Why Ukraine won’t declare default

By Alexei Albu The Ukrainian economy is in a steep nosedive. No matter how hard they try to conceal the real picture of the GDP (which supposedly has decreased by only 5.3%, although alternative estimates indicate 12.1%) with a decrease in inflation rates and some non-existent “achievements” in the spirit of the Odessa chess school […]

Zakharchenko: Donetsk army to grow with volunteers

February 2: Alexander Zakharchenko, head of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR), answered reporters’ questions about the voluntary military mobilization. “The enemy is increasing the size of its army considerably; we also need to equalize the situation. Soon a recruitment drive for the DNR will be announced. While there is time, new units should learn in […]

Developments in the Debaltsevsky cauldron on Feb. 2

Today, Debaltseve and the area around the Debaltsevsky cauldron remains the tensest point at the Novorossiyan front. Uglegorsk, Nikishin and Chernukhin report active offensive actions by the people’s militia. Debaltsevsky cauldron: Red arrows show the Novorossiyan forces’ efforts to close Ukrainian troops’ escape route. Uglegorsk is now under the control of the Donetsk People’s Republic militia, […]

Ukraine: Failure of the ‘mobilization’

By Sergei Kirichuk, Union Borotba (Struggle) January 29, 2015 – The lowest rate of compliance with Ukraine’s ongoing nationwide mobilization [military draft] was recorded in the “patriotic” Ivano-Frankivsk region. Governor Oleg Goncharuk has already said that there is a large-scale campaign to disrupt the mobilization, thereby recognizing that conscription in the Carpathians ended in failure. According to […]

Odessa opposes the anti-Russia declaration

By Alexei Albu Of the 17 parliamentary deputies from Odessa, only three voted in favor of declaring the Russian Federation as the aggressor. Four did not vote for the statement, and nine people’s deputies boycotted the session of the Verkhovna Rada altogether. This suggests that all who were elected from the Odessa region are well […]

Arsenal or Kruty? The 1918 Soviet Uprising in Kiev

By Ivan Zelensky, Union Borotba (Struggle) January 29, 2015 – Exactly 97 years ago in Kiev, an uprising of workers began against the government of the Central Rada — the largest workers’ uprising in the history of Ukraine. On the eve, the Soviet of Workers ‘and Soldiers’ Deputies decided to start an armed action, despite […]

Official website of Donetsk Council of Ministers and National Soviet attacked

January 28, 2015: According to the Ministry of Information of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR), the official website of the Council of Ministers and the National Soviet of the Donetsk People’s Republic, dnr.today, was blocked on January 27. In clarifying the reasons why the site is offline, we uncovered an attempt to steal the domain […]

Why Washington fuels Ukraine’s war on Novorossiya

By Greg Butterfield Based on a talk at the Workers World Party Forum in New York on January 23, 2015. The rush-hour shelling of a trolley bus in the capital of Donetsk left 13 dead and 20 wounded January 22. At least 100 civilians were killed January 21 alone in the Ukrainian terror-bombing of cities […]

Two worlds

By Sergei Kirichuk, Union Borotba (Struggle) January 24, 2015 – A Facebook user wrote on his page about how, while meeting a cousin at the train station, he saw two categories of passengers on the platform: young men in camouflage, headed East, obviously, to participate in the so-called Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO), and other young men, […]

Odessa village rebels against military draft

On January 23 in the village of Kulevchi, Saratsky district of the Odessa region, area residents rebelled against the mobilization [military draft] and kicked recruiting staff out of the village. The villagers told this to Timer. According to them, the villagers learned in advance that 240 people were receive mobilization notices, and in a matter […]