The Association "Struggle" ( uk, Об'єднання «Боротьба», Ob'yednannia "Boroťba"; russian: Объединение «Боротьба») was a

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

organization operating in

Odesa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrati ...

Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest city and municipality in Ukraine.

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Ky ...

, and

Dnipro Dnipro, previously called Dnipropetrovsk from 1926 until May 2016, is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, with about one million inhabitants. It is located in the eastern part of Ukraine, southeast of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on the Dnieper Rive ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inva ...

Draft Manifesto

The Draft Manifesto of the Organization declares:

Union “Borotba” stands for Revolutionary Marxism, and its most important task – to extend Left ideology implementing Marxist methodology in the political discourse of Ukraine.

The Manifest also states that the organization will support principles of

anti-capitalism Anti-capitalism is a political ideology and movement encompassing a variety of attitudes and ideas that oppose capitalism. In this sense, anti-capitalists are those who wish to replace capitalism with another type of economic system, such as ...

internationalism Internationalism may refer to: * Cosmopolitanism, the view that all human ethnic groups belong to a single community based on a shared morality as opposed to communitarianism, patriotism and nationalism * International Style, a major architectur ...

anti-fascism Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were ...

political radicalism Radical politics denotes the intent to transform or replace the principles of a society or political system, often through social change, structural change, revolution or radical reform. The process of adopting radical views is termed radica ...

and

gender equality Gender equality, also known as sexual equality or equality of the sexes, is the state of equal ease of access to resources and opportunities regardless of gender, including economic participation and decision-making; and the state of valuing d ...

History

Taking the name of oppositional political party in Soviet Ukraine, from 1920 until 1925, which had merged with the

Ukrainian Communist Party The Ukrainian Communist Party ( uk, Українська Комуністична Партія, ''Ukrayins’ka Komunistychna Partiya'') was an oppositional political party in Soviet Ukraine, from 1920 until 1925. Its followers were known as Ukap ...

in 1920, Borotba has been described as part of the emerging heterogeneous New Left in Ukraine. Its leader is the Russian, Victor Shapinov, formerly active in

Russian Communist Workers Party The Russian Communist Workers' Party (in Russian: Российская Коммунистическая Рабочая Партия; transcription: ''Rossiyskaya Kommunisticheskaya Rabochaya Partiya'' or ''RKRP'') was a communist party in Russia. ...

before moving to Ukraine in 2005. The association was established in May 2011 by former members of the Stalinist wing of " Organization of Marxists" (a Marxist-Leninist group formed in 2007), the

Communist Party of Ukraine The Communist Party of Ukraine, Abbreviation: KPU, from Ukrainian and Russian "" is a banned political party in Ukraine. It was founded in 1993 as the successor to the Soviet-era Communist Party of Ukraine which was banned in 1991 (accord ...

(KPU) and its

youth wing A youth wing is a subsidiary, autonomous, or independently allied front of a larger organization (usually a political party but occasionally another type of organization) that is formed in order to rally support for that organization from members ...

the "Leninist Communist Youth Union of Ukraine, the "All-Ukrainian Union of Workers", the "Youth Association Che Guevara" and the "Youth against capitalism" movement, with some individual leftist activists also joining. The founding congress was attended by delegates from across Ukraine. International guests from

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

were also present.History of the organization
, ''Official site of the "Borotba" Association'', accessed on 15 May 2014. Borotba has cooperated with and received support from

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

Die Linke The Left (german: Die Linke; stylised as and in its logo as ), commonly referred to as the Left Party (german: Die Linkspartei, links=no ), is a democratic socialist political party in Germany. The party was founded in 2007 as the result of th ...

and the Swedish Left Party's VIF aid organization. It also cooperates with the Left Front, a

opposition Opposition may refer to: Arts and media * ''Opposition'' (Altars EP), 2011 EP by Christian metalcore band Altars * The Opposition (band), a London post-punk band * '' The Opposition with Jordan Klepper'', a late-night television series on Com ...

group.

Activities

When the

Euromaidan Euromaidan (; uk, Євромайдан, translit=Yevromaidan, lit=Euro Square, ), or the Maidan Uprising, was a wave of demonstrations and civil unrest in Ukraine, which began on 21 November 2013 with large protests in Maidan Nezalezhno ...

movement started in 2013, Borotba were critical of it from the outset. Some members of Borotba, including Dennis Levine, attempted to recruit protesters to the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of Ukraine to fight against increased public transport costs in Kyiv. According to Svetlana Tsiberganova, they were attacked by the far-right. Borotba's analysis of the authorities that replaced former President

Viktor Yanukovych Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych ( uk, Віктор Федорович Янукович, ; ; born 9 July 1950) is a former politician who served as the fourth president of Ukraine from 2010 until he was removed from office in the Revolution of D ...

and the second Azarov government after the 2013-14 Ukrainian protests on 22 February 2014 is that

far-right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...

nationalists Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

received too much power and control over important ministries and agencies including defense, anti-corruption and national security, education, agriculture and the environment, as well as the office of the

Prosecutor General of Ukraine The prosecutor general of Ukraine (also procurator general of Ukraine, uk, Генеральний прокурор України) heads the system of official prosecution in courts known as the Office of the Prosecutor General ( uk, Офіс ...

. Borotba has condemned what they considered a "Western-backed" and "

fascist Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and the ...

" February 2014 coup in

and called for a

socialist revolution Revolutionary socialism is a political philosophy, doctrine, and tradition within socialism that stresses the idea that a social revolution is necessary to bring about structural changes in society. More specifically, it is the view that revoluti ...

in Ukraine against the government of "

ultra-nationalists Ultranationalism or extreme nationalism is an extreme form of nationalism in which a country asserts or maintains detrimental hegemony, supremacy, or other forms of control over other nations (usually through violent coercion) to pursue its sp ...

and

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in N ...

". Borotba's members took an active role in political events in

Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest city and municipality in Ukraine.

in March 2014. On March 15, Borotba, the "People's Unity" and other groups called a public meeting in Kharkiv. Borotba joined Anti-Maidan protesters in storming the regional administration building, which at that time was occupied by pro-Maidan activists, and their members are accused by other Ukrainian left organisations for taking part in the beating of pro-Maidan activists, including anarchists and the well-known Ukrainian author Serhiy Zhadan. Borotba justified their action by calling the occupants members of

Right Sector Right Sector ( uk, Пра́вий се́ктор, ''Pravyi sektor'') is a right-wing to far-right, Ukrainian nationalist organization. It originated in November 2013 as a right-wing, paramilitary confederation of several radical nationalist orga ...

.Borotba during the protests in the Southeast
Borotba.org: Kommunique Nr.6, accessed 4 July 2014 (Russian) On April 15, and May 8, 2014, Borotba's office in Kharkiv was raided by police. In Kharkiv, Borotba activists claim to have printed 100,000 leaflets and 10,000 posters persuading the voters to boycott the presidential election in May 2014, since they considered it unrepresentative, radical rightist, and illegitimate. On

May Day May Day is a European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice. Festivities may also be held the night before, known as May Eve. Tr ...

, Borotba members staged a rally in Kovalska Street in

. Later in May, Borotba joined other Anti-Maidan parties (Yury Apukhtin's "Southeast" movement, the

Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine The Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine (PSPU) is a banned Pro-Russian National Bolshevik political party in Ukraine led by Nataliya Vitrenko. The party was represented in Ukraine's national parliament between 1998 and 2002. History The p ...

and the Communist Party of Ukraine) in rallying against the presidential elections. The leader of the Odesan regional organisation of Borotba, Aleksey Albu, fled to Russian-annexed

Crimea Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a p ...

, where he founded a "Committee for the Liberation of Odesa" on 24 May 2014 together with representatives of the Russian nationalist party Rodina and of the far-right organization "Slavic Unity". On September 12, a Borotba activist was arrested in Odesa by the

Security Service of Ukraine The Security Service of Ukraine ( uk, Служба безпеки України, translit=Sluzhba bezpeky Ukrainy}) or SBU ( uk, СБУ, link=no) is the law enforcement authority and main intelligence and security agency of the Ukraini ...

(SBU), under the accusation of terrorism.

Criticism

On March 3, 2014, several left and

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessar ...

organizations in Ukraine, including the Autonomous Workers' Union, the "Direct Action" Independent Student Union and the Left Opposition socialist organization, criticized Borotba for cooperation with conservative, nationalist and fascist, pro-Russian groups in Ukraine and spreading "overt lies and fact manipulations". In a rebuttal, Borotba rejected the accusations as "hypocritical" and "irrelevant". Borotba states that it has regularly criticized Russian authorities and organized in solidarity with left-wing Russian organizations that met with repression from the Russian authorities. After the circulation of these allegations, the regional coordination office of the German federal

party distanced itself from Borotba and its founding member Serhei Kirichuk, who is currently living in German exile.Vom Maidan in den Bürgerkrieg?
From Maidan to civil war? (German) DIE LINKE Landesverband Hamburg, accessed 4 July 2014 Die Linke cancelled several events with Kirichuk, such as a panel discussion in Hamburg on the 2 July 2014 and in Kiel 3 July 2014. A book presentation which Kirichuk had helped to organise was also cancelled due to the author's ties to Russian neo-Nazi groups such as

Russian National Unity Russian National Unity (RNU; transcribed Russkoe natsionalnoe edinstvo RNE) or All-Russian civic patriotic movement "Russian National Unity" (russian: Всероссийское общественное патриотическое движен� ...

and the anti-immigrant DPNI. Kirichuk responded to many of the accusations levelled against the organisation, especially with regard to their support for separatists in the South and East of Ukraine, in an interview with

Andrej Hunko Andrej Konstantin Hunko (born 29 September 1963 in Munich) is a German politician ( The Left). He has been a member of the German Bundestag since 2009 and a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) since 2010. He has ...

of Die Linke."They hate us because we are communists"
Interview with Sergei Kirichuk by Andrej Hunko (09.07.2014). Retrieved 24-08-2014.

References

External links