Russian President Vladimir Putin’s regime has stepped up its murderous airstrikes on working people in Ukraine’s cities as it pursues its goal of conquering the country. It rebuffed attempts by President Donald Trump to broker an end to the conflict on terms that would advance both Moscow’s and Washington’s interests.
With no regard for Ukrainian sovereignty, the Trump administration wants to bring an end to the war to normalize relations with the Kremlin. It seeks to impose stability in the region for the U.S. capitalist rulers, who look to expand their access to resources and labor power in both Ukraine and Russia, bolster their military sway across Europe, and drive a wedge between Moscow and Beijing, Washington’s main rival.
Last month, U.S. officials utilized talks with the Putin regime over a possible ceasefire to try to entice Moscow with profitable energy and technology deals. These included proposals to let U.S. oil giant ExxonMobil reenter Russia’s Sakhalin-1 oil and gas project, sell U.S-made equipment to Russian liquid natural gas projects, and purchase Russian-made icebreaking vessels.
When he met Trump at their Aug. 15 Alaska summit, Putin agreed to U.S. investments, provided Washington-led imperialist sanctions on Russia were lifted. But no deal was made, as Putin is determined to continue his drive against the Ukrainian people.
Washington’s sanctions hit working people in Russia the hardest. They give Putin an opening to try to rally support for his government and cut across building an alliance between workers and farmers in Ukraine and Russia.
Since the summit Moscow’s forces have intensified their daily assaults. The 750-mile battlefront remains largely fixed. In the southeast they continue to occupy a fifth of Ukraine.
Moscow launched heavy drone and missile attacks on Kyiv and other cities Aug. 28. In Kyiv alone, 25 civilians were killed, including four children. More than 50 people were injured.
In the attack, the offices of the European Commission and the British Council were damaged. By deliberately striking these sites, Putin is firing warning shots to the U.S. rulers and other imperialist powers that provide Ukraine with air defenses and other military equipment.
A week earlier, Moscow’s cruise missiles hit a U.S.-owned factory in western Ukraine.
This round of Moscow’s airstrikes also targeted workers’ organizations. The Confederation of Free Trade Unions of Ukraine (KVPU) noted that the sites hit in Kyiv are next to the offices of the union and those of the Independent Trade Union of Miners of Ukraine.
In Koziatyn, “the office of the Free Trade Union of Railway Workers of Ukraine was destroyed, and in Dobropillia in the Donetsk region, the office of the Independent Trade Union of Miners of Ukraine at the ‘Dobropilska’ mine was ruined,” in airstrikes, the KVPU reported.
Workers and their unions have been at the forefront of Ukraine’s efforts to repel the invasion.
Moscow keeps targeting areas with large civilian populations, trying to break the determination of Ukraine’s working people to defend their country’s sovereignty. In sharp contrast, Kyiv has concentrated its strikes on Russian military and industrial sites.
In August, a wave of Ukrainian drone and missile attacks dealt one of the severest blows yet to Russia’s oil sector. At least 10 refineries and fuel terminals were hit in various regions. The attacks disabled 17 refining units, stopping the operation of about 14% of Russia’s total refining capacity.
Five plants were disabled from huge fires, while production at Rosneft’s Ryzan refinery was cut in half. Almost a quarter of Russian refinery capacity is now idled. These disruptions sent fuel prices soaring with a 40% to 50% increase since January. In parts of Russia, long lines form at many gas stations, adding to the worsening conditions workers face.
At the end of August, Ukrainian forces reversed two months of advances by Moscow’s forces, recapturing several villages in western Donetsk.
Appeal to free war captives
Oleg Orlov, a former Russian political prisoner and a head of Memorial Human Rights Defense Center, which fights for victims of repression in Russia, was one of the co-signers of “Free people first!” an open letter issued on the eve of the Trump-Putin Alaska summit.
“The Russian Federation continues to hold tens of thousands of Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war,” the letter said. “More are missing as victims of enforced disappearances. Thousands of Russian political prisoners, deprived of their liberty because of their antiwar positions and actions, remain behind bars.
“Conditions in Russian-controlled facilities are inhuman: civilian detainees and POWs, men and women, are tortured, including by being beaten unconscious, forced to stand motionless for up to 16 hours a day, subject to electric shocks (including to the genitals), raped, and denied medical aid, even when they are seriously ill.”
Vladimir Kara-Murza, a former political prisoner and co-signer of the appeal pointed to the “Ukrainian civilian hostages, Ukrainian children abducted to Russia and Russian political prisoners jailed for their antiwar position.” The appeal calls for their release.