Posts Tagged ‘War’
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
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.”
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
Russian Baby kidnappers : International Actions Protesting About Ukraine’s Stolen Children – June 1 2025, International Children’s Day
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 :
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
“Our task is to do everything in our power to give Ukraine the best possible starting point for securing the fairest possible peace. This means putting pressure on our governments to give more aid to Ukraine. That is our main task.” – Søren Søndergaard MP, Red-Green Alliance, Denmark
Søren Søndergaard, a Red-Green Alliance member of the Danish parliament, delivered the following speech to a March 26 and 27 Brussels Solidarity With Ukraine Conference
1) Prerequisite for a just peace – more support for Ukraine
The latest developments, with Trump’s blatant betrayal, are putting enormous pressure on Ukraine. It will be forced to make very difficult choices with enormous consequences. But as friends of Ukraine, we must continue to insist that neither Trump, nor the EU leaders, nor indeed we, should decide the path forward for Ukraine.
This choice can only be made by Ukraine and the Ukrainian people. Because they are the ones who are under attack, who are losing lives and suffering every day in the war.
Our task is to do everything in our power to give Ukraine the best possible starting point for securing the fairest possible peace. This means putting pressure on our governments to give more aid to Ukraine. That is our main task.
2) We are not giving enough = ‘rearmament of the EU’?
I have just returned from a security conference in Warsaw for representatives of the EU national parliaments and the European Parliament. Some speakers asked the following question: how is it that 500 [million] Europeans are begging 350 million Americans to stop 150 million Russians who are unable to win a war against 40 million Ukrainians?
I understand that some people are asking this question to argue in favour of a general militarisation of Europe. But the question itself contains an important point. If Putin’s Russia wins the war, it is not because Europe lacks the necessary resources. It is because of a lack of political will to support Ukraine.
Western countries have supported Ukraine sufficiently to enable it to continue the war, but not sufficiently to drive the invaders out of the occupied territories.
Instead, the war in Ukraine is now being used as an argument in favour of general rearmament throughout the EU. The European Commission’s grand plan – Rearm Europe – envisages spending 800 billion euros on strengthening military capabilities.
To sell it, the myth is being spread that the reason we have not been able to help Ukraine with the necessary military supplies is that the European arms industry is small and too weak.
Read the rest of this entry »Brussels conference lifts Ukraine solidarity to higher plane – Report by Dick Nichols, Green Left Weekly Australia
The March 26-27 Brussels Solidarity with Ukraine conference drew together about 200 activists from a score of countries, in support of the Ukrainian people’s national and social rights.
A main organizer was Dick Nichols, who wrote the comprehensive report below;
Link :
Brussels Conference Lifts Ukraine Solidarity to a Higher Plane – Dick Nichols, Green Left Weekly
The gathering was organised by the European Network for Solidarity with Ukraine (ENSU) and the Ukraine Solidarity Campaigns (USC) of England and Wales and Scotland. It was devoted to strengthening people-to-people solidarity, as the menace of Ukraine being partitioned and pillaged by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s and United States President Donald Trump’s governments looms ever larger.
The conference also took place in the context of ongoing conflict between Ukraine’s trade union, feminist, environmental, civil rights and progressive political movements and the neoliberal domestic policies of Volodymyr Zelensky’s government.
Read the rest of this entry »Support Ukrainian Resistance – Not Monstrous Rearmament Plans – Simon Pirani, People and Nature
An important left-wing conference in solidarity with Ukraine took place in Brussels on March 26 and 27 2025. We will present a number of reports from this conference in the next few days. Here is the first item – written by Simon Pirani who publishes a People and Nature blog.
Support Ukrainian Resistance – Not Monstrous Rearmament Plans – Simon Pirani, People and Nature
By Simon Pirani. Based on a talk given at a panel, “What peace?”, at the Solidarity with Ukraine event this week in Brussels
“What peace?” is a wide question. To narrow it down, we can ask: what sort of peace is being discussed among Ukrainians?
In an interview about the Trump-Putin talks, and the prospects for any agreement, our comrade Denis Pilash, a member of Sotsialnyi Rukh, said that “Ukrainians have two things in mind when thinking about any deal: the fate of people in the occupied territories, and how to prevent Russia from restarting the war.”
These points could frame areas for agreements, he argued. He pointed to the Ukrainian government’s position that it will not recognise illegal annexations, but would accept a ceasefire followed by negotiations.
Read the rest of this entry »‘Trump likes what Putin does,’ Bernie Sanders says in exclusive interview (Kyiv Independent)
All of the left needs to stand on the ground occupied by Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont in the USA.
Get Involved :
Solidarity With Ukraine Conference Brussels March 26 and 27 2025
Solidarity With Ukraine Conference – Left MEPs – Brussels March 26 and 27 2025
Link to Bernie Sanders Interview :
Trump Likes What Putin Does – Senator Bernie Sanders
As Ukraine enters the fourth year of Russia’s full-scale invasion, shifting political dynamics in the U.S. threaten to influence the course of the war. U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly misrepresented the war’s origins, excluded Ukraine from initial negotiations, and advocated for what many see as an exploitative deal that would force Ukraine to surrender national resources as “repayment” for U.S. aid.
Trump’s rhetoric raises urgent questions about America’s long-term commitment to aiding Ukraine.
Read the rest of this entry »UN General Assembly condemns Russia’s imperialist invasion of Ukraine; USA and Russia Vote No : Anti-imperialist left everywhere at a fork in the road – With Ukraine or Against Ukraine?
The Trump-Putin Imperialist and Ethnic-Cleansing attack on Ukraine is a major turning point.
The anti-imperialist left everywhere is at a fork in the road : Either With Ukraine or Against Ukraine
UN General Assembly passes resolution condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
The Financial Times reported (February 24 2025) :
The UN General Assembly has passed a resolution condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine co-sponsored by Kyiv and EU nations, despite the US voting against it and urging other states to do so.
The resolution passed with 93 votes in favour. The US and Russia were two of 18 votes against. China abstained, alongside 64 other countries.
The US had urged countries to vote against as it has its own resolution that calls for peace in the three-year long war, and does not condemn Russia’s invasion or its ongoing aggression against Ukraine.
The UN Security Council, in which the US and four other permanent members have veto rights, is likely to vote on the issue later in the day.
The General Assembly vote, which came shortly after G7 leaders failed to agree on a joint statement condemning Russia’s war against Ukraine on the third anniversary of President Vladimir Putin’s invasion, has exposed the widening gulf between the US and Europe in the early months of Donald Trump’s second term.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tomás Ó Flatharta 