Tomás Ó Flatharta

Looking at Things from the Left

Posts Tagged ‘War

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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Against a peace imposed by Trump and Putin on Ukraine – Oleksandr Kyselov – plus an Irish update featuring a kick-boxer rapist ally of Russo-Yankee racist bosses

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This is the summary of interventions by Oleksandr Kyselov from Sotsialnyi Rukh in Ukraine to the 18th World Congress of the Fourth International in Belgium at the end of March.

Source :


Against a Peace Imposed by Trump and Putin on Ukraine – Oleksandr Kyselov

You can read the contribution made by Russian anti-war activist Felix here. You can also see the resolution agreed by the Congress on Ukraine reworked after these interventions here, as well as the position of the minority against which Oleksandr was arguing.

Comrades,

It is a great honor to participate in this World Congress of the Fourth International, a historic organization with global reach. I am grateful for this opportunity.

Listening to the discussions, I was struck by their theoretical depth and attention to nuance—something we often lack. Yet, when it comes to my country, I question the need for such an approach when it seems to be used to reconfirm once established truths. “The main enemy is at home”—so we must expose, confront, and fight. Otherwise, how are we different from the bourgeoisie or reformists?

But reality is not so simple. As much as we may despise Zelensky, for us he is not the same as Putin. And every word spoken here we apply to our lived reality. Ukraine is our home —the only place we unequivocally belong. Some call this a bias, methodological nationalism, or overvaluing one of the many organizing patterns. But don’t others here do the same when projecting their own colonial histories, frustrations with Western powers, and struggles – whether for refugee rights or against arms dealers  – onto our fight against occupation?

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“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

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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

Søren Søndergaard MP, Red-Green Alliance, Denmark

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.

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Brussels conference lifts Ukraine solidarity to higher plane – Report by Dick Nichols, Green Left Weekly Australia

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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

Former Finnish education minister Li Andersson (left) and Ukrainian women’s rights activist Ivanna Vynna addressing the March 26-27 Ukraine Solidarity Conference in the Belgian capital Brussels. Photos: Julie Ward

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.

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“Being a socialist you oppose imperialism – Russia has no right to a single square metre of Ukrainian Soil” – Jonas Sjöstedt, European Parliament Member of the Vänsterpartiet (Left Party, Sweden)

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News reports, reactions and analysis : Solidarity With Ukraine Conference, Brussels, March 26 and 27 2025.

Jonas Sjöstedt, European Parliament Member of the Vänsterpartiet (Left Party, Sweden) spoke at the opening session of the international conference “Solidarity with Ukraine”, March 26 and 27 2025, Brussels.

Link :
Jonas Sjösted MEP (Left Party, Sweden), European Left – Being a socialist you oppose imperialism – Russia has no right to a single square metre of Ukrainian Soil

Li Andersson MEP (Left Alliance, Finland) reports :

Ukraine needs support to fight back against Russia’s aggression, but we must also address the problems facing Ukrainian civil society.

Last week we in The Left group organised a conference in Brussels to which we invited Ukrainian leftists and trade unionists to talk about supporting Ukrainian civil society in the midst of Russia’s illegal war of aggression launched by Putin.

Their message was very clear: in addition to arms support, there are many problems in Ukrainian civil society that urgently need solutions. In particular, they highlighted the serious lack of affordable housing, the lack of care services and the proposed reforms which will weaken workers’ rights and trade unions.

When I was in Kiev last autumn, we also talked a lot about the housing shortage with the Ukrainians.

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Support Ukrainian Resistance – Not Monstrous Rearmament Plans – Simon Pirani, People and Nature

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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.”

The photo is courtesy of a Ukrainian anarchist group that provides soldiers at the front with “all the necessary equipment that can increase their safety and efficiency in resisting the imperial onslaught of the Russians”.  

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.

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‘Trump likes what Putin does,’ Bernie Sanders says in exclusive interview (Kyiv Independent)

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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.

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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?

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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.

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Senator Bernie Sanders : Russia started the war, not Ukraine. Putin is the dictator, not Zelensky – A growing progressive Pro-Ukraine revolt is rocking the USA – One dude, Jeffrey Sachs, is not joining in

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The good news is that progressive revolt seems to be starting in the United States of America.

A leading spokesperson is Bernie Sanders, an independent Senator from the New England state of Vermont.

Bernie SandersI don’t want to hear any Republicans talk about “freedom” unless they have the guts to call out Trump for the lies that he is telling about Putin and Ukraine.It was Russia that started the war, not Ukraine.Putin is the dictator, not Zelensky#News&Politics

TLT: Lets get this 4 years over with (@ihatetrump4ever.bsky.social) 2025-02-28T18:02:44.753Z

The ignorant racist anti-Ukraine thug, Vice-President JD Vance, is not welcome in Vermont :

This makes me so happy. Thank you Vermont. This is so deserving to the POS human being vance is. He was beyond rude to a world leader and showed that he had no breadth of the ongoing war in Ukraine. http://www.politicususa.com/p/jd-vance-f…

SlavaUkraini033 (@slavaukraini033.bsky.social) 2025-03-02T03:23:30.548Z

One man is not joining the growing progressive popular pro-Ukraine in the USA.

His name is Jeffrey Sachs, a right-wing economist whose hands are very dirty ; “Sachs’ methods for stabilizing economies became known as shock therapy and were similar to successful approaches used in Germany after the two world wars”

Link :
Jeffrey Sachs, Wikipedia

The anti-Ukraine views of Dr Sachs are endorsed and shared by the ignorant imperialist thugs running the Washington White House, the convicted rapist President Donald Trump and his sidekick JD Vance, who publicly ambushed Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky on February 28 2025 in the White House.

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