In the News

(Updated May 14) – For the information of readers, we are publishing an ongoing index to the Workers’ Forum, Democratic Renewal, TML Monthly and Ontario Political Forum titled “In the News.” These publications feature significant information on issues facing the workers’ and people’s movement fighting for their rights. “In the News” includes the most independent and comprehensive news and commentary on the Ukrainian question from the vantage point of the necessity of establishing a genuine peace and an anti-war government in our country. This index replaces preceding indexes for Workers’ Forum (available here) and Democratic Renewal. To get your own subscription to any or all of these publications, visit the CPC(M-L) website and see the form at the bottom of the page.

The battle for Mariupol (I)

By Vladimir Golstein*

Mariupol is an important port on the Sea of Azov, located very close to the self-proclaimed independent Donetsk Republic on the one side and Crimea on another.

Revealing Ukraine — 2019 Documentary

Directed by Igor Lopatonok, Interviews by Oliver Stone

To view documentary click here.

Border stories: Anglo-European chauvinism and racism in dealing with Ukrainian refugees

Foreign students in Ukraine brutalized and terrorized at borders. Germany asks Poland to stop sending refugees. Oligarchs, MPs, neo-Nazis flee for their lives | Press review by TONY SEED*

African students await evacuation from Ukraine.

“Civilized” Europe is not only Russophobic but anti-Black and colonial.

Amid a deluge of reports and footage of racial discrimination in Ukraine, representatives from the Caribbean and Africa spoke to the unjust treatment of Ukrainian refugees of African origin during the debate on the UN General Assembly resolution concerning Ukraine. Videos showing Africans being pushed back from trains and border crossings have gone viral on social media (for example, here), causing an uproar and sparking statements of concern by African politicians and officials.

The ‘third front in the Ukraine war’: Report from Germany

Developments of concern related to U.S./NATO war hysteria

The NATO boycott campaign against athletes, artists and media from Russia is followed in Germany by the first attacks on Russians, Russian books, publishers, science and Russian institutions. Given the precedent of Nazi Germany, this is truly dangerous.

What is pertinent and what is not in considering unfolding events in Ukraine

The need to strengthen the anti-war movement must necessarily oppose warmongering, lies and disinformation on an ongoing basis. This task is as great today as ever, if not more so because of the grand-scale presentation of NATO and the U.S. as liberators | TML editorial commentary

NATO’s response to Russian military operation in Ukraine

“Russia is using force to try to rewrite history,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said, to cover up that it is the U.S. and NATO who have been using force to impose their will and striving to take over Europe and dominate Asia.

Ukraine: Who said what

China said the U.S. has been sending weapons to Ukraine, heightening tensions, creating panic and even hyping up the possibility of warfare, Xinhua reported. “A key question here is what role the U.S., the culprit of current tensions surrounding Ukraine, has played. If someone keeps pouring oil on the flame while accusing others of not doing their best to put out the fire, such kind of behaviour is clearly irresponsible and immoral,” China said.

Crimea’s declaration of independence and proclamation of sovereign statehood

Crimean people celebrate being accepted as part of the Russian Federation in Simferopol, the Republic of Crimea, March 18, 2014. 

In a referendum held on March 16, 2014, citizens of Crimea voted to secede from Ukraine and join the Russian Federation. According to official data, Russians constituted 58.32 per cent of the population of Crimea, 24.32 per cent were Ukrainians and 12.10 per cent were Crimean Tatars. TML Daily wrote at the time:

Control of the Black Sea basin is crucial to Russia’s economy and security

On March 18, 2014 Russia and Crimea signed a treaty which gave the Russian Federation control over the Black Sea as well as the Sea of Azov, the west coastline of which borders on Eastern Ukraine and the Donetsk region. The agreement was announced by Russian President Putin who said two “constituent regions” of Crimea were to join the Russian Federation: the “Republic of Crimea” and the “City of Sevastopol,” both with the status of autonomous regions.

Ukraine – A Historical Sketch

This article by Nathan J. Freeman was originally published by TML Daily on March 21, 2014 under the title “What is the Trouble and Who Are the Troublemakers?”

The cunning of history has positioned Ukraine as the latest country in which post-Soviet Russia and U.S.-led imperialism confront each other. The U.S.-led camp, which includes the old European colonialism, is on a rampage. The Russian government has responded in a measured way, securing its naval assets in the Crimea and going so far as to take Crimea out of the clutches of the fascist coup that seized power in Kiev while putting the elected president, Alexander Yanukovych, to flight.

Prime Minister convokes emergency measures: Beware of secret deals and use of police powers against the peoples’ struggles

CPC(M-L) categorically opposes the invocation of the 1988 Emergencies Act. The invocation of emergency powers further raises anarchy to authority. Canadians must themselves work out what to do when both sides are wrong.

Ukraine: The inter-imperialist rivalry between the Biden presidency and rich local oligarchs

‘One Way Ticket’, painting by Svetlana Kryukova, 2021*

By Dmitriy Kovalevich*

Over the past 30 years, Ukraine’s independence has had two main pillars – the administrations of the United States/UK/Canada and the Ukrainian oligarchs, who defended their assets looted in the 1990s. Both these pillars have actively promoted their deputies to the Ukrainian parliament, as well as financing ultranationalist organizations and their media. And right now, a struggle is flaring up between the two pillars.

For Ukraine ‘independence’ is a form of colonialism

The fraud of Ukraine’s independence has been represented for 30 years as if it was not the decision of Soviet officials but the result of a long, armed struggle | DMITRY KOVALEVICH on ongoing issues facing the country.

5,000 U.S., British, Canadian , Polish and other NATO and Ukrainian troops marched in Kyiv in militaristic independence rally on August 24. NATO forces have occupied Ukraine, which is not a member, since 2014 under the pretext of training the armed forces. The march included more than 400 tanks and armoured vehicles.

This Day. The assassination of Alexander Zakharchenko

Exactly three years ago, on August 31, 2018, the head of Donetsk People’s Republic in Eastern Ukraine, Alexander Zakharchenko, was assassinated.

Not thanks, but in spite of: How Ukraine treats its Olympians

Ukrainian sport after 30 years of independence

President of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine, Olympic champion Serhiy Bubka met with the athletes of the national team on the eve of the XXXII Olympic Games in Tokyo | NOC

Interview with journalist Dmitry Kovalevich first published on Friendship First on August 25*

Tony Seed: Dmitry, August 24^th is the 30^th anniversary of Ukrainian independence, which is being celebrated in different ways, it seems more in Canada than Ukraine itself. Can you give us your assessment of the situation that Ukrainian sport and athletes are facing? Perhaps you might start with the recent Olympics.

Of perpetrators, victims and collaborators (II)

Ukraine honours Nazi-collaborators, who, 80 years ago today, participated in the invasion of the Soviet Union and carried out massacres of Jews. This fascist glorification is enabled by Canada, the United States and Germany who present themselves as the greatest opponents of “anti-semitism”.

Stepan Bandera (in the centre) in Nazi uniform

BERLIN/KIEV (german-foreign-policy.com) – Whereas the German invasion of the Soviet Union 80 years ago is being internationally commemorated today, collaborators, who participated in the war of annihilation on the side of the Germans, are receiving state honours in Ukraine, in particular the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) and its leader Stepan Bandera as well as the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) which originated from that milieu. Together with the German Wehrmacht and troops from several collaborating states, OUN militias advanced onto Soviet territory, where they committed countless massacres of the Jewish population alongside German units. In Lviv (formerly Lemberg), 4,000 Jews were assassinated within a very short period. The parliament in Kiev declared the OUN “combatants for Ukrainian independence.” A government decree calls for honouring their “patriotism” and “high morals” in Ukrainian schools. The UPA’s founding day has been a national holiday since 2015. The OUN salute adorns Ukraine’s football League’s jerseys.

Ukraine Update: Blinken’s visit and external governance

Anthony Blinken and Victoria Nuland visited Kiev in May for multiple reasons. What has unfolded in Ukraine as a result? Protesters are increasingly holding rallies in front of the US embassy, having realized on whom the solution of their problems depends | Dmitriy Kovalevich
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(June 1) – For Ukrainian politicians, the month of May was kicked off with the visit of Anthony Blinken and Victoria Nuland to Kiev. The same Victoria Nuland who in 2014 supported ultra-right nationalists on the Maidan and became known amongst Ukrainians for distributing cookies.

Ukraine Update: Preparing for war to drop a new iron curtain

Could it be that under the Biden administration Kiev can easily be pushed to take the suicidal step of blocking the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and dropping a new iron curtain between the EU and Russia/China? | Dmitriy Kovalevich

© Facebook, Operation of the United Forces

Ukraine Update: Crackdown on media and opposition to please Biden

The Biden administration in the US appears to be impacting on Ukraine’s presidential policy, which in turn is negatively affecting the country’s opposition and opposition media, while nationalism and militarism are increasing | Dmitriy Kovalevich

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78 years ago: 1943 – the year the tide turned in World War II

 

(May 8, 2018) – The peoples of Russia remember 1943 as the year that everything changed; a year of decisive battles that altered the course of the Great Patriotic War and World War II as a whole. It was the year of the Battle of Stalingrad, the Battle of the Caucasus, the Battle of Kursk, and the Battle of the Dnieper. It began with the lifting of the siege of Leningrad and ended with the Red Army’s liberation of two thirds of the Soviet territory temporarily occupied by the Nazis – 38,000 localities, including 162 towns.

Ukraine Update: Oligarchic local elections and US media censorship

Dmitriy Kovalevich’s update on the local elections in Ukraine and US embassy pressure to impose media censorship in Ukraine. “The bill on media, which the U.S. embassy is promoting, should make it easier to block unwanted websites and TV channels.”
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Ukarine Update: Belarus crisis through the lens of Ukraine

On August 9, presidential elections were held in Belarus, a neighbour of Ukraine. Economically, they are mutually dependent on each other, and Russia is too, but currently it seems as if trade, like flights, could soon be put on hold. Meanwhile, far right neo-Nazi elements from Ukraine are attempting to increase unrest in the two countries. DMITRY KOVALEVICH  on the issues facing the two countries following the elections and how and if they can be resolved.

Supporters of Lukashenko hold authorized pro-government rally | Ruptly

In August, the situation in Belarus and the mass protests that engulfed the country almost completely dominated the information agenda of the Ukrainian media.

Ukraine Update: Floods, deforestation and neo-Nazi terror under Biden’s control

Dmitriy Kovalevich* writes about the environmental disaster and corruption surrounding illegal logging in the country’s primeval Carpathian beech forests, details of which were published in July in the latest Earthsight report. He also lays bare the violence being perpetrated by neo-Nazis against Ukrainian opposition on the country’s city streets and concludes that not only the terror but also the massive deforestation and the looting of national natural resources, is taking place either under the control or with the permission of the US Democratic Party.

This day. 2014, Donbass and the politics of provocation

By DMITRIY KOVALEVICH*

One of the most touching pictures from our civil war in Ukraine. ‘That’s mom’s birthday”, 2015, Donetsk. The boy’s eyes are quite telling.

On May 26, 2014  Alexander Turchinov – a leader of Euro-Maidan in Ukraine and interim president of the new coup government until the May 25 election – ordered the armed forces to launch air-strikes against rebellious cities in the Donbass.

On the frontlines: Red Army veteran Moritz Mebel talks about his battles against fascism

On the 75th anniversary of Victory Day, which commemorates the surrender of Hitler’s Germany in World War II, we bring you the recollections of Red Army veteran Moritz Mebel who took part in grueling campaigns against the Nazis from the gates of Moscow to the Czech RepublicMay 09, 2020 by Franziska Kleiner

Moritz Mebel (left) in Dresden in 1945.

Mebel and millions of his comrades from the Soviet Union were part of the longest and bloodiest struggles of World War II which ultimately caused the defeat of Hitler and fascism.

‘Heroes’ to be arrested for the Maidan massacre?

Dr IVAN KATCHANOVSKI

(March 27) – The Prosecutor General Office of Ukraine reportedly plans to arrest two prominent recent members of the parliament and far right activists on charges of their involvement in the Maidan massacre.

Ukraine Update: Political maneouvres and coronavirus threat

TSB analyst Dmitriy Kovalevich* examines the serious political crises facing Ukraine, its economic crisis and the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the month of March, Ukraine has faced serious political crises, accompanied by economic troubles and the COVID-19 outbreak. The Cabinet of Ministers resigned in early March, under a barrage of harsh criticism for its ineptitude in dealing with the country’s economic problems.

Erdogan’s long-coming reality check

By GHASSAN KADI

TSB Middle East Analyst

(February 14) – It is hard to say if Erdogan is running out of choices, friends, time, or all of the above; and his stands on various issues and the contradictions he ploughs through are making his situation increasingly untenable.

Ukraine: Land privatization demanded by IMF, links to Biden graft scandal – engineered bankruptcy of national economy

On December 17th, protests took place in Kiev against the Ukrainian land reform.

By DMITRY KOVALEVICH

The government of Vladimir Zelensky of Ukraine adopted in November so-called ‘land reform’, in accordance of the demands made by the IMF amongst other international financial organizations. The reform opens the way for the mass privatization of Ukraine’s agricultural lands. The IMF has been making these demands for many years but assorted Ukrainian presidents have tried to postpone such an unpopular decision. Recent polls show that the overwhelming majority of Ukrainians of all political persuasions are opposed to land privatization, from far-right to far-left.