REPRESSION TARGETS CHITA ANARCHISTS ALREADY JAILED FOR WAR RESISTANCE AND ANTI-REGIME GRAFFITI ~ Antti Rautiainen ~ The regional prosecutor’s office for the Trans-Baikal region in eastern Siberia has submitted a petition to a local court to recognize the “Trans-Baikal Left Association” as a terrorist organisation. The petition refers to the telegram channel 75zlo, allegedly maintained by jailed anarchists Aleksandr Snezhkov and Lyubov Lizunova, which the petition asks to declare as “leaders” of this association. The court hearing is scheduled for January 13. Currently the channel has 72 subscribers, and no posts have been published there since the anarchists were detained. If the court agrees with the prosecutor’s office and recognises 75zlo as a “terrorist community”, any activity related to it will be prohibited. In Russia, “forming a terrorist organisation” is punishable from 15 years in prison to a life sentence. Aleksandr does not agree with the prosecutor’s claim and will seek to participate in the hearing. Snezhkov and Lizunova, then 19 and 16 years old, were arrested in October 2022 in Chita, Eastern Siberia, and accused of “vandalism” and “propaganda of terrorism” for spraying graffiti against the regime and maintaining anti-war Telegram channels. More than two years later, in November 2024, they were sentenced by a military court to 6 and 3.5 years in prison, respectively. 75 is the regional code of the Trans-Baikal region used in car licence plates, and zlo is an acronym for both the Trans-Baikal Left Association and the popular anti-police slogan “to revenge everything on cops”. Last October, Snezhkov was sentenced to an additional five years for “justification of terrorism” for reading his case files to his cellmates. During his imprisonment, Snezhkov has been sent to solitary confinement for long periods, last spring he spent 90 days in the hole. During his current pre-trial detention he was again sent to the hole for 20 days. Recently, a support group announced a collection of 280 thousand rubles (about £2,600) to help the two anarchists for costs of parcels during the next six months. Letters of support must be written in Russian (use auto-translate) and can be sent to Aleksandr at: Снежкову Александру Евгеньевичу 2003 г.р. Россия, 672010, Забайкальский край, г. Чита, ул Ингодинская, 1а, СиЗО-1. России по Забайкальскому краю and to Lyubov at: Лизуновой Любови Витальевне, 2006 г.р. Россия, 670000, г.Улан-Удэ, ул.Пристанская, 4-а, ИК-7 It is also possible to write to Alexandr via prisonmail.online using region “Zabaykalsky Krai” and prison “SIZO-1 Chita” -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- With information from Moscow Anarchist Black Cross, Fires of Freedom and Ivan Astashin The post Russia plans to declare anti-war Telegram channel a “terrorist organisation” appeared first on Freedom News.

DEDICATION AND TRAUMA AMID THE UNEXPLODED REMNANTS OF WAR ~ Josie Ó Súileabháin ~ “If people are tired of this war, tell them to come and join the fight. People are fighting and struggling here, and people need help. This is not a video game”.—Joy (Marcy–Yusef) In a darkness demanded for survival, an old man speaks to volunteers in Kupyansk, Kharkiv Oblast following the retreat of the Russian army. “They attacked here, first with airstrikes, bombing the area”, he says. “They dropped bombs here—I still have some in my garden”. “And did the animals survive?” the volunteers ask. “You see you were putting yourself at risk…” “I let them go when the Russians forced me to evacuate at gun point… a missile hit the yard, and the garage and the barn burnt down. The ducklings burnt to death… but the chickens managed to survive… people left everything behind. Many people lost their legs because of the ‘Lepestok’ mines”. “Clearing the gardens of mines?” he is asked. “Sometimes by accident”, he replies. “Most of them lost their legs and a lot of de-miners blown themselves up here”. The ‘Lepestok’ (PFM) mine is a scatterable munition that is identifiable by its green, petal shape and timed to explode. Ukraine has inherited millions of these small mines from the Soviet Union and destroyed at least half of them under efforts lead by the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. During the full-scale invasion, the Russian occupation has been documented using them around hospitals and in residential areas. “I remember these petals scattered all over the hospital”, a medical worker at Izyum Central Hospital told Human Rights Watch (HRW). During the Russian occupation of Izyum, the Russian army set up a field hospital in the basement within the central hospital to treat their own wounded. At one point, there were only seven members of staff for Ukrainian patients. “I heard a slam in the sky”, a neighbour to the hospital reported to HRW. “Previously I knew that if a cluster munition explodes above our heads, the submunitions would go over us because of inertia. Because of where they were, I understood they would fall on us. So I told my wife and we went to hide in the basement”. “But there was no explosion. And our neighbour said: ‘Have a look, a petal on the ground.’” Burial site outside Izyum When the Russians retreated from Izyum, they detonated the PFM mines around the hospital with their rifles to form a path of escape. Outside of the major urban centres, the situation is much worse with almost no access to medical care. Ksenia Kozeniuk, a volunteer with Solidarity Collectives, explains the situation. “Six or seven villages, I think, we’ve visited and the situation is really upsetting because these people are living extremely difficult conditions”, Ksenia says. “We were in Kupyansk, delivering food for an elderly woman who has about 40 cats under her care”. “We walked with the cats”, the elderly woman tells volunteers outside of her home in Kupyansk. “The neighbours have little kids; they went to Poland and abandoned their pets. Just as they left, a missile hit the house. And my house was hit by a missile – the roof was blown off over there, and here the roof was torn off. The gas was cut off, the water was cut off, the sewage was cut off, and then they fixed the gas but not the sewage. No one will fix it”, the woman says. “In 2022, the frontline passed through the villages of Kharkiv and Donetsk regions, and they were completely destroyed”, Ksenia says. “Now the locals are slowly starting to return despite the fact that conditions are terrible because they have to rebuild their homes almost from scratch”. A volunteer asks a young child holding a cat; “did you come back here with your mother or did you never leave?” “I came back here”, the child replies in the darkness. “And your going to stay here, right?” the volunteer asks. “Well, yes, we live here now”, the mother replies. “We have repaired the house a little; it was my fathers house. Our house is destroyed. We lived on Kamianska street, there’s just a foundation left, and this house remained. I put a glowing bracelet on his arm”, the mother says, showing her sons arm. “And only by it when it’s dark I can tell where my child is”. “UKRAINE IS A SHIELD NOW” Darkness is required to move within a ‘zero’—an active battlefield—with drone flights and other Russian aircraft threatening death from above. Light is needed to see the Unexploded Remnants of War (URW) and other unexploded ordinance that literally is designed to imitate nature in order to kill. These humanitarian trips are described by Solidarity Collectives volunteer Serhiy Moychan as building long term connections with the community beyond war, “so that in the future we can fight together with them for… social rights and guarantees”. “Social and economic justice is the basic core, the basic principle by which we fight”, Serhiy asserts. The work of Solidarity Collectives in supporting anti-authoritarian armed resistance against Russian occupation has spilled over to directing aid to civilians living on the front. “The armies of authoritarian regimes, they’re always stronger than those of some ‘democratic’ countries. They spit on people’s rights and freedoms and invest in specific interests, in this case war. And when there’s this fragmentation of opinions or the set phrase ‘not everything is so clear’—it all fragments and gets complicated”, says Lastivka, an anarchist, feminist, activist and squatter and commander of a UAV drone unit. Lastivka interviewed by Solidarity Collectives “I haven’t heard of European anarchists ever taking a stance on this war”, Lastivka continues, “I hope they don’t have to face the hardships that Ukrainian activists have had to. But that depends on us too”. “How so?” Solidarity Collectives ask. “I really do fully support the idea that Ukraine is a shield now”. It appears that despite many declarations affirming the basic principles of armed resistance to occupation and mutual aid with those struggling to survive, some among the anti-authoritarian fighters in Ukraine still perceive a lack of international solidarity from western anarchists. Resistance against imperialist occupation has led to the deaths of comrades on the front line, as well as the imprisonment and torture of others. The comrade Joy—quoted at the top of this story—would have been 36-years-old in March this year if he was not killed by the Russian occupation in 2022. Vladyslav Yurchenko ‘Pirate’, Ruslan Tereschenko ‘Skrypal’ and Roman Legar were all killed in the last year fighting the Russian invasion. Ihor, Kolyah ‘Vagon’ and Atton – all members of the Kharkiv Hardcore Group were also killed. Still missing-in-action are comrades Cooper Andrews, Finbar Cafferkey and Dimitri Petrov who were last seen alive on the “road of life” after fighting in the battles around Bakhmut. These internationalists brought together perspectives from different struggles as praxis for resistance. Finbar brought the ideas of Rojava, Dimitri brought together movements in Europe, Ukraine, Russia and Syria, and Cooper brought the ideas of black autonomy in the U.S. for the fight against Russian occupation. There are 17,000 Ukrainian prisoners of war held either in the 20% of Ukrainian territory that Russia occupies, or within the empire itself. The anti-authoritarian journalist Maksym Butkevych was recently released as part of a prisoner exchange from the occupied Luhansk Oblast. Maksym reports that both soldiers and civilians are being held in these prisons and urges those outside to not forget them. “I witnessed torture, humiliation, beatings, electrocutions, starvation”, Maksym reports, “and other methods to humiliate people, undermine their health, and break their morale”. Some like Denys Matsola and Vladyslav Zhuravlov are still in prison after three years with no sign of release. Denys and Vlad were fighting together in the 505 Battalion when they were captured in Mariupol. Denys was placed in solitary confinement in the Ivanovo Region of Russia. Vlad is also in Russian captivity and at risk of torture, but his whereabouts are unknown. “The start of the war was worse”, says Lastivka, “but at the start of the war we knew absolutely nothing and it was only fear… if you’re talking about how we saw missions then we were like helpless kittens… the scariest missions are when you are in unknown territory, when you feel how weak and vulnerable you are, with no control over your own life, with destruction all around you…” “… we didn’t know where the enemy was”, Lastivka says. “I’m so happy that I’m not alone. There are people with whom I can share this experience. I can’t imagine how hard it is when a person finds themselves somewhere alone, isolated. That’s scary too. Although I like to criticise everyone and everything and say that the worst is yet to come, in reality my imagination carries me forward”. “Doing our job wasn’t the hardest thing”, said Dr Yuri Kuznetsov, one of the last surgeons working at Izyum hospital during the occupation, “the hardest thing was just staying alive”. “Several weeks ago, my office door opened, and the man came in and said ‘doctor, do you remember me? I’m alive!’ We have all had moments when we thought of fleeing. We’ve all had meltdowns and periods of depression, but its moments like that and the solidarity of my colleagues that have kept me here”, says Yuri. “People helped us lot. You know, to put it mildly”, Yuri reflected, “there was nothing to eat, people looted shops and pharmacies. What they didn’t need, they brought to us. Every day bags were brought and left under the door”. Yuri’s shift at the occupied hospital lasted four months and a half. Dr Yuri Kuznetsov at Izyum Central Hospital in the Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine The slashing of USAID funding under the Trump Administration has consequences for both military and healthcare operations in Ukraine, including the funding of clinics for recovery from trauma and amputations associated with war. Two projects have suspended funding to a healthcare system that has endured over a thousand separate and direct Russian military attacks to health infrastructure and workers in Ukraine. Black Flag Medical have been supplying both frontline fighters and civilians with medical mutual aid. Solidarity Collectives supports those fighters who are injured and need recovery. 100,000 amputations have been performed in Ukraine since 2022 and Izyum hospital has treated over 400 patients with injuries directly from mines like PFM. It is predicted to take decades to clear the area of this ordinance. How long does it take to recover from trauma? Against the Janus face of nationalist humanitarianism from the U.S. and imperialist occupation from Russia, our power is solidarity. Instead of debating conspiratorial geopolitical madness to hide defeatist political inaction—we must learn from our comrades east. Solidarity begins by listening. From collectives in Czech Republic that teach anti-authoritarian fighters how to contruct, program and deploy drones as a means of community defence—to events across Europe that have raised money for equipment in the fight against Russian imperialism, “you do not win a race by running alone”, Solidarity Collectives write to European anarchists, “you only run alone like an idiot”. Anti-authoritarian fighters on the front line in Ukraine. Solidarity Collectives “Strength comes from connection, from solidarity, from collective struggles. Solidarity with the people’s who resist is a political gesture which we can’t let be manipulated into a threat to gain benefits”, Solidarity Collectives write. “Anti-fascism is not contemplation but action”. “Some people turn their eyes from the war”, said Lastivka, “how much more of that can I stand? Some people are just tired and want to live normal lives but in order to live normal lives, and for you not to be bothered by news of war…you have to do something about it”. The post Ukraine: On the ground with Solidarity Collectives appeared first on Freedom News.

THOSE CONVICTED OF ARSON WERE SENTENCED TO TERMS RANGING FROM 8.5 TO 23 YEARS ~ Sean Patterson ~ As reported by Solidarity Zone, on October 2 the Second Eastern District Military Court in Chita (far eastern Russia) sentenced thirteen young men to prison for acts of “sabotage and terrorism”. The group was accused of arson at strategic transit points along the Moscow-Krasnoyarsk line. Three of the defendants were further charged with conspiring to destroy fighter jets at a military base in the far eastern Primorsky territory. The prosecution alleged that these actions occurred between December 2022 and January 2023. The case against the defendants began in March 2024. Chita.ru reported at that time that “according to the investigation, an unknown person organised a criminal organisation, which, in addition to himself, included thirteen people. He did this to undermine the economic stability and defence capability of Russia and destabilise the activities of the Russian authorities so that they would cease the Special Military Operation [in Ukraine]”.    Those convicted of arson were sentenced to terms ranging from 8.5 to 23 years. Yegor Kusonets, 20-years-old, received the longest sentence of 23 years in prison. The first six years of Kusonets term will be served in an infamous krytka (“clink”) prison colony. These colonies are known for their extreme inhumane conditions, where “terrorists” and “especially dangerous criminals” are imprisoned. Inmates receive only 2.5 square meters of cell space—half the space allotted in normal prisons—and exercise is limited to two hours of walking in a cramped concrete box. Twenty-one-year-old Vladislav Turturgeshev was sentenced to 21 years in prison, and 20-year-old Artyom Begoyan to 20 years. Alexei Nifontov, 20-years-old, was charged with “assisting sabotage activities” and sentenced to 4 years. Other defendants in the case included Vadim Shekhter, who turned 18 in pre-trial detention, 20-year-old Matvey Kirillov, Karomatullokh Nematulloev, and Ilya Demeshov, 21-year-old Konstantin Zeltsev, 22-year-old Danil Volobuev and Yevgeny Elizarov, 25-year-old Vasily Nizhegorodov and 26-year-old Amal Igamberdiev. All of them were added to Rosfinmonitoring’s “List of Terrorists and Extremists.” The Russian government’s persecution of anti-war activists continues to intensify across the country. Earlier this year, three young anarchists from Chita—19-year-old Alexander Snezhkov, 16-year-old Lyubov Lizunova, and Vladislav Vishnevsky—were convicted on terrorism charges for writing graffiti and administering two anti-war telegram channels. Most recently, Russia’s Federal Security Service reported last Tuesday that they had detained 39 “pro-Ukrainian radicals” across the country for allegedly attempting to recruit young people on Discord to carry out acts of violence. To date, 1061 defendants face criminal charges in anti-war cases in Russia, and 325 individuals have been deprived of their freedom in pre-trial detention centres or correctional facilities. The post Russia: Thirteen people imprisoned for anti-war sabotage appeared first on Freedom News.

SINCE THE RUSSIAN INVASION OF UKRAINE, THE MONUMENT HAS BECOME A SYMBOL OF DEFIANCE, IDENTITY, AND HOPE ~ Sean Patterson ~ The monument to the world-famous anarchist Nestor Makhno in Huliaipole, Ukraine, received a newly restored head for the city’s 239th birthday. Russian shelling had previously severely damaged the monument in May. Makhno’s hometown of Huliaipole is located in southern Ukraine, roughly 100 kilometres east of Zaporizhzhia city, just inside the Ukrainian side of the current war’s frontline. The city’s pre-war population of 13,000 has collapsed to less than 2,000 since the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Those remaining face a daily barrage of Russian artillery strikes. The vast majority of Huliaipole has been damaged or destroyed, including several particularly painful losses in recent months. On August 23, the city’s well-known Museum of Local History burned down after a Russian missile strike. Source: Гуляйполе.Info, Oksana Havrylko, 23 May 2024 In this context, Makhno has become a regional and even national symbol of Ukrainian defiance against Russian imperialism. An oft-controversial historical figure, Makhno is known worldwide for leading a successful peasant-anarchist insurgency during the years 1918–1921. The Makhnovist movement battled all belligerent invaders in an ultimately unsuccessful bid to establish an autonomous libertarian territory in southern Ukraine. Given his complex background, Makhno does not easily integrate into grand historical narratives. Soviet historiography vilified Makhno as a cruel and irrational bandit, while many Ukrainians remember Makhno as a representative of Ukrainian independence and their people’s indomitable Cossack spirit. In 2013, Makhno even became the world’s first anarchist to be memorialized with a state-issued coin. Between 2006 and 2009, Makhnofest, a grand artistic and cultural event, was held annually on Independence Day. As its organizers emphasized, “Officials may celebrate in Kyiv, but real Ukrainians come to Huliaipole.” At the festival in 2009, the Makhno monument was unveiled in the city centre. It was created by the well-respected local sculptor Vladlen Dubinin (1931–2023). A prolific artist of Ukrainian and Cossack themes, Dubinin completed the monument in three weeks, working from photos of Makhno. Unveiling of the Makhno monument at Makhnofest, 24 August 2009. Source: Bohdan Klid Accompanying the city centre monument was an identical twin statue installed at the former residence of Makhno’s brother, Karp. Before the war intervened, the property was being transformed into the Nestor Makhno Family Museum. While the property was also damaged in shelling, the twin statue has thus far survived. Source: Bohdan Klid, 24 August 2024 Since 2022, the monument in the city centre has become a symbol of defiance, identity, and hope. Ukrainian soldiers frequently posed with the statue for photographs and adorned him with their flags. Fears of its destruction led locals to sandbag the monument. In May 2023, the monument was fitted with a vyshyvanka (traditional Ukrainian embroidered shirt). Makhno family property, August 2011. Source: Sean Patterson The restored monument was initiated at the request of the local military administration, who recruited the Kyiv-based sculptor Olexander Berezovchuk. Berezovchuk worked on refashioning Makhno’s head for over a month free of charge. The head of the Huliaipole City Military Administration, Serhii Yarmak, wrote in his birthday message to the city, “When our symbol of freedom, the monument to Nestor Makhno, was destroyed during one of the shellings, the people of Huliaipole lost hope … Now our father has been reborn, as our Huliaipole will be reborn!” In addition to the head, Makhno is now permanently clutching the blue-and-yellow national flag. Makhno family property, 2023. Source: Serhij Zvilinski Western anarchists may be confused and even horrified by Makhno’s integration into Ukrainian national themes. Makhno was, in fact, an unrepentant anarchist who rejected state structures and national chauvinism. In his time, he fought against the Bolsheviks and Ukrainian nationalists (although he also made tactical alliances with both at different junctures). Nonetheless, Makhno was profoundly concerned with the free cultural expression and territorial autonomy of Ukrainians throughout his life. His movement was officially called the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine. Of course, elevating Makhno to a hero of the Ukrainian state is anachronistic and runs entirely counter to his anarchism. On the other hand, Makhno is well-suited as a symbol of Ukrainian cultural resistance and anti-imperialism. Head of the Huliaipole City Military Administration, Serhii Yarmak, with the restored Makhno monument, 11 September 2024. Source: Facebook How Ukrainians understand their relationship to Makhno and his ideals is an ongoing process and, for Huliaipolians, deeply personal. Whatever protestations Westerners may shout from abroad, the reality is that Makhno and his statue serve as an enduring figure of Ukrainian defiance, autonomy, and freedom in the face of the Russian invasion. Nestor Makhno (centre), Spring 1919. Source: Wikimedia Commons The post The life, death, and resurrection of the Nestor Makhno monument appeared first on Freedom News.