Tomás Ó Flatharta

Looking at Things from the Left

Posts Tagged ‘Russia

No Deals with War Criminals on Alaska Soil

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This outstanding post comes from the Native Movement of Alaska,

ENSU – No Deals with War Criminals on Alaska Soil – Native Movement of Alaska


which gives readers interested in the dirty history of capitalist genocide in many parts of our globe – Palestine, Ukraine, Ireland, Australia, the United States of America – tells us why all people who identify with the left must oppose today’s “Nauseating charade as Putin comes out of international purgatory on Trump’s red carpet” (Keith Duggan, Irish Times, August 16 2025).

No Deals with War Criminals on Alaska Soil

Aug 14

Anchorage, Alaska – As President Donald Trump prepares to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on August 15 to discuss the Ukrainian crisis, Native Movement stands with Alaskans and those across the country who condemn any attempt to legitimize Russia’s war crimes on Alaskan lands.

Alaska knows the cost of Russian imperialism. For over a century, Russian colonizers stole and exploited land, decimated Alaska Native populations through violence, disease, and enslavement, and erased cultures with religious supremacy. Today, we see the same imperial playbook in Ukraine: annexation of territory, targeting of civilians, and the forcible deportation of over 20,000 Ukrainian children—a war crime under international law.  

Alaska’s history with Russian rule doesn’t make us neutral — it makes us witnesses.

The decision to host Putin, a war criminal, on Alaskan soil is a betrayal of our history and the moral clarity demanded by the suffering of Ukraine and other occupied peoples.

Native Movement voices opposition to any deals that force Ukraine to cede territory, reward aggression, or silence the voices of those whose lives are at stake. We stand against the rise of fascism and violent occupation everywhere—whether in Ukraine, Palestine, or here in Alaska. None of us are free until all of us are free.

Alaska’s own experience with resource-driven governance shows how oil wealth erodes democracy and empowers authoritarianism, just as we see in Russia’s war on Ukraine. Hosting war criminals in Alaska is a betrayal of our communities and our future.

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Trump-Putin Anti-Ukraine Summit in Anchorage Alaska – Large People-Power Protests

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This report sets the scene :

Ukrainian refugees in Alaska have mixed feelings about US and Russian leaders’ meeting

Amy MacKinnon, Anchorage Alaska, Financial Times, August 15 2025


“On Thursday afternoon, hundreds of local residents rallied in support of Ukraine at an intersection of Anchorage’s East Northern Lights Boulevard, waving the country’s blue and yellow flag. A small brass band played Bella Ciao, the Italian folk song adopted by the anti-fascist resistance during the second world war. Passing cars honked their horns. “They are trying to make decisions, agreements, without Ukraine being involved,” said Anna Koraa, who moved to the US from Ukraine in 2019. Her mother, Olena Lazar, left Zaporizhzhia — one of the four Ukrainian regions Moscow claims, but does not fully occupy — and came to Alaska shortly after the war began. Lazar is deeply sceptical about Friday’s talks. “He won’t stop until he takes all of Ukraine,” she said of the Russian leader.”

A number of short reports are linked below :

Protesters Against Trump-Putin Ukraine Betrayal in Anchorage Alaska

⚡️Pro-Ukrainian protest held in Anchorage ahead of Trump-Putin summit.Pro-Ukrainian demonstrators took to the streets in Anchorage, Alaska, on Aug. 14 ahead of a planned summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin the next day.

The Kyiv Independent (@kyivindependent.com) 2025-08-15T04:51:54.733Z

Largest Ukraine Flag in the world on the way to Anchorage Alaska

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EMERGENCY SOCIAL MEDIA STORM August 14, 19.00-20.00 Irish Time – PARTICIPATE!

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PARTICIPATE!

EMERGENCY SOCIAL MEDIA STORM August 14, 2000-2100 Central European Time

2100-2200 Ukraine * 1900-2000 UK * 1500 Brazil * 1400 US/Canada East Coast * 1100 US/Canada West Coast * 2330 India * 0300 (Friday) Japan 0400 (Friday) Eastern Australia*

Suggested hashtags | Рекомендовані хештеги | Hashtags suggérés | Hashtags sugeridos

#NothingAboutUkraineWithoutUkraine #OccupationIsNotPeace #StopPutinStopTrump #SolidarityNotSurrender #StandWithUkraine
#НічогоПроУкраїнуБезУкраїни #ОкупаціяЦеНеМир #СтопПутінСтопТрамп #СолідарністьАНеКапітуляція #ПідтримайУкраїну
#RienSurL’UkraineSansL’Ukraine #L’OccupationN’EstPasLaPaix #StopPoutineStopTrump #SolidaritéPasCapitulation #SoutenezL’Ukraine
#NadaSobreUcraniaSinUcrania #LaOcupaciónNoEsPaz #StopPutinStopTrump #SolidaridadNoRendición #ApoyemosAUcrania

Please post on whatever social media platforms you’re on with statuses, photos, etc.

Statements and background

French Committee of the European Network for Solidarity with Ukraine * Ukrainian World Congress * Ukrainian government peace proposal

MEDIA RELEASE

TRUMP AND PUTIN: HANDS OFF UKRAINE! NO PEACE WITHOUT UKRAINE! NO PEACE AGAINST UKRAINE!

August 10, 2025

Putin and Trump want to reach an agreement at a summit meeting without the main party concerned, Ukraine, in defiance of international law and the right of peoples to self-determination.

Trump announced on Friday that he would meet his Russian counterpart in Alaska on August 15, without the Ukrainian president. The latter responded strongly and rightly: “Any decision that is made against us, any decision that is made without Ukraine, is a decision against peace.”

According to the US president, a settlement of the war will include territorial concessions.

“The Ukrainians will not give up their land to the occupiers,” Zelensky added, while Trump spoke of “exchanges of territory”.

Crimea and territories in the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia oblasts that Putin has declared annexed are occupied by Russian troops in violation of international law.

Occupation is a crime, those who occupy are criminals, and those who support it are accomplices!

Trump is preparing to hand victory to the aggressor after claiming that he would issue an ultimatum to Putin.

No, the era of placing one country under the tutelage of another against its will by decision of the “great powers” is over.

Mobilisation against this imperialist banditry between Putin and Trump and in solidarity with Ukraine must be organised quickly.

French Committee of the European Network for Solidarity With Ukraine (ENSU)


Thomas Weyts, Ghent, Belgium :

Not only in Anchorage, Alaska, but also in Munich, Bavaria, there will be protests tomorrow against the gangster conclave between Trump and Putin. Not by chance at the place where the infamous agreements between Chamberlain and Hitler were signed in 1938, while Czechoslovak Prime Minister Benes was allowed to wait in the hallway…

Thomas Weyts, Ghent, Belgium :

Protest at the American Embassy in Prague, 13th of August. The Czechs know what they are talking about

Fundraiser : Free online English lessons for Ukrainian refugees – Black Sheep Pub 61 Capel Street, June 29 2025, 3pm-6pm – Organised by Free Russians Ireland

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Free Russians Ireland strongly supports solidarity with Ukraine, and is part of the fight against Putin’s genocidal régime.

On June 29th 15.00-18.00 The Black Sheep (61 Capel Street, Rotunda) we will hold the first ever Free Russians Ireland charity event.

Link :


Free Russians Ireland – Assist Ukrainian Refugees to Speak English

The purpose of the meeting is to raise money for the work of the Samantha Smith Group charity project. The project deals with a very important job: organizes free online English lessons for Ukrainian refugees.

Learn more about the life of the project here.

How does charity work?

We get together at the pub and enjoy hanging out, playing board games or just hanging out. At the entrance we pay for a ticket for 10 euros (or buy tickets in advance in the header of Samantha’s profile). All proceeds will go to support the project.

Even if we get 10 people, the project will be able to pay for its site for a whole year, so even a very small contribution can be significant!

This is a low risk event, we will not be photographing participants.

So come on out and bring your friends!

See you on June 29 at 15.00. At Black Sheep Pub!

P.S. If you have cool tables at home – bring them, we will definitely try


Irish Left With Ukraine co-operates with Free Russians Ireland.

Justice for Ukraine – Bring the Stolen Ukrainian Children Home June 1, 12.30pm, The Spire, O’Connell Street Dublin 1 – Endorsements : INTO; INTO Dublin North City Branch; Labour party; Social Democrats; Ivana Bacik TD plus many others

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Justice for Ukraine – Bring the Stolen Ukrainian Children Home June 1, 12.30pm, The Spire, O’Connell Street Dublin 1

Part of a Day of Action on June 1 2025, International Day for Children

Assemble Sunday June 1, 12.30pm The Spire, O’Connell Street

Link :

INTO : Mark International Children’s Day (1 June) by protesting the forcible transfer of nearly 20,000 Ukrainian children to Russia.

Statement, Ivana Bacik TD, Dublin Bay South. Labour Party Leader

“‘Since 2014, it is known that Russia has abducted nearly 20,000 Ukrainian children. Protests against this barbaric war crime are occurring all over the world, and Russia’s criminal actions have been condemned in the European Parliament and across EU Member States. I commend all activists who are taking part in protests against Russia’s abduction and deportation of Ukrainan children. I have raised this issue in Dáil Éireann (the Irish parliament) and have demanded that the Irish government takes appropriate action to express the strongest possible condemnation of Russian war crimes.’”

Statement, John Boyle, General Secretary, Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO)

“ The INTO endorses the campaign to end the forceful transfer & deportation of Ukrainian children & return them all, ending the enforced Russification process & militarisation”

Statement. Cian O’Callaghan TD Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats (Spokesperson Foreign Affairs)

“The Russian invasion of Ukraine is unprecedented, unprovoked and perverse. Putin’s despotic behaviour and war crimes have irrevocably changed the geopolitical landscape and made us realise that we can no longer take peace in Europe for granted. One of the most sinister aspects of this invasion has been the thousands of Ukrainian children who have been taken from their homes and brought to Russia. I fully support the protest taking place on International Children’s Day calling for their safe return to their families and their homes.”


image

Statement, John Lyons, Independent Left, Dublin City Councillor
In the three years of death, destruction, hardship and misery endured by the people of Ukraine as a result of the Russian Federation’s illegal invasion of their country, one particularly reprehensible and disturbing aspect of Putin’s war of aggression and annexation is the forcible transfer of at least 20,000 children and young people from Ukraine into Russia or Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine.

The Yale School of Medicine has summarised the scale of the crime against humanity involved: “Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine includes a systematic campaign of forcibly moving children from Ukraine into Russia, fracturing their connection to Ukrainian language and heritage through ‘re-education’, and even disconnecting children from their Ukrainian identities through adoption. Children documented by the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab (HRL) range in age from four months to 17 years, and many have families looking for them in Ukraine.”

As an elected representative of Dublin City Council I endorse the overwhelmingly supported May 8 resolution of the European Parliament, demanding the return from the Russian Federation of Abducted Ukrainian children and give my full support to the June 1 International Day of Action in support of this urgent cause.

June 1st is International Children’s Day, a day when people across the world raise awareness of the importance of children’s well-being and the need to protect them from all forms of violence and discrimination. Sadly, millions of children in Gaza, South Sudan, Ukraine and elsewhere are having their lives taken, their futures destroyed.

For the children of Ukraine abducted by Russian forces, we must demand their immediate safe return to their families, to their homes and homeland.

Supporters Include :
The Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO)
The Labour Party
The Social Democrats Party
Dublin North City Branch (INTO)

Ivana Bacik TD Dublin Bay South (Leader, Labour party)
Duncan Smith TD Dublin Fingal East (Foreign Affairs Spokesperson, Labour party)
Marie Sherlock TD Dublin Central (Health Spokesperson Labour party)
Cian O’Callaghan TD Dublin Bay North (Foreign Affairs Spokesperson, the Social Democrats)

John Lyons Dublin City Councillor (Independent Left)
Lesley Byrne Dublin City Councillor (Social Democrats)

Tanya Vyhovsky State Senator, Vermont, USA

European Network for Solidarity with Ukraine (ENSU)
Irish Left With Ukraine (ILWU)

Individual Personal Supporters Include :

Nóirín Greene (Senior Irish Trade Unionist)
Des Derwin, Vice Chair, SIPTU Dublin District Council
Tadhg Mac Pháidín, Teachers’ Club (Cumann na Múinteoirí) and INTO
Gregor Kerr Dublin North City INTO
Joanne Doyle, District 14 CEC Rep INTO
Máire English, District 4 CEC Rep INTO
Máire Lineen, District 15 CEC Rep INTO
Peter O’Toole, District 7 CEC Rep INTO
Seán Mullin, Chair INTO Lisburn Branch
Sinéad Dowling, Craobh Dhún Laoghaire INTO
Feargal Brougham, Dublin North East INTO
Joe Duffy, Blanchardstown Branch INTO
Caroline Farrell, Dublin Tolka INTO
Noelle Moran, ASTI Global Solidarity Committee
Kevin Doyle, Irish Writers Union
Conor Kostick, Executive member Irish Writers Union
James Kearney, Dún Laoghaire Labour Party
Spark Deeley, illustrator
Paddy Cole, Chairperson, Labour Party Trade Union Group
Tracie Tobin District 13 CEC Rep INTO
Kate Relihan, Blanchardstown Branch, INTO


Statement issued by the general secretary of British TUC Paul Nowak and other information :
International Actions for Ukraine’s Stolen Children, June 1 2025

Resources :

European Parliament Resolution, May 8 2025 : Return of Ukrainian children forcibly transferred and deported by Russia

C25ppDownload

Justice for Ukraine – Bring the Stolen Children Home June 1, 12.30pm, The Spire, O’Connell Street Dublin 1 – Updated with Fresh Endorsements, May 28

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Justice for Ukraine – Bring the Stolen Children Home June 1, 12.30pm, The Spire, O’Connell Street Dublin 1

Part of a Day of Action on June 1 2025, International Day for Children

Assemble Sunday June 1, 12.30pm The Spire, O’Connell Street

Statement, Ivana Bacik TD, Labour Party Leader

“‘Since 2014, it is known that Russia has abducted nearly 20,000 Ukrainian children. Protests against this barbaric war crime are occurring all over the world, and Russia’s criminal actions have been condemned in the European Parliament and across EU Member States. I commend all activists who are taking part in protests against Russia’s abduction and deportation of Ukrainan children. I have raised this issue in Dáil Éireann (the Irish parliament) and have demanded that the Irish government takes appropriate action to express the strongest possible condemnation of Russian war crimes.’”

Statement, John Boyle, General Secretary, Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO)

“ The INTO endorses the campaign to end the forceful transfer & deportation of Ukrainian children & return them all, ending the enforced Russification process & militarisation”

Supporters Include :


The Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO)
The Labour Party

The Social Democrats Party

Ivana Bacik TD Dublin Bay South (Leader, Labour party)

Duncan Smith TD Dublin Fingal East (Foreign Affairs Spokesperson, Labour party)

Marie Sherlock TD Dublin Central (Health Spokesperson Labour party)

John Lyons Dublin City Councillor (Independent Left)
Lesley Byrne Dublin City Councillor (Social Democrats)

Tanya Vyhovsky State Senator, Vermont, USA

European Network for Solidarity with Ukraine (ENSU)
Irish Left With Ukraine (ILWU)

Individual Personal Supporters Include :

Nóirín Greene (Senior Irish Trade Unionist)
Des Derwin, Vice Chair, SIPTU Dublin District Council
Tadhg Mac Pháidín, Teachers’ Club (Cumann na Múinteoirí) and INTO
Gregor Kerr Dublin North City INTO
Joanne Doyle, District 14 CEC Rep INTO
Máire English, District 4 CEC Rep INTO
Máire Lineen, District 15 CEC Rep INTO
Peter O’Toole, District 7 CEC Rep INTO
Seán Mullin, Chair INTO Lisburn Branch
Sinéad Dowling, Craobh Dhún Laoghaire INTO
Feargal Brougham, Dublin North East INTO
Joe Duffy, Blanchardstown Branch INTO
Caroline Farrell, Dublin Tolka INTO
Noelle Moran, ASTI Global Solidarity Committee
Kevin Doyle, Irish Writers Union
Conor Kostick, Executive member Irish Writers Union
James Kearney, Dún Laoghaire Labour Party
Spark Deeley, illustrator
Paddy Cole, Chairperson, Labour Party Trade Union Group


Statement issued by the general secretary of British TUC Paul Nowak and other information :
International Actions for Ukraine’s Stolen Children, June 1 2025

Resources :

European Parliament Resolution, May 8 2025 : Return of Ukrainian children forcibly transferred and deported by Russia

C25ppDownload

Russian Baby kidnappers : International Actions Protesting About Ukraine’s Stolen Children – June 1 2025, International Children’s Day

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June 1 is International Children’s Day. Since 2014 Russia has forcibly kidnapped nearly 20,000 Ukrainian children. Protests against this barbaric crime are occurring all over the world.

Link : International Actions June 1, Ukraine’s Children Stolen by Russian Invaders

These crimes are a reminder of a very dark period in Ireland during most of the 20th century. Child abuse, baby-snatching, illegal adoptions, criminalising of innocent women – Irish “Mother and Baby Homes” and Magdalene Laundries were dungeons of evil where children were tortured.

During that dark period we learned that speaking up and taking public action is essential when crimes like this are drawn to our attention.

Details of Protests to be held in Ireland will be announced here soon.

Supporters of this initiative in Ireland include Ivana Bacik TD, leader of the Labour Party, who has issued the following public statement :

Ivana Bacik TD, Labour Party Leader

Since 2014, it is known that Russia has abducted nearly 20,000 Ukrainian children. Protests against this barbaric war crime are occurring all over the world, and Russia’s criminal actions have been condemned in the European Parliament and across EU Member States.  I commend all activists who are taking part in protests against Russia’s abduction and deportation of Ukrainan children. I have raised this issue in Dáil Éireann (the Irish parliament) and have demanded that the Irish government takes appropriate action to express the strongest possible condemnation of Russian war crimes.

Ivana Bacik TD, Labour Party Leader, Ireland

Crimes of Russia, Kidnapping of Ukrainian Children

The European Network for Solidarity With Ukraine (ENSU) invites all to this Zoom Event on May 30 :

Since 2014 Russia has forcibly transferred almost 20,000 Ukrainian children to areas under its control, assigned them Russian citizenship, forcibly adopted them into Russian families, and created obstacles for their reunification with their parents and homeland. The true scale of the crisis may be far greater.

On the eve of International Children’s Day, which is celebrated on the 1th of June we want to invite you to a meeting where whe can disscuss in more detail about the crimes of Russia towards Ukrainian children.

Our panelists will include:
– Kateryna Rashevska an international law and legal expert at the Regional Centre of Human Rights (https://krymbezpravil.org.ua/), children’s rights activist
– Mykola Komarovskyi, lawyer at NGO “Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group” (https://khpg.org/en/), author of one of the KHRPG submissions to the ICC regarding the forced deportation of Ukrainian children

Meeting in English, French and Ukrainian.

Zoom link (registration required):
https://us02web.zoom.us/…/register/QPZ2-j70RYGoF9bzvcGgMA

“Ukraine, an invaded country, has managed to defend its independence in this terrible three-year war with great sacrifices against the formidable army of the imperialist aggressor” – Small countries can defeat big imperial occupiers

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A myth is doing the rounds on the left in Ireland and other parts of the globe that small countries are powerless when they have to fight against imperialist invaders. We suggest readers consult this fine passionate article written by Joxe Iriarte, Bikila, a revolutionary socialist activist from the Basque region (Euskadi) situated in the northern part of the Spanish state.

Source :
Europe: The Starting Point for the Remodelling of the New Reactionary International Order – Bikila

See also Vitaly Dudin’s

Five problems with the US-Ukraine mineral deal

which appears below.


Ukraine, an invaded country, has managed to defend its independence in this terrible three-year war with great sacrifices against the formidable army of the imperialist aggressor. Of course, this would not have been possible without the supply of weapons from the West, but the main factor has been the courage and great motivation of the Ukrainian people. This is how the Russian left-wing intellectual Ilya Budaitskis refers to Ukraine’s sacrifice.

Economist Michael Roberts states: “The Russian invasion of Ukraine has caused a terrible impact on the Ukrainian people. 46,000 civilians and perhaps 500,000 soldiers have died. Millions have fled abroad and millions more have been forced to leave their homes. Kyiv has lost 50,000 workers. Ukraine’s GDP has fallen by 25% and 7.1 million Ukrainians currently live in poverty”.

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New pope breaks with Francis to support Kyiv and ceasefire push

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Credit where credit is due :

New pope breaks with Francis to support Kyiv and ceasefire push – Financial Times

Christopher Miller in Kyiv and Amy Kazmin in Rome

Days after his election as head of Catholic Church, Pope Leo XIV calls Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy

Pope Leo XIV has called Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss Ukrainian children abducted by Russia and a western-backed 30-day ceasefire, in a shift from the previous pontiff who had struck a more neutral stance on Moscow’s war. Ukraine’s president said on Monday that his first conversation with the new pope, who was elected last week, was “very warm and truly substantive” and thanked him for his support.

“We deeply value his words about the need to achieve a just and lasting peace for our country and the release of prisoners,” he said. The Vatican confirmed the two men had spoken on the phone but declined to provide any further details. “I carry in my heart the sufferings of the beloved Ukrainian people,” Pope Leo said on Sunday, and called for “an authentic, just and lasting peace as soon as possible”. “May all the prisoners be freed and may the children return to their families,” he added. His explicit support for Ukraine in its years-long war against Russia’s invasion was met with appreciation from Ukrainians and especially the country’s Catholics.

(image credit: Francesco Sforza/Vatican Media Handout Via Reuters)
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Polls: Trump’s approval rates at 100 days slump – Everywhere, including Ukraine and the USA

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Opinion poll numbers are very bad for the rapist-gangster US President Donald Trump. Details below come from Ukraine and Trump’s homeland, the USA.


Nearly 90% of Ukrainians do not trust Donald Trump, who is now marking his first 100 days as President of the United States.

Source :
100 Days of Trump and 90% of Ukrainians

Each year, the New Europe Center commissions an opinion poll. As part of the tradition, we ask Ukrainians how much they trust various foreign leaders.

Although Trump had not yet been inaugurated at the time of the last opinion poll, the New Europe Center still asked respondents for their opinion about him. The result was fairly optimistic — last year, nearly half (44.6%) of Ukrainians expressed trust in the new American leader.

Some might have considered this level of trust too low. However, compared to other European countries, the Ukrainian assessment was actually quite high. A few months before our opinion poll, the Pew Research Center found that only 16% of people in France trusted Trump, 30% in the UK, and the highest support came from Hungary, at 37%.

This relatively high score in Ukraine was seen as a reflection of general disappointment with the hesitant policy of Joe Biden’s administration toward supporting Ukraine, as well as hopes for peace based on the promises made by the newly elected president.

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