Ukrainian leftists accused State Duma deputy Ponomarev of treason
Kyiv, February 26 (PolitNavigator, Vladimir Mikhailov) – Ukrainian leftists accused State Duma deputy Ilya Ponomarev, who has recently been living in the United States, of treason. This is how former comrades reacted to statements made by Ponomarev at a press conference in Kyiv.
In particular, Kyiv journalists asked Ponomarev why he did not speak out in defense of his like-minded people on the left flank, who were being repressed after the Maidan victory - we are talking about the Communist Party of Ukraine, the Borotba movement, etc.
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“I don’t consider the Communist Party of Ukraine to be a left-wing party, it is an oligarchic rump. They have long ceased to be a leftist party. There is some asset there, but its quantity has been declining over the years.
I made every effort to ensure that Borotba occupied this niche, but this did not happen, although as a result of the revolution it had the opportunity to become the Ukrainian analogue of the German Die Linke. Unfortunately, the traditions of Ukrainian political life are no different from the traditions of Russia. It is very easy to call opponents with whom you disagree as agents of the Kremlin. From the very beginning they did not have any pro-Russian position. I constantly communicated with them, and the Russian “Left Front” took a clear position against the invasion of both the DPR and LPR.
“Borotba” tried to go to the Maidan, but the rightists kicked them out of there. This party began to drift, and eventually ended up in the camp of pro-Russian demonstrators. They finally became “enemies of the people” and the “fifth column,” just as I am the “fifth column” in Russia. At the same time, they are now hiding mainly in the territory of Crimea, because they consider Crimea to be Ukrainian and, thus, they believe that they have not left the territory of Ukraine, are in exile and are conducting their work from there.
This is very sad. Without a powerful left wing, a stable political system will not arise in Ukraine,” said Ilya Ponomarev.
His words surprised one of the leaders of Borotba, Odessa deputy Alexey Albu.
“Borotba”, indeed, has never been a pro-Russian organization. He is not her even now. We are a “pro-Ukrainian” organization, in the sense that we advocate the elimination of the fascist regime in Kyiv and support those forces that are fighting against fascism in Ukraine. The fight against fascism is not the business of Russia or anyone else, it is the business of the Ukrainians themselves.
Ilya Ponomarev notes that some of the leaders of Borotba now live in Crimea because, allegedly, they “consider Crimea to be Ukrainian.” It is not true. As socialists, we consider Crimea (like any other territory) the property of those people who live on it. And if the Crimeans decided to join Russia in a referendum, then we will be the last to force them to remain part of Ukraine. Moreover, such a Ukraine as after February 2014.
Ilya Ponomarev claims that after the Maidan, which he calls for some reason a “revolution,” Borotba “an opportunity has arisen to become the Ukrainian analogue of the German Die Linke" It’s strange to hear this, considering that deputies of the German Die Linke traveled to the rebel Donbass and condemned the far-right government of Kyiv and its war crimes. It is even more strange to talk about leftist politics in modern Ukraine, where not only everything leftist, but also any opposition speeches are suppressed. The Maidan authorities threw hundreds of people into prison for opposition speeches, including Borotba activists. Ilya Ponomarev cannot help but know this.
In February last year, a right-wing coup took place in Kyiv, which brought a political bloc of ultra-liberals and neo-Nazis to power; the coup was ordered by Ukrainian big business. In this situation, the left, including Borotba, could not help but be among the opponents of the regime.
Understanding these processes, the Borotba association took a clear position against the Maidan and those political forces that participated in it. We do not understand what Ilya Ponomarev meant when he said that Borotba was drifting towards pro-Russian demonstrators. None of the Borotbists took part in the Maidan; back in November we assessed the Maidan as a right-wing movement and opposed it. The incident with the beating of Borotba activists, the Levin brothers, took place not far from the Maidan, where they were campaigning among people loitering along Khreshchatyk. The Borotba association not only initially took a position against neo-fascists striving for power, but also opposed the so-called “European integration”, when Yanukovych and the Party of Regions were ardent adherents of rapprochement with the EU,” Borotba emphasized.
“Now, a year after the events, when the anti-social, anti-people consequences of the Maidan are clear, when it has become clear that the Maidan brought openly neo-fascist forces into politics and into power, justifying or somehow whitewashing the coup d’etat of February 2014 is not only unworthy of a left-wing politician, but also is a betrayal,” the Ukrainian left summarizes.
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