The conflicts among the imperialist countries generate favorable conditions for the revolutionary proletariat in various countries to expose the rotten capitalist system and the worsening exploitation against workers and other oppressed classes. Communist parties must strengthen their class initiative and strength, to fight the fascist forces and the imperialist war, and advance the revolutionary struggles in their countries.

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We must dispel US propaganda about Ukraine and what it insists as a “Russian invasion.” The US imperialists dominate the “narrative” about the emerging war to demonize Russia and obscure its role in intervention and provocation of war in Ukraine. The US line is being parroted by large news agencies and media outlets, as well the Philippine mass media. There is a lack of critical analysis and understanding of historical and current information about US interference and inter-imperialist conflicts over the current imperialist division in Europe.

To repudiate the deceptive propaganda of the imperialists and fully understand the situation in Ukraine, we must consider and study the following information.

1. Donbass is a region in the eastern part of Ukraine, bordering Russia’s west. It is an industrial area that developed during the period of socialism under the Soviet Union (USSR). Even before the USSR was formed in 1922, Donbass has been dominated by Russian people (in terms of language, culture and history). The Russian population in Donbass expanded in the 1930s when Russian workers were deployed to help in industrialization.

2. Ukraine, a former member of the Soviet Union, together with Russia and Belarus (Belarus is a country north of Ukraine) formed the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). When the USSR was dismantled in 1991 after years of capitalist restoration since 1953, these countries forged in Minsk (a city in Belarus) an agreement that they will build a special military area which would not be part of the US-led NATO.

3. In 2014, the US mounted a coup in Ukraine and installed a puppet regime through the so-called Maidan Revolution. When it assumed power, the Kyiv government (supported by Obama) mounted a relentless bombardment of the Donbass region targeting the civilian population. More than 14,000 were killed in what is considered a genocide or pogrom against the Russian people in Donbass. This is one of the biggest crimes of the Obama government in collusion with the Ukrainian government.

4. The people of Donbass took up arms and fought the attacks of Kyiv since \2014. From this war emerged the People’s Republic of Donetsk and the People’s Republic of Lugansk (both key areas in Donbass). In negotiations in Minsk in 2014 and 2015, Ukraine was obliged to recognize Donbass as an autonomous area. The agreement also provided for the withdrawal of all foreign troops in Donbass, including forces of the Ukrainian and Russian army.

5. Far-right neo-Nazi groups are strong in Ukraine; the current president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is an anti-Russian Nazi. He declared last year that he will “free” Donbass and called on all Russians to “go home to Russia.” Since last year, Kyiv has laid siege on Donbass with several brigades surrounding the region.

6. On December 16, 2021, the United Nations approved a resolution calling for “combatting glorification of Nazism, neo-Nazism and other practices that contribute to fuelling contemporary forms of racism.”.Only two countries voted against the resolution: the US and Ukraine.

7. The US has long sought for the inclusion of Ukraine into NATO because this will help the US strengthen its missile network along Russia’s border. It has missiles positioned in Slovenia and Romania; as well as in Alaska’s border in Russia; it has military bases in Poland; and has positioned war matériel in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. In 2019, the US withdrew from the agreement with Russia concerning intermediate-range nuclear missiles that prohibited both sides from deploying such missiles in each others’ borders.

8. Since the end of January, Kyiv has been massing up troops to encircle Donbass. Based on some reports, the Ukrainian army has put into position 13 brigades, with some forces occupying some areas in Donetsk. There is information that US military advisers and private military contractors such as the Blackwater (Academi) are stationed in Ukrainian army camps. On February 21, it was reported that Ukrainian forces fired 1,500 artillery shells against Donetsk and Lugansk destroying important civilian infrastructure such as power plants. The US has been claiming that Russian plans to carry out “false flag” operations to obscure the fact that its military advisers have long deployed in Ukraine and are coordinating these attacks to provoke a “Russian invasion.”

9. This week alone, after around seven years, Russia recognized the People’s Republic of Lugansk and the People’s Republic of Donetsk, an act that these independent republics have long sought for. This raised Donetsk and Lugansk from its former status as forming an autonomous region in Ukraine, to becoming separate republics. By recognizing these two independent states, Russia declared outrightly that it has no intention of occupying these states. On February 22, these two states formally sought Russian military assistance to counter what they described as “the Ukrainian regime’s military aggression into their territory.” As a result of relentless cannon fire by Ukrainian forces, more than 40,000 civilians were forced to evacuate to Russia. In response, Russia sent “peacekeeping”” troops into the region.

10. Russia has ordered a “special military operation” in Ukraine. This is amid escalating armed conflicts between the Donetsk army and Ukrainian soldiers in Donbass. In mounting attacks against Ukrainian military facilities, Russia declared that it has no objective of invading or occupying Ukraine. According to Russian president Vladimir Putin: “It is not part of our plan to occupy any Ukrainian territory. We will not impose anything by force.” Russia’s “special military operations” of mounting attacks against military facilities in Ukraine are described as a response to the relentless attacks of the US-puppet Kyiv regime against the Donbass region and its independent republics.

11. The attacks against Donbass are part of the US provocations to make Russia “invade” Ukraine. The objective of the US is to ignite a conflict and war in order to boost the sales of its arms and justify increased military aid to Ukraine. The US is drumbeating a Russian “invasion” in order to isolate it from international public opinion, and thus pressure Germany and other US allies in Europe to cut trade relations with Russia, especially the purchase of oil. The US has long opposed the operations of the Nord Stream 2, a new pipeline that can double the delivery of natural gas from Russia to Germany and the rest of Europe.

12. There is a heightening call from different parts of the world to stop the attacks from all sides, to conduct negotiations and forge agreements for the peaceful resolution of the conflicts. At the center of discussions would be the previous agreements in Minsk (2015) between Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France, in order to forge a new agreement to ensure the peaceful coexistence of countries in the region, as well as the demand of Russia for a specific prohibition against Ukraine’s inclusion into the NATO and an end to Ukraine’s genocidal war in the Donbass.

Conclusions

The current conflict in Ukraine is a manifestation of heightening inter-imperialist conflicts. In particular, war provocations and drumbeating by the US and its NATO allies aim to change the current imperialist division, especially in terms of trade and investment, particularly in Europe; as well as divisions in imperialists spheres of influence and hegemony. On the other hand, Russia’s defense of Donbass and attacks against Ukraine’s military facilities seek to preserve and strengthen the current division that favors its interests.

There is danger that the flames of war in Ukraine and Europe will spread and bring about gross sufferings to the workers and people in the region. The people suffering the worst are those in Donetsk and Lugansk in the face of the relentless Ukrainian attacks. Thus, it is just for the people of Donetsk and Lugansk to uphold their right to national self-determination and win the broadest international support for its aspiration. The people of Ukraine will also suffer as a result of the depletion of resources by the fascist state in waging war against the Donbass region and forcing its people and soldiers into an unjust war of genocide, aggression and territorial occupation.

The conflicts among the imperialist countries generate favorable conditions for the revolutionary proletariat in various countries to expose the rotten capitalist system and the worsening exploitation against workers and other oppressed classes. Communist parties must strengthen their class initiative and strength, to fight the fascist forces and the imperialist war, and advance the revolutionary struggles in their countries.