go to war..

I joined the army as a volunteer. Smart people told me how I could get around the health restriction. The medical commission declared me fit for service and sent me to a training camp. There I immediately declared that I wanted to be an artilleryman. I once had a conversation with an officer I knew, who told me that artillery is now the main attacking force of all armies and the most effective means of war.

I trained as a mortar commander 120 mm. Upon completion of the training program, I went straight to the front near Donetsk. There we faced regular Russian troops, They had abundant large-caliber artillery and unlimited ammunition.. The only way to fight an enemy like that was to outmatch him in terms of accuracy..

Parity in the war with the huge Russian army was then provided by drones – unmanned aerial vehicles – and tablets with programs to fire artillery.. We were outnumbered and our weapons were much weaker., but we were very efficient and motivated. And the reason is simple: The Russian invasion army was inherently very reactionary and counterrevolutionary.. The Ukrainian army was, if I may say so, something revolutionary, who fought for the independence of our country, Ukraine. And those forces are always stronger than any pro-Russian “cons” or “proxies.”.

In 2017, I was injured and had to leave the army to receive treatment.
But with the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion, he 24 February 2022, I volunteered at the front again.

Now I'm on the front lines firing mortars 60 mm and recoilless field guns of 73 mm. My battalion acts as lightly armed infantry. We move through the woods, we surround the enemy positions, we force the Russians to surrender or retreat. Small-caliber light field guns are best suited for this type of warfare.. We are fighting in the Donetsk region. The natural zone here is the steppe and fields. Small caliber weapons allow us to operate stealthily and discreetly.

I myself trained all the artillery units of my battalion. I developed the training program, the tactics. Generals prepare for past wars. Yo, instead, I devised forms of warfare for my unit that were relevant to today.

According to Russian standards, the training of an artillery unit lasts two months, and another three weeks are dedicated to combat preparation.
Developed a training program for an artillery unit 10 days. And I teach my team the principle of interchangeability. When a gunner can become a unit leader at any time.

OV: In which region of Ukraine are you currently fighting?? What is the morale of your colleagues in the unit?? Can you maintain conversations with your classmates about socialist politics??

Sergei: I'm fighting in eastern Ukraine, in Donetsk region. These are both rural regions with peasant populations and industrial and proletarian cities.. Soldiers from all regions of Ukraine serve in my unit. The languages ​​we speak at the front are Ukrainian and Russian. There are no conflicts between us for this reason.

It is interesting to note that Ukrainian soldiers are mainly leftists. Socialist views are very common, although the combatants themselves are often unable to clearly articulate their ideology. The Ukrainian soldier expects a humane social policy from the State, a fight against oligarchs and support for socially vulnerable groups. The problem with the political situation in Ukraine is that the country's so-called "traditional left parties" have emerged from the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.. Their assets and leadership proved to be a "fifth column of Russian imperialism" and many of them were in fact recruited as agents of Putin's secret services.. Thus, even at the beginning of the Russian aggression in 2014, They supported the imperialist war and Putin. This caused an exodus of ideological left activists from their ranks and the banning of many of these parties as collaborators..

The social and electoral field for the true anti-authoritarian proletarian left is now free. There is room for our shakers to work. Of course, I talk politics with my soldiers in the unit and have managed to create a small cell among like-minded gunners.

We must understand that, thanks to Putin's aggressive imperialist policy, The entire northern Eurasia is now experiencing a period of instability. An anti-colonial movement for the independence of oppressed peoples has begun in many corners of the Russian Federation.. Literally, now we are seeing protests against mobilization in the republics of the North Caucasus. The people of Belarus and its working class, after the failed protests of 2020, They prepare to continue the political fight against Lukashenko's authoritarian regime. A revolutionary situation is brewing in a vast territory, and left-wing activists have the duty to prevent totalitarian regimes, authoritarian, pro-fascists and anti-humanists are perpetuated in this territory.

Authoritarian-bureaucratic regimes armed with nuclear bombs are a humanitarian threat to the entire world. Nor do we have any illusions about the Western imperialists. The Ukrainian Socialist League does not give them any support. But we must admit that modern weapons help us a lot on the front. Ukraine is much smaller than Russia and it is very difficult for us to resist imperialist aggression ourselves..

I'm not an economist, nor political, nor a sociologist. I am good at firing artillery cannons and training soldiers.
A few years ago I read Mikhail Sholokhov's epic novel about the Russian Revolution., “The Gentle Gift”. There was a proletarian hero, Ivan Bunchuk. He volunteered at the front of the imperialist war to learn the military trade.. He became a professional machine gunner and trained machine gun crews. I consider that my mission is to train artillerymen on the fronts of the future class war, for the anti-totalitarian and anti-fascist struggle, the fight for socialism around the world.

OV: Sergei, Our readers will be very interested to know: how did you arrive at the ideas of the left? how long ago? You have recently joined LSU/LIS. What attracted you to our political program and our current political position??

Sergei: My non-partisan left position was formed a long time ago. I grew up in a proletarian family, all my relatives worked in a chemical factory. My mother was a school teacher. So from a very young age I grew up with leftist convictions, although I did not join any party.

In Ukraine, the majority of the population is aware that the "traditional left" has sold out to the oligarchs and the Russian secret services. The population does not trust the traditional politicians of the left, identified in the consciousness of the masses with the Stalinists and the state bureaucracy. The traditional forms of struggle of the proletariat, like unions, They were also very discredited for their conciliatory policy and their collaboration with business owners..

The LSU is a young organization that is cleansing Marxism in Ukraine of Stalinism and Russian superpower chauvinism. I am very impressed by this. I hope for the help of the LIS/LSU to organize independent unions and form a true left flank of Ukrainian politics. Ukraine needs qualitatively new left socialist politicians and I really hope they emerge from the independent trade union movement. In any case, I am very optimistic about LSU.. Now we will fight together.

OV: Sergei, How do you see the prospects of the Ukrainian left and the labor movement? What problems do we face now and what challenges lie ahead??

Sergei: The main problem of the left movement is to overcome the prejudices of Ukrainians against the left and left politics. Many see the left as an agent of imperialist Russia. Y, Unfortunately, The so-called post-Stalinist “traditional left” gave many just reasons for this.. On the other hand, the political bankruptcy of the traditional "communists" of the Communist Party of Ukraine and the "socialists" of the Socialist Party of Ukraine frees a social and electoral field for us, activists of the Ukrainian Socialist League.

The main political event in contemporary Ukraine is a defensive war against the aggression of imperialist Russia. The behavior of the left-wing proletarian organization during this period will determine its political future.. We all have to take this factor very seriously into account.. But I'm sure we can do it.

It must also be understood that the former territories of the Soviet Union are entering a period of turbulence. In my analysis I assume that in the near future the Russian Federation, as a result of the adventurous policies of Putin and his clique, will collapse and many new states will be formed. Almost all Ukrainians speak Russian and are culturally close to Russians.. Our activists could help organize a genuine socialist movement in some of the fragments of the authoritarian and bureaucratic Russian Federation. Thus, It is very important that we seek contacts with authentic activists of the anti-imperialist left in Russia.

OV: Sergei, What would you like to convey from the Ukrainian comrades of the LSU to all the comrades of the LIS in different countries??

Sergei: Dear comrades. First, I want to thank you for the international solidarity with Ukraine in the struggle that you have shown in several countries where LIS sections are present.. As part of socialist solidarity, I ask you to pressure your governments to increase their aid to Ukraine, both humanitarian and military. I understand that the issue of military aid to Ukraine is very complex.. But, believe me, we are having a very bad time right now. The Ukrainian people are bleeding in a war with a huge Russian imperialist predator. Big business in major capitalist states corrupted by Russian oil and gas lobby. The dirty Russian money that pensioners lack, Russian orphans and disabled people are spent on buying foreign politicians.

Now there is a unique moment in which the Russian authoritarian-police state can be ended. Not to be missed. Go to rallies in your capitals and demand that your bourgeois governments increase their support for Ukraine. Ukrainian military and volunteers are in dire need of warm equipment and uniforms, since a very hard winter awaits us. winter uniforms, boots, backpacks, sleeping bags, thermal underwear. This is something the troops are lacking right now..

International socialist solidarity with the peoples in struggle is the guarantee of our common global victory over all the imperialist predators of the world. Proletarians of all countries, up!