Speaking tour — Resisting Russian Imperialism: Ukraine’s Struggle for Self-Determination

By JOHN LESLIE

The Ukraine Solidarity Network, a network of activists in the U.S., is organizing a national speaking tour of Ukrainian and Russian left activists, titled Resisting Russian Imperialism: Ukraine’s Struggle for Self-Determination, to educate about the Russian imperialist invasion of Ukraine.

The tour, which kicks off at the Socialism 2023 Conference in Chicago, will have stops in Chicago, New York, and San Francisco. Additionally, the speakers will be doing interviews with press outlets and meeting with U.S. left activists. One purpose of this tour is to break through misconceptions about the nature of the Ukrainian national liberation struggle and to reinforce an internationalist understanding of solidarity with those resisting imperialist invasion.

The speakers are:

• Hanna Perekhoda, a researcher at the University of Lausanne, studying political imagination in Russia and Ukraine. She is a founder of the Swiss-based Committee of Solidarity with the Ukrainian People and with the Russian Opponents of the War and also a member of the Ukrainian left organization Sotsialnyi Rukh (Social Movement).
• Ilya Budraitskis, a Russian exile and author of “Dissidents Among Dissidents: Ideology, Politics and the Left in Post-Soviet Russia.” He writes on politics, art, film, and philosophy for OpenDemocracy and Jacobin and is co-founder of Posle (“After”), a network of Russian intellectuals in exile who oppose the war against Ukraine.
• Ilya Matveev, also a Russian exile, currently a visiting research scholar at the University of California at Berkeley, studying Russian and comparative political economy. His work has appeared in South Atlantic Quarterly, Journal of Labor and Society, Europe-Asia Studies, East European Politics, and other journals.
• Denys Bondar, a native of Ukraine, is a professor of physics at Tulane University. He is involved in a variety of initiatives to help Ukraine and is a member of the Ukrainian left organization Sotsialnyi Rukh (Social Movement).

In addition to the event at the Socialism Conference, there will be an event at Loyola University’s Damen Student Center Cinema, 6511 N Sheridan Rd., in Chicago on Sept. 5 at 6:30 p.m. CDT. The Loyola event is sponsored by the Loyola University Theology Department, the Peace, Justice and Conflict Studies Program, and the Center for Research on International Affairs.

In New York, the speakers will appear on Sept. 9 at 7 p.m. EDT at the LGBT Community Center, 208 West 13th St. (between 7th & 8th Avenues) in Manhattan. The San Francisco Bay Area leg of the tour will be on Sept. 13 at 5 p.m. PDT at the University of California at Berkeley, Dwinelle Hall, Room 370.

The USN, what it is and how to join it

The Ukraine Solidarity Network gathers together U.S. activists who oppose Russia’s imperialist war on Ukraine and support Ukraine’s struggle for self-determination. We are united around our Mission Statement, which explains the basis for our solidarity work.

We call for the immediate withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine and support Ukraine’s victory against the Russian invasion, and Ukraine’s right  to reparations to meet the costs of reconstruction after the colossal  destruction it is suffering. We oppose both Western and Russian imperialist domination of Ukraine and support the right of Ukraine to self-determination. This includes opposition to any debt imposed on Ukraine for the war and for postwar reconstruction. We unconditionally support Russian antiwar protesters and call for the freeing of antiwar political prisoners held by the Putin regime.

Workers’ Voice and Ukraine

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, Workers’ Voice has been working to build solidarity with the Ukrainian working class. This includes fundraising we have done in the unions and social movements to help send three aid conveys into eastern Ukraine. We are consistent revolutionary socialists and oppose both Western imperialist designs on Ukraine and the Russian imperialist effort to plunder and dismantle that country.

Opposition to the Russian invasion and support for Ukraine’s right to self-defense in no way implies political support for Western imperialism, NATO, or the neoliberal Zelensky government. Our latest pamphlet, “A Revolutionary Socialist Perspective on the Ukraine War,” contains a wealth of articles on the issues involved. To get your own copy for $4 plus postage, contact Workers’ Voice at workersvoice-lavoz@protonmail.com

Photo: Unionized workers march in Ukraine (IndustriALL)