Statement by Marxist-Leninist Platform (Russia) on the world situation, the war in Ukraine, and the threat of nuclear war

Written by: MLP (Russia) on 23 October 2022

 

(The Marxist-Leninist Platform is one of two Russian organisations affiliated to the International Coordination of Revolutionary Parties and Organisations, ICOR. The other is the Russian Maoist Party, a statement from which we published on October 3.  Both organisations are fighting to survive the harsh repressions directed by the Putin regime at genuine Communists – eds.)

 

 

We are currently witnessing historic events. Imperialism is entering the last and final stage of its degradation. The victory of the Revolution is still a long way off, but its dawn is getting closer.

In Ukraine we are witnessing a bloody clash of two imperialist blocs: the American-European NATO imperialism and the Russian-Chinese imperialist bloc.

Contrary to the reasoning of some so-called "leftists" about the progressiveness of one force or the other - we have insisted and continue to insist that neither side in this conflict can be supported not only by real communists, but by all honest people.

Thus, a de facto neocolonial fascist dictatorship is now established in Ukraine, similar to the regimes of Uribe in Colombia or Duterte in the Philippines. This is a pseudo-democratic regime, which differs from classical dictatorships in that its highest political authority is formally replaceable. But neither the president nor parliament has any power in this system, even according to bourgeois notions. All real power belongs to the ambassador of the United States, various officials of international organizations under the UN, transnational corporations, and local oligarchs.

This is exactly the kind of peripheral, "Latin American" regime that is now established in Ukraine.

The total mobilization of hundreds of thousands of people into the state army, military censorship, rampant street and sexual violence, the legalization and arming of criminal gangs at state expense under the guise of "territorial defense", repression of all who disagree with the oligarchic policy is the essence of President Zelensky's regime.

The Ukrainian army, committing terrorist acts on the territory of other countries, carrying out genocide against civilians, is all under the command of NATO military advisors.

Nevertheless, the disgusting regime of President Putin is not the best either.

Under the guise of "traditional values," the neoconservative Russian dictatorship, which spreads ignorance, passivity, cynicism, greed, avarice, and racism, is doomed. In its thirty-year history, it is now the closest it has come to total ideological and political bankruptcy.

The defeats of the Russian army at Balakleya and Krasny Liman, the destruction of Russian gas pipelines, the strikes on the Crimean bridge and other important facilities in Russia, the "partial" mobilization and the flight of hundreds of thousands of people from the country - all this brings the death of the Russian regime closer.

The opposition movement in the country grows wider every day. Every day we receive reports of military commissariats being set on fire, of attacks on government buildings, and on the offices of the ruling United Russia party. We see a huge number of different actions against the state and capital. Symbols of "special operations" (banners, billboards, cars with the letters Z), rails on which military echelons and rolling stock with military equipment are systematically destroyed.

In short, everywhere we see resistance to the current regime.

In spite of this, the government is still extremely strong. The repression of the left and of the Communists in particular has intensified considerably. Dozens of our comrades have been imprisoned or forced to emigrate. Some continue activities from abroad.

The "partial" mobilization has caused a mass protest of the bulk of the workers, on whose shoulders the authorities want to shift the entire burden of their own miscalculations.

At present, we find ourselves in a dangerous situation in which the regime of President Putin is trying to save itself from imminent doom by undertaking dubious and dangerous actions.

In the current circumstances, even nuclear war cannot be ruled out, especially considering that not only some figures of the Russian regime, but also Ukrainian President Zelensky, are calling for it.

The collapse of Russian imperialism will inevitably lead to a change of power in Russia. The question arises: who will be able to take advantage of this?

At present, the most obvious contenders for power after the fall of Putin are the Russian liberal democrats. They are the ones who can give the left a dangerous competition.

We should do our best to strengthen our internal party ties, increase our canvassing and get more people to join our ranks: only this will give us a chance to later emerge as a much more formidable force.

We must remember that our enemies are not only Putin, but also Russian bourgeois liberals, Russian and Ukrainian nationalists, NATO and European Union officials and military advisors.

It is necessary to expand the struggle against fascism and war, against the power of capital, against all forms of opportunism and nationalism, against the power of the military and the rich.

Nationalism is the enemy of the workers, and the military is the best friend of the rich.

Ukraine and Russia are very different, but in fact dialectically they are incredibly similar. In both, we see an oligarchic power that has grown fat at the expense of the workers, the domination of foreign capital, an aggressive government that dreams of a nuclear war, a Goebbels-type nationalist propaganda, the total poverty of the people, repression and the all-powerful security services.

We must stop it! Communists must uproot the contagion of peripheral post-Soviet capitalism with its glamor, kitsch, its cynicism and greed, its spiteful attitude toward nature and people, the constant threat of nuclear war.

This is the only way we can save the planet from complete and utter destruction.

 

 

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