Authoritarian "leftists" are circulating a paragraph taken out of context from a text written by Ukrainian anarchists to criticize their movement's failures. The authoritarians are alleging that *our comrades* joined fascist groups in Ukraine. This is an outright lie.

Yes, our contacts in Ukraine report that a few people who called themselves anarchists ended up joining the Azov battalion. Obviously, these were not comrades of ours—nor were they ever really anarchists if they did so. Our lives are dedicated to fighting fascism on every front.

We believe it is important to be both critical and self-critical in our movements—even when this opens us up to cheap misrepresentations by our adversaries. Likewise, we center the voices of those on the ground—so we published this material from Ukrainians just as we received it.

We do not believe that a couple so-called anarchists apparently joining a fascist battalion reveals some deep truth about anarchism any more than we think the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact is proof that every person who reads Marx is inherently inclined towards allegiances with Nazis.

Right now, the Russian state is inflicting militarized violence across Ukraine in an assault that many of these authoritarians excuse.

We generally ignore trolls on social media, but this smear is an attempt to deflect attention and delegitimize those who oppose the invasion.

In the midst of our efforts to coordinate solidarity with refugees and support Russian anti-war protesters while debating all the different thorny issues that this invasion raises, it is tiresome to have to debunk those who willfully misrepresent us.

Thank you for reading.

Russian Anarchists on the Invasion of Ukraine

https://crimethinc.com/AntiWarRussia

In brave and thoughtful statements, two longtime Russian anarchist groups explain why they oppose the invasion of #Ukraine, exploring the situation in #Russia and how the invasion might shift it.

Russian fliers opposing the invasion, reading “You pay for Putin’s war—taxes, closed borders, poverty, service blockages, information vacuum—no war!” and “No to military invasion of Ukraine: peace to the people, war on the rulers.”

Anarchists marched with this banner in anti-war protests in Moscow on February 24. Even after police dispersed the main demonstration, making many arrests, anarchists regrouped and continued until the police captured them.

The courage these protesters have shown is humbling.

"Anti-authoritarian forces have organized their own international detachment within the framework of the Territorial Defense of Ukraine. In addition, dozens of our friends are defending the capital and large cities with weapons in their hands."

https://linktr.ee/Theblackheadquarter

You can read an interview with a spokesperson for this group here:

https://crimethinc.com/2022/02/24/russia-and-ukraine-grassroots-resistance-to-putins-invasion#interview-the-committee-of-resistance-kyiv

Today, anarchists demonstrated against the Russian invasion of Ukraine from Moscow to Irkutsk, from Belarus to Poland to the United States.

In this photograph, anarchist demonstrators in Moscow hold a gorgeous bright punk banner reading "Peace to the peoples—war to the rulers."

Read Russian anarchist analysis of the invasion here:

crimethinc.com/AntiWarRussia

Solidarity!🏴

In this photograph, anarchist demonstrators in Krakow, Poland hold a banner reading "Putin: Murderer" at a demonstration of 2000 people expressing solidarity with Ukraine in the face of the Russian invasion.

In this photograph from the United States, a banner hangs in front of the Capitol Building reading "Against borders—against empires—against wars—Solidarity with anarchists in Ukraine and Russia."

https://twitter.com/bad_immigrant/status/1497954139908853761

Please read this text by Food Not Bombs Moscow, the group being arrested in the video in this tweet:

https://crimethinc.com/2022/02/24/russia-and-ukraine-grassroots-resistance-to-putins-invasion#moscow-food-not-bombs-statement…

Solidarity!🏴

We've prepared a zine collecting interviews and narratives from Ukrainian anarchists, presenting a range of perspectives on the history of Ukraine and the situation leading up to the Russian invasion.

https://crimethinc.com/zines/ukraine-background-russian-invasion

Please print these out and distribute them! Start a reading group!

"The Russian invasion poses thorny questions for anarchists. How do we oppose Russian military aggression without simply playing into the agenda of the United States and other governments? How do we continue to oppose Ukrainian capitalists and fascists without helping the Russian government to craft a narrative to justify direct or indirect intervention? How do we prioritize both the lives and the freedom of ordinary people in Ukraine and the neighboring countries—while not forgetting about all the people from parts of the world that have already been suffering war for years, like Afghanistan?

"And what if war is not the only danger here? How do we avoid reducing our movements to subsidiaries of statist forces without winding up irrelevant in a time of escalating conflict? How do we continue to organize against all forms of oppression even in the midst of war, without adopting the same logic as state militaries?"

Beautiful anarchist banners from this weekend's protests against the invasion of #Ukraine.

Stockholm: "A united working class against war."

Berlin: "Don't stand with Putin, don't stand with NATO—stand with the people."

Hamburg: "Against any war, against any militarization."

https://cwc.im/AntiWarRussia

This is bigger than Putin. Rulers always use force to assert their desired sphere of influence. Remember what the democratic Spanish state did when Catalunya sought independence (http://cwc.im/Catalanreferendum)—and what the US did in Chile in 1973.

The problem is the state itself.

This is why the struggle against the invasion of Ukraine has to be a struggle against all nationalism, war, and state power. Otherwise, we will be condemned to experience the same tragic events again in the future.

This is why we support anarchists in Russia and Ukraine.

Read about how Russian anarchists understand the situation:

https://cwc.im/AntiWarRussia

https://cwc.im/RussianAnnexation

https://cwc.im/UkraineFebruary24

And how Ukrainian anarchists see it:

https://cwc.im/Ukraine2022

https://cwc.im/UkraineWar

This war is just one chapter in a long-term fight.

What would Russian oligarchs do if their properties around the world were occupied by squatters?

Think of all the expensive housing properties they speculate on for profit. Some must be empty.

We remember how anarchists squatted mansions in Moscow and St. Petersburg in 1917.

Following up our zine about Ukraine, we've prepared a zine collecting statements from Russian anarchists opposing the invasion of Ukraine, exploring its repercussions in Russia and arguing for international solidarity.

https://cwc.im/russiantiwar

Please print and distribute widely!

"Whether Russians decide to support this invasion at great cost to themselves—or to oppose Putin at great risk to themselves—may determine what happens in Ukraine. We owe it to the Russians who are protesting to learn how they see the invasion and what it means for their lives."

From another longstanding Russian anarchist group, another statement against the invasion, emphasizing the complicity of those who make excuses for Putin.

https://crimethinc.com/2022/02/26/russian-anarchists-on-resisting-the-invasion-of-ukraine-updates-and-analysis#the-anarchist-black-cross-of-st-petersburg-statement-against-the-war

Don't listen to random Anglophones about this.

Listen to the ones risking their freedom in Russia, the ones who understand Putin's agenda best.