Vol. 78/No. 28      August 4, 2014

Working people worldwide should stand with workers and farmers of Ukraine and their fellow toilers in Russia against the provocations and assaults on Ukrainian sovereignty by the capitalist regime in Moscow.

The “strongman” actions of the government of President Vladimir Putin betray its weakness. Behind Moscow’s nationalist demagogy and media fabrications is fear of the popular mobilizations in Ukraine that overthrew President Viktor Yanukovych in February and the inspiration they provide for workers and their allies in Russia.

At the same time it’s important that working people — from the U.S. to Ukraine — condemn financial sanctions imposed on Russian businesses and individuals by Washington and other imperialist governments, which aim to impose hardship on workers and farmers.

Washington claims to stand with Ukraine, but the goal of the U.S. rulers and their imperialist allies in Europe is to squeeze maximum profit from the labor of working people there. Behind the banner of “democracy” lies more assaults on the living standards and dignity of the masses.

The propaganda barrage from the Moscow-controlled media labeled the massive street protest movement in Kiev’s Maidan Square as “fascist” and called the ouster of the thuggish Yanukovych regime a “fascist coup.” It was nothing of the sort. Far from crushing the spirit, rights and organization of the working class, the battles to defeat Yanukovych have given working people and their allies greater self-confidence and helped open political space for them to discuss politics and act in their class interests.

Neither is the Ukrainian government fascist. It is a government of the exploiting capitalist ruling class, which has come together since the fall of the Soviet Union and other Stalinist regimes of Eastern and Central Europe nearly a quarter century ago. The challenges, concerns and struggles of workers and farmers in that region mirror those of fellow toilers throughout the world today — the long, hard road ahead toward the fight for the conquest of political power by the working class.
 
 
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