This is precisely the position advocated by an Anarcho-Syndicalist called Taras Kobzar, in an interview published by International Viewpoint on April 4th.

Kobzar claims :-
“ Three tendencies with their own historical traditions, stemming from the revolution and civil war of a century ago (1917-1922), are now organically linked in Ukraine: the Makhnovschina, the Petlyurovschina and the Hetmanschina.

The Makhnovshchina has its roots in the anarchist tradition of the Ukrainian people, which is embodied today in the self-organization …and territorial defence; the Petlyurovshchina is the army and national republican associations; the Hetmanschtchina is state power and the business world.

All these tendencies are now united by the same desire to defend the country, by the same concern to see this country develop freely and independently.”

In case anyone needs reminding;

* Nestor Makhno’s forces alternately allied themselves with the Reds and Whites during the Civil War, before being suppressed by Trotsky’s Red Army.

* Petliura was President of the Ukrainian Peoples Republic and commanded its armed forces when they fought the October Revolution, carrying out numerous pogroms in the process. (He was subsequently assassinated in Paris by Sholom Schwarzbard, whose relatives were amongst their victims)

* The Hetmanate was a warlord government sponsored by German Imperialism.

It’s sickening that IVP can publish such an interview, which implies that uniting these groups in the name of ‘national defence’ is justifiable in modern Ukraine.
What next, OUN-B?

This is why simply defending self-determination is a dangerous trap.
And why Trotsky explicitly called for an Independent *Socialist* Ukraine.
Nor was he under any illusion that this was the key demand in the impending Imperialist World War.

Russia’s war is a war of conquest, as Putin openly admits, a war for “regime change” and the forcible incorporation of Ukraine into the Great Russian sphere of influence. Although the backdrop to the war is NATO’s encirclement of Russia, this does not justify the attempt to eliminate Ukraine’s sovereignty, its political independence, which the Ukrainian masses are fighting to defend. Ukraine is not threatening to invade Russia. Revolutionary Marxists should have no hesitation in defending the Ukrainians’ heroic resistance to Russia’s aggression, even though Ukraine is led by a capitalist government and “backed” by NATO.

Even if you reduce it to an inter-imperialist conflict, as Taber does, that does not mean that socialists should deny support to the Ukraine resistance. Has he forgotten the Zimmerwald conference, the first major gathering of antiwar Marxists in WWI? Its Manifesto stated that “entire nations and countries like Belgium, Poland, the Balkan states, and Armenia are threatened with the fate of being torn asunder, annexed in whole or in part as booty in the game of compensation.” Listing the tasks before the international working-class movement, the Manifesto said “The right of self-determination of nations must be the indestructible principle in the system of national relationships of peoples.” In a joint statement to the conference, the German and French delegations denounced “the violation of Belgian neutrality” and demanded “restoration of Belgium to its complete integrity and independence.” In a message to the conference from prison, the German antiwar deputy Karl Liebknecht called for “a peace that could restore unfortunate Belgium… to freedom and independence….” And Belgium was an imperialist country, a brutal colonizer of a large section of Africa, the Congo! See Lenin’s Struggle for a Revolutionary International (ed. John Riddell). Further materials may be found by consulting the book’s index under “Belgium” and “Self-determination.” See also Lenin, “The Discussion On Self-Determination Summed Up” (1916).

His comment on the current war against Ukraine was on the money. However, I have one question that I have been ruminating over.

“Consistent with the approach that revolutionary socialists took following 1914, one can completely oppose and condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine, while at the same time refusing to give an ounce of support to the forces of the Ukrainian capitalist regime and its US and NATO backers. Above all, socialists within the United States and other imperialist countries should see as their number-one task to oppose the war moves of their own government.”

I have no difficulty demanding: Russia Out of Ukraine AND U.S. Out of Europe, AND Abolish NATO!

There indeed exists a capitalist government in Ukraine, and at present there appears to be no working class revolutionary movement. Obviously, a workers movement would demand that the Trade Unions be armed.

I can’t recall the last time that a capitalist government has engaged in a fight of National Liberation by an oppressed people, and not simply acquiesced to imperialist domination. Perhaps someone can provide some example.

How does the fight against the Russian invaders in the absence of a workers movement get articulated now, under these conditions? Wouldn’t communist workers join the armed forces of Ukraine (the Territorial Militia)?

Thanks for publishing this.