“The combat that is taking place today is not a war between Ukraine and Russia, or between eastern and western Ukraine,” Balenko said. “It is Russian government interference in Ukraine to prevent the people of our country from deciding our own destiny.”

“Workers from Kiev to Kharkiv, Chernobyl to Kryvyi Rih, were eager to talk with us about the conditions they face and fights they are waging,” said John Studer, who was part of a recent Militant reporting trip to Ukraine. “Working people in Ukraine face both violent provocations from separatists and bosses’ attacks on wages and working conditions.”

Ukraine miners have the second highest mortality rate in the world, Balenko told the meeting.

“When we talked with working people in Ukraine about what workers in the U.S. face, their eyes opened wide,” said Studer. “Many agreed that we face the same kinds of attacks, the same need to organize effective resistance, the same interest in learning the history of working-class struggles, the same need to find a road to independent working-class political action.”

After the meeting, Olga Dzubenko, one of four Ukrainians there, said she liked how the forum put Ukraine in the context of what workers face around the world and how to advance the struggles of working people in the U.S.