[Session summary] Workshop on the Russian Anti-war opposition

Report of the Workshop on the Russian Left Opposition

This workshop was attended to by about 15 persons. The invited speakers were:

• Maria Menshikova, journalist with online exiled media such as Doxa and Posle.
• Virginia of the Russian Feminist Antiwar Resistance (FAR).
• Dmitrii Kovalev, exiled activist with the Left for Peace without Annexations.
• Mikhail Lobanov, in 2021 a succesful yet befrauded candidate in elections for the Duma.

The workshop was chaired by Peter Veltmans (trade union activist and member of SAP – Antikapitalisten / Gauche anticapitaliste, Belgium)

Summary of introductions

Maria Menshikova

When the Russian army invaded Ukraine in 2022 mass protests unfolded in various major cities. These were, however, quickly contained by forces of the state, which unleashed a vast campaign of arrests, handing out long prison sentences and even torturing protesters. In fact, the entire public space throughout the country was completely curtailed. Social media (such as Facebook, Instagram and the like) were blocked. Censorship was imposed. While virtual private networks (VPN) are still available, even these are difficult to use, because activating them requires the use of international payment systems, which are blocked due to sanctions imposed on Russia. As a result in 2022 at least 1200 persons were persecuted for antiwar statemants. As an example of the courts unbending brutality, I was sentenced in absentia to 7 years imprisonment, for merely posting online two statements in DOXA. Nevertheless, we, journalists in exile, continue reporting on protests, arson (against recruiting offices for the Russian army) and strikes.

Virginia of the Russian Feminist Antiwar Resistance (FAR)

The Feminist Antiwar Resistance (FAR) is active in Russia itself as well as abroad. We are organised in autonomous, horizontal groups and this for ideological as well as security reasons. Our network is vast and we keep spreading information against Putin’s propaganda. We support the organisation of meetings and protests. At this moment we are especially involved with the solidarity with political prisoners and in efforts to oppose mobilisation of citizens for the army. We try to provide material and logistical help for prisoners and for refugees from Russia. We are profoundly antimilitarist, organised without a formal structure, but consisting of different groups. This also means that there are different opinions, for example concerning the question of the delivery of arms to Ukraine.

However, we do support some Russian people who volunteered to serve in the Ukrainian army and we do collect money for the the acquiring by Ukrainian people of energy generators. For us it is crystal clear that peace is not the same as a cease fire. In our view the Putin regime has imposed on Russia and its peoples a system without human right, with no room for self-determination and without any safe spaces for anyone. At the moment all eyes are upon the Trump-Putin talks. For us it is clear that both presidents stand for collaboration on patriarchical and discriminatory grounds, while they are also both opposed to human rights. If their approach succeeds everyone will suffer, and especially vulnarable people. We wonder why Europe does not take a clear stand against these dangerous policies. We act of course out of a feminist perspective. Yet, for us, feminism is not limited only to questions concerning women, but is intersectional, with special attention towards vulnerable people, in Russia, but also abroad, where we try to connect with peoples’ problems.

Dmitrii Kovalev

The Left for Peace without Annexations is a coalition of several organisations with differrent backgrounds (socialist, trotskyist, maoist, etc.). I myself am a member of the Revolutionary Communist Tendency, which is part of this coalition. The coalition has activists within Russia, where they agitate for defeatism, whereas our supporters in exile provide support. We therefore stand for revolutionary defeatism: we want Russia to lose this war! In our opinion, true peace can only be achieved with going back to the original Ukrainian borders, without any annexations. If there should be a need for modification of these borders, then only the Ukrainian people can decide upon that. Therefore, we stand for the unconditional support for Ukraine! The resources of Ukraine belong to the Ukrainian people, not to Putin nor to European imperialists and neither to Trump.

Questions such as a possible cease fire can also only be decided upon by the Ukrainian people. We are considering membership in NATO and EU as imperialist actions against the independence of Ukrainian people, so we are opposing them politically, but still it should be an Ukrainian people sole decision. Questions such as a possible cease fire and membership of NATO can also only be decided upon by the Ukrainian people. We can count on support from a faction in the German party Die Linke. However, most of the European Left remains eurocentric and even chauvinistic. We think that military equipment should be delivered to Ukraine, without needing a build-up of the European military. Sanctions on Russia should not serve European profits, but Ukrainian’s interest. To ensure this they should come not from imperialist governments but workers organisations such as unions. We stand for the destruction of the present Russian Federation. We recognise that most Russian citizens have a ‘centrist’ opinion on the war: they are not exactly in favour, yet they do not express their opposition. We need to understand that the Putin regime has destroyed all left-wing organisations and trade unions within Russia. It is only now – after three years of war – that we can see the beginnings of new organisations, who try to go “against the current”. Nevertheless, there still are soms organised people active on Russian soil. With them we strive to support political prisoners, while also spreading information (which is, however, very difficult). In exile our main problem is the sectarian, eurocentric and chauvinistic Left, which hinders our efforts at connecting with broader layers of the population. Nevertheless, we try to keep connecting, listening to Ukrainian people, finding an audience in trade unions, etc.

Mikhail Lobanov

Apologies, but I did not really prepare a statement. In 2021 we participated in the elections for the Duma and later in the Moscow municipal elections, which were both actually a good experience. Officially, I myself received 31% of the votes, but the results were falsified through the use of impossible to be acknowledged ‘electronic voting’. At the time we were part of a fairly huge network of militant supporters. Today, this is no longer possible: there are no resources, no money, civil society is completely destroyed and there is also a generational change. In short, at the time there was a general shift towards the moderate left, confronting the hard right regime. Important for now is that there is a crisis. People do start thinking again and are also starting again to move to the left. The big question however is: how to organise them? For now, we have to start building new infrastructural projects for new networks, step by step.

Questions and Replies

Francesco, from Italy (questions)

• What is the attitude of people within Russia towards displaced Ukrainians?
• Is there a dialogue between the various strand of the Russian opposition and is there a perspective for building alliances?
• Does the European Union not fear a defeat of Russia?

Bernard, France (questions)

• What are the differences between the various strands of the Russian opposition?
• What is the attitude of liberals and democrats concerning the war? Do they have an anti-war stand?
• Is there a possibility for creating a broad oppositional front?
• What about the networks of anarchists within Russia?

Dmitrii Kovalev (reply)

We propose to have a practical approach. We want to collaborate with everyone who is against Putin, without sectarianism. We are seeing that liberals are becoming more left, yet in emigration, they are not organised at all. About the anarchists, we know that some of them have joined the Ukrainian army. At the same time, many of the anarchists are demoralised.

Maria, from Germany (questions)

• What is the position of Die Linke on Ukraine?
• Are there any connections between the Left and the liberals in the opposition?

Kathy, from Germany (reply)

In Germany we saw a substantial support for Putin’s war, among parts of the Left (Bundniss Sahra Wagenknecht, but also socialdemocrats). In the last election, both of them did not do well, while Die Linke had a spectaculary positive result. This upswing of Die Linke made for a fast growth, especially among young people, who are not sectarian. This opens up possibilities for our own work, in connecting with people.

Maria Menshikova (reply)

During the electoral campaign of 2021 Mikhail Lobanov received support from the Navalny Campaingn (to vote for the best placed oppositional candidate), which contributed to his excellent result. Nevertheless, he was barred by manipulation from enjoying his victory. This was not an accident. Why? Because six months later the Duma voted on the recognition of the so-called ‘peoples’ republics’ in the Donbass, which was the opening act of the coming war. The regime did not want to acknowledge dissident voices. After that, Mikhail Lobanov was declared a ‘foreign agent’, which is a euphemism for ‘enemy of the people’. The same happened to the Russian Socialist Movement, which was also declared a ‘foreign agent’ and therefore forced to formally disband itself. Since then, the opposition has no more institutions ‘from the Duma down to kindergarten’. An example of this is what happened to a university in Moscow. Before it was the most progressive university in the country, with non-ideological teaching and research. Today this is one of the most propagandist universities of Russia.

Peter, chairperson (question)

Viewed from Belgium, we do not see much of an oppostion from within Russia. Yet, at the same time, we saw what happened when Yevgeny Prighozin (a despicable person) with his Wagner Group started his “march on Moscow”. Before being suddenly abandoned that march went smoothly and not a single person within Russia stood up for the Putin regime. Does that not show that there could be huge possibilities for a visible opposition against the Putin regime?

Replies from various participants

• The opposition in Russia is confused. For example: should the various nations and peoples of the Russian Federation be allowed to Separate? Most oppositionists only ask for more autonomy.
• Also many politicians of the opposition do not really connect to the real, social problems of the masses.
• Generally they do not make clear their stand on questions of decolonisation (which is a crucial question in Russia).
• Concerning the anarchists, we may add that the anarchists in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia proper all come from different traditions, with different practices and opinions.
• Therefore, it is likely better to focus on the unification of all antifascists.
• Concerning the Feminist Antiwar Resistance we have to understand that this network does not rely on “activists” as such. The FAR-networkwas organised in new conditions (not standing upon the traditions of earlier NGO’s, for example). In our work of supporting displaced persons, we see many ordinary people taking up tasks (so: not earlier political or humanitarian activists). This is not unlike what happened during the Second World War, when many so-called ”ordinary people” spontaneously supported Jews, refugees, etc.

By way of preliminary conclusion

• Long before the present war the Putin regime was preparing the ground, by falsifying elections, by changing laws and the judiciary, bydestroying organisations through designating them as “foreign agents” (such as Memorial and many, many others).
• In fact, due to these attacks, civil society has virtually disappeared.
• Therefore, organisations have to be rebuild, in very difficult circumstances.
• Also, these new organisations are themselves in a state of flux; they are in full development, organisationally, but also concerning their theoretical and political opinions.
• Nevertheless, they are doing what they can and we should support them, as much as possible!

Of course, any mistakes and/or omissions are entirely due to my own incompetence!

Peter Veltmans