Alexey Albu: On building a revolutionary organization in time of crisis

By Alexey Albu

“The strategic cost of not forming a political organization during a period of slow development of the spontaneous movement is the future defeat of the working class in a revolutionary situation. If we come to a crisis and the growth of mass protests without a political organization, we simply cannot build one in conditions of acute conflict.”

These words were spoken by Victor Shapinov in early 2011, during the preparations for the founding congress of the new left-wing party which was supposed to make a difference in the political space of Ukraine and become an alternative to the old hidebound left parties. 

Unfortunately, for many people who considered themselves communists at the time, the ideological dispute “Trotsky vs. Stalin” became more important than today’s political agenda, and they did not support our initiative. We were the only Ukrainian leftists who made a real attempt to create such a structure, and Borotba appeared as a result. Despite our small numbers and lack of support, Borotba became one of the leading organizations of the Ukrainian resistance movement, its left wing.

Today, the main forces of Borotba are in exile, in the underground, or in the ranks of the armed forces of the People’s Militia [in Donbass]. In these circumstances, I understand how difficult it is to create a valid political organization in the country of victorious nationalism. I understand how correct Victor was five years ago. All of today’s attempts to create an organization on the territory of Ukraine meet with fierce resistance from the authorities and their attack dogs, the nationalists.

The creation of such an organization is the main task of all those who consider themselves anti-fascists and want to overthrow the hated government in Kiev.

Only organized resistance can topple it.

¡No pasarán!

Translated by Greg Butterfield