Borotba leader responds to teardown of Lenin statue

This article was written by Sergei Kirichuk, a leader of the Ukrainian organization Borotba (Struggle), now living in exile, in response to the fascists’ tearing down the statue of Vladimir Lenin in the city of Kharkov on Sept. 29.  

Today the oligarchy is experiencing a “golden age,” when participants in any protest can be declared terrorists. And to break up demonstrations, they are using Nazi militants.

In Kharkov, the monument to Vladimir Lenin was torn down. The organizers of this operation did not conceal that it was revenge for an attempt by Communist Party activists to hold a peace march. As you know, the march was broken up by the police, in conjunction with the Nazi gangs.

Here is what Minister of Interior Arsen Avakov wrote on Facebook: “Lenin? Let him fall … If only people were not injured. If only this bloody communist idol, in leaving, had not added to his victims. If only rogues and scoundrels had not taken advantage of the storm of emotions of Kharkovites, did not use it for regular clashes.” That is, the minister recognizes that the act of vandalism could cause an escalation of tension, but still indulges the Nazis. They make sure that everything is under control. Avakov writes: “The Interior Ministry Special Forces and the National Guard are ready to face provocateurs who want to exploit the situation. And they should not try.”

We have no doubt, by the way. No doubt that “provocateurs” will be the label for any participants in any protests that result from the policy of the current government. Inna Bohoslovska [described in next paragraph], who is now, of course, a supporter of the new regime, rejoices in the demolition of Lenin: “For so long we struggled for normal police in Kharkov. And now, 20 percent of police officers are absolutely patriotic. Police took over the crazy work, and every day they catch terrorists and separatists.”

Bohoslovska has never been an independent person; she was always a “talking head” for [oligarch Victor] Pinchuk. Her voice speaks for the Ukrainian oligarchy. They are building the state of their dreams, where they can loot and pillage while any dissenters are called “terrorists.” Our neoliberals openly rejoice, as the mill grinds a direct route to 1970s’ Latin American-style dictatorships of neoliberal economy against the backdrop of military dictatorship. Toward Pinochet — the idol of neoliberal society.

Today the oligarchy is experiencing a “golden age,” when participants of any protest can be declared terrorists. And to break up demonstrations, they are using Nazi militants. Of course, this system requires a furious injection of frenzy and extensive brainwashing in matters of history. The whole history of the territory of modern Ukraine (from “protoukrov” until now) is described as the nation’s struggle for independence and what made it necessary to establish the current political regime. This is a war between civilization and barbarism.

Kharkov was the first capital of Ukraine; it built planes and missiles, split the atom and created the T-34 tank, and created turbines for power plants that have been shipped around the world. Kharkov without Lenin is nationalism without principle; it’s a degradation of education and science. It’s not for nothing that a few of the Nazis were injured during the destruction of the monument — their level of understanding is not enough even to destroy an object, let alone to build one.

Of course, it would be an exaggeration to say that Lenin was the founder of Ukraine. That Ukraine exists in its present borders, however, is as a result of the activities of Lenin and his political party. The Nazis’ demolition of the monument to one of the founders of the country is a death sentence for its existence with these borders in the future.

Translation by Greg Butterfield, original at liva.com.ua/lenin.html.