Borotba on assassinations: ‘Fascism has come to our house’

Over the past few days in Ukraine, there have been a number of high-profile murders of prominent politicians, public figures and journalists. We can state that this confirms our most pessimistic forecast — the ruling elite, which unleashed a fratricidal war, which pushed people into poverty, misery and injustice, cannot rely on the support of the majority of people. To preserve their political power, the ruling group has to rely on terror. Any attempt at dissent is suppressed in the most brutal manner. The assassination of political and public figures such as Oleg Kalashnikov, Oles Buzina and Oleksandr Peklushenko, and the arrests and harassment of other prominent critics of the government, says that the junta is unable to tolerate criticism.

The collapse of the economy, mass impoverishment and widespread injustice necessarily lead to social upheaval. And the junta has decided to take preventive measures, knowing that a wave of popular protests could sweep it away.

The Kiev regime has taken over the historical “heritage” of the German Nazis, Italian fascists, Franco’s Spain, Pinochet’s Chile and other dictatorships by prohibiting the propaganda of communist ideas. They’ve begun to kill, imprison or force into exile not only those who could potentially lead the people to fight back, but also journalists such as Oles Buzina.

The rivers of people’s blood spilled in the Donbass are perceived by the authorities as something ordinary, as dry statistics. After all, on both sides it is the common people who are dying, “Plebs” to whom the authorities never paid attention. But we can say with certainty that these killings signal the beginning of a new phase of the civil war in Ukraine. If the earlier confrontation followed the line of junta + supporters against the people of the South-East, now the representatives of yesterday’s elite have been unwittingly drawn in.

The “suicides” of Peklushenko and [Mykhailo] Chechetov, and the killing of Kalashnikov — deputies of the previous Verkhovna Rada convocation — show that agreeing to go along with this regime will not work. Everyone who tried to sit quietly, who agreed to remain silent in exchange for the preservation of their capital, is now in the crosshairs of the right-wing paramilitary gangs. Many “old school” figures must understand that any one of them could be next.

The cruelty of the authorities will only increase. And anyone who is not satisfied with what is happening in the country must understand that it is impossible to remain silent. It’s time to act.

We appeal to everyone to stop burying our heads in the sand and realize that fascism has come to our house. 

We encourage everyone to prepare for the fight. We will have no freedom from the Nazis unless we free ourselves.

We invite everyone to get organized. After all, we are many and we can win.