New Yorkers protest assassination of Donbass leader

Anti-war, community and solidarity activists gathered at the statute of Latin American liberation hero Simon Bolivar in Central Park May 27 to honor assassinated Donbass leader Alexei Mozgovoi and four members of his Ghost Brigade militia.

The International Action Center initiated the memorial, answering a call by communists in Lugansk for solidarity actions to coincide with Mozgovoi’s funeral there.

Holding signs declaring “Mozgovoi Lives” and anti-fascist flags, activists demanded a halt to Ukrainian military attacks and the economic blockade of the Donestk and Lugansk People’s Republics. They distributed leaflets to passersby calling for an end to Washington’s economic, political and military support of the far-right Kiev regime.

Anna Rebrii, a student activist whose family lives in Ukraine and Lugansk, told the group: “This act of international solidarity is important. A revolutionary might be killed, but the revolution goes on.”

“Mozgovoi was one of the most committed and radical leaders of the anti-fascist resistance in Donbass,” said Greg Butterfield, of the IAC. “He was not only committed to defending the people of Lugansk and Donetsk from the war unleashed by Ukrainian fascists and U.S. imperialism. He was committed to building a new society based on freedom and social justice for all working people.

“Commander Mozgovoi was also an internationalist who understood that Novorossiyan and Ukrainian workers must unite on a class basis to destroy the fascist junta in Kiev,” Butterfield noted.

“We hear all the time from the U.S. corporate media and Washington officials that the people of Donbass live in fear under the rule of ‘Russian invaders’ and ‘terrorist separatists.’

“These are lies meant to distract people from the fact that both Democrats and Republicans are united in sending billions of dollars and weapons to the illegal regime in Kiev, while cutting desperately needed social programs here at home.

“It’s meant to distract us from the fact that U.S. troops are training neo-Nazis in Ukraine to kill civilians in Donbass, while racist police murder Black and Brown people from New York to Baltimore to Ferguson,” charged Butterfield.

Other speakers included Russian community activist Andy Aero; Comrade Shahid, of the Pakistan-USA Freedom Forum; trade unionist Mike Gimbel; IAC Co-Director Sara Flounders; and Bill Dores, of Workers World Party.

FIST (Fight Imperialism, Stand Together), Party of Communists USA and U.S. Friends of the Soviet People also participated in the memorial.