The Left Front () is a

united front A united front is an alliance of groups against their common enemies, figuratively evoking unification of previously separate geographic fronts or unification of previously separate armies into a front. The name often refers to a political and/ ...

of leftist political organizations in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

in opposition to President

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

. It was most active in the early 2010s.

History

The first constituent congress of the Left Front was held on 18 October 2008, in Moscow. The main direction of work after the Congress was using

social movement A social movement is either a loosely or carefully organized effort by a large group of people to achieve a particular goal, typically a Social issue, social or Political movement, political one. This may be to carry out a social change, or to re ...

s, unions, and labor collectives. The secondary focus of activists has been called "propaganda of action", in which the use of ideas and demands of leftist activists is supposed to be brought to society in the form of

direct action Direct action is a term for economic and political behavior in which participants use agency—for example economic or physical power—to achieve their goals. The aim of direct action is to either obstruct a certain practice (such as a governm ...

, thus attempting to overcome the difficulties of access to

media Media may refer to: Communication * Means of communication, tools and channels used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Interactive media, media that is inter ...

. In addition, the Left Front was the organizer of the annual summer youth camps, schools, political activists, conferences, study groups for the study of socialist thought and practice, film clubs, concerts and other activities.E. Savin
non-party opened the Left Front
(Kommersant, № 190 / P, 20 October 2008)
( Newsru.com, 18 October 2008)A. Ivochki
Moscow. On the eve of the constituent congress of the Left Front
( Novaya Gazeta, 19 October 2008) In total, over one and a half years (summer 2008 – autumn 2009), there have been more than 40 regional conferences, established under the areas of the country offices of the front. To the left of the Communist Party noted the motion
(

Kommersant (, , ''The Businessman'' or Commerce Man, often shortened to Ъ) is a nationally distributed daily newspaper published in Russia mostly devoted to politics and business. The TNS Media and NRS Russia certified July 2013 circulation of the daily ...

– Siberia », № 142, 13 August 2008)P. Dobroliubov
Barnaul created regional department of the Left Front "
("PolitSibRu", 13 August 2008)Left in St. Petersburg, the "front" set up, but choose the leadership and the delegates could not because of ideological differences
(Zaks.ru, 15 September 2008)in Karelia reappeared "Left Front"
("Zaks.ru", 28 August 2008)Left activists Kirov together in the Left Front
(Institute "Collective Action", 8 June 2009)

Actions

The Left Front organizes a variety of authorized and unauthorized actions, rallies, and marches. The most famous of the promotions are meetings under the title "Day of Wrath", which is hosted by the organization in Moscow and in other regions of the country. In addition, the Left Front, together with its allies, despite a governmental ban conduct actions under the name of "anti-capitalism", which aims, according to organizers, to show the public presence of political forces of anti-capitalist orientation.

Position on the war in Donbas

The Left Front has declared its position against the

War in Donbas The war in Donbas, or the Donbas war, was a phase of the Russo-Ukrainian War in the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine. The war Timeline of the war in Donbas (2014), began in April 2014, when Russian separatist forces in Ukraine, Russian para ...

and urged a ceasefire in 2014. The fourth congress of the movement took place in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

on 23 August 2014. The delegates elected the new executive committee. No supporters of the pro-Russian republics were elected. However, ex-coordinator of the Left Front on organizational work and supporter of the pro-Russian

Novorossiya Novorossiya rus, Новороссия, Novorossiya, p=nəvɐˈrosʲːɪjə, a=Ru-Новороссия.ogg; , ; ; ; "New Russia". is a historical name, used during the era of the Russian Empire for an administrative area that would later becom ...

confederation, Sergei Udaltsov, was elected to the executive branch of the movement by one vote. The congress also accepted a resolution declaring a "War against war!". The

Donetsk People's Republic The Donetsk People's Republic (DPR; , ) is Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine, occupied territory in Ukraine that the Russian Federation has claimed to annex and declared as a Republics of Russia, republic of Russia, comprising parts o ...

's representative to Russia, Darya Mitina, left the organization following the resolution.«Левый фронт» очистил свой исполком от симпатизирующих ДНР соратников
(''tr. ""Left Front" cleared its executive committee of allies sympathetic to the DPR "'') (Russian Planet, ''rusplt.ru'') The resolution read "We need the campaign for peace. Against the bloodshed and the mass selling of blood. This campaign shouldn't be the support of the war in the back areas of the 'opponent'. Being against the military operation of the Kiev government doesn't mean supporting Putin and Strelkov. Being against Putin doesn't mean supporting Kiev government military operation. People need a campaign for peace against the greedy and cruel politicians and oligarchs, making profit of the others' grief." However, the party supported the war against Ukraine after the Russian's full-scale invasion in 2022.

Structure

The highest governing body of the Left Front is the Congress. The Council of the Left Front carries out the current leadership of the movement, and the executive committee is an operational working body of the organization.

References

External links

* {{Socialist parties in the Russian Federation 2008 establishments in Russia Civil disobedience Communist organizations in Russia Opposition to Vladimir Putin Organizations associated with the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Organizations established in 2008 Political opposition alliances Political organizations based in Russia