Ukraine: Volhynia - soldiers mutiny and refuse to go to the Donbas According to a report in the Volhynia Post, on May 27, soldiers of the 3rd Battalion of the 51st Brigade refused to be transported to Mykolayiv to fight the rebels. The soldiers refused to move and started to unload machinery and equipment.
Beginning of Rebellion in the Ukrainian Army? Further to the report we published about a mutiny of soldiers of the 3rd Battalion of the 51st Brigade, here are some additional news which indicate that the mutiny is spreading to the 2nd Battalion based in Rivne.
Donetsk miners strike against war - eyewitness account Further to our report on the strike of Donetsk coal miners against Kiev's "anti terrorist operation" we publish here an eyewitness account by Stanislav Retinskyi which was published in the Ukrainian left wing site Liva. The author talks to the miners and explains how they took the initiative themselves and what pushed them to strike.
The meaning of the European elections The recent European Parliament elections have caused shock waves in the continent’s political landscape. Big victories were scored by anti-establishment parties in countries such as France, Greece and the UK provoking alarm in the mainstream political parties. The argument that these elections represent a sharp swing to the right – and even fascism – is entirely false.
Ukraine: Donbas miners mobilise against oligarchs’ offensive Miners of the Donetsk region stopped work yesterday, starting an all-out strike in protest against the Ukrainian army’s continuing offensive and demanding an end to the “anti-terrorist operation” (ATO) in the region; several pits in the Donbas are taking part already and the strikes appears to be spreading to more mines. Meanwhile, spokesmen of the Kiev government and Ukrainian armed forces threaten escalation of the crackdown, with ATO press-secretary Alexei Dmitrashkovsky statingthat the operation will continue “until...
Britain: European and Local Elections a Blow to the Coalition The results of the 2014 local and European elections have delivered a resounding double blow to the Tories and their coalition partners, the Liberal Democrats.
New Ukrainian president Poroshenko continues bloody assault on Donbas rebels May 26 was the bloodiest day so far in Kiev’s “anti-terrorist” operation where Ukrainian forces used fighter jets and helicopter gunships to fight off rebels who had taken over the airport in Donetsk. This is the clear message the new president Poroshenko is sending to the Peoples’ Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk.
Ukraine: Record abstention rate as the Kiev oligarchs seek to legitimise their rule The events that led to the holding of the latest Ukrainian presidential election started with a demand for EU-integration. So it is fitting that the election with the lowest participation (estimated at around 55% by the Ukrainian Electoral Commission) in Ukraine’s history was held on the same day as the EU elections, which had an even lower participation of 43%. The first round was won outright by oligarch Petro Poroshenko, scoring 54% with 80% of the votes counted. Yulia Tymoshenko was runner-up at a distant 13%, while fellow populist Oleh Lyashko took just over 8%.
Ukraine elections: President Oligarch - the natural result of Euromaidan We republish here the first statement of the left wing organisation Union of Borotba (Struggle) on Ukraine’s “elections of blood"
Ireland: Welfare Cuts hanging over the North Sixteen years after the Good Friday agreement and ever so conveniently, just after the European Elections, the Stormont Assembly will shortly face a show down on the question of Welfare Reform, which is likely to illustrate just how toothless and lame the Assembly really is. But most importantly it will demonstrate the relationship between the DUP, Sinn Féin and the Westminster Government.
Ireland: Alan Shatter - Class Rule and the Working Class Alan Shatter’s resignations from the posts of Minster of Justice and Equality and Minister for Defence may have apparently “astonished” the Dáil as the Irish Times reported a few days ago. But it is unlikely that many Dublin workers would have been surprised at the allegations made by the Garda whistleblowers regarding corruption over the cancellation of penalty points. Now, however, the proverbial pigeons have come home to the roost and the Garda Commissioner has resigned together with Shatter himself.
Akhmetov calls mobilisation against Donetsk Republic – workers ignore it On May 20th, Rinat Akhmetov, Ukraine’s wealthiest man and oligarch boss of the South East of the country had called for a mass mobilisation against the Donetsk Peoples’ Republic and for a united Ukraine.
Ukraine: No time for gloating We publish this article by Borotba leader Sergei Kirichuk which deals with the attacks against the Communist Party of Ukraine and calls for broad solidarity with all those suffering repression and right wing attacks.
Greek local elections confirm sharp class polarisation to the left and the right The first round in the local elections, held last Sunday, May 18, reveal a significant growth of parties to the left of SYRIZA, in particular the KKE, but also a shift to the right within the right-wing camp, with Golden Dawn picking up votes. What we have is a sharpening of the class polarisation within Greek society, a harbinger of renewed class conflict in the coming period. Here we provide an analysis by a Greek Marxist of the results of the first round.
Terror in Ukraine forces left wing organisation Borotba underground – interview with Sergei Kirichuk Sergei Kirichuk is a leading member of the Ukrainian socialist movement "Borotba" (Struggle) For many years he fought against the oligarchic regime of Viktor Yanukovych. But today Kirichuk and his comrades are organizing resistance to the new authorities. In response to these they have been targeted by right-wing terror and police repression. Kiev propagandists have described Kirichuk as one of the leaders of the "separatists", and extreme right wing Ukranian nationalists have included his name in the list of "enemies of the Ukrainian nation."