“Instead of repressed leaders, new ones will appear,” - Odessa deputy Alexey Albu
Odessa - Simferopol, May 19 (Navigator, Artem Buzila) - The Ukrainian authorities managed to suppress the Odessa Anti-Maidan - dozens of people died in the House of Trade Unions, others were under arrest or on the run. Among the latter is a representative of the left movement "Fighting" Deputy of the Odessa Regional Council Alexey Albu, running for mayor of the city. Together with his comrades, he was forced to leave for Crimea. However, Albu promises that the protests in South Palmyra are not over. He spoke about this in a conversation with a correspondent "Navigator".
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"Navigator": Almost all prominent activists Kulikovo fields on the run? Does this mean the defeat of the protest movement? in Odessa? Why you Did you leave the city yourself?
Alexey Albu: Personally, I left Odessa because of the threat to my life and because of the threat of arrest. Although the newly appointed governor Igor Palitsa said that there was nothing on Alba, I received reliable information from my sources in law enforcement agencies that they were going to detain me. In addition, 3-4 suspicious people were regularly on duty near my house. Presumably these are Right Sector activists.
Therefore, my closest associates and I decided to temporarily leave Odessa; now we are in Crimea. But I promise that, sooner or later, we will return to our hometown and continue the fight.
Navigator: What are the movement’s future plans?
Alexey Albu: Now we are creating something like a coordinating council. You understand, the problem of the Odessa Anti-Maidan was that there was no single decision-making center. Now it is being created. Of course, this is difficult, since many leaders are arrested or even hiding, in the same Crimea. I won’t name who exactly is hiding: this is confidential information.
I cannot say what specific actions these will be. In any case, there will be rallies, protests, and distribution of leaflets. A tent city is also not excluded. But all this is still being discussed.
“Navigator”: Your attitude to the project of creating Novorossiya, which was announced by Oleg Tsarev?
Alexey Albu: In fact, there are now many opinions within the movement. Some want to separate from Ukraine and create Novorossiya, some simply do not submit to Kyiv, some want to overthrow this fascist government. We will try to consolidate all these forces, whichever option will be easiest to organize, that will be organized.
“Navigator”: How do you see the role of the Party of Regions, the Communist Party of Ukraine, and traditional political forces in the protest movement?
Alexey Albu: We are facing a complete reformatting of the political field in the country. The PR and the Communist Party of Ukraine, of course, will retain a certain influence in certain regions, but their role will no longer be decisive or even too significant.
Regarding the Communist Party of Ukraine, I can say that her behavior was one of the reasons for the coup d'etat in Kyiv. It was necessary to “catch” the mood of people socially, on the left flank, and reconfigure the protest to the left. But the Communist Party remained silent. Just as she remained silent when monuments to Lenin were destroyed, laws were repealed, and the list goes on.
“Navigator”: Quite massive pro-Ukrainian actions are taking place in Odessa - where does this number of people come from if the local Odessa Euromaidan never recruited even 500 people even in its most active phase?
Alexey Albu: Today, all organizational, mobilization and power levers are in the hands of the authorities. They have finances, they have weapons, they have the National Guard and other neo-fascist gangs. They have the opportunity to organize all this legally, from their point of view.
It costs the authorities nothing to organize a mass action, including driving people away from other regions. Which is exactly what we are observing.
“Navigator”: Did new leaders emerge in Odessa during the Russian Spring? Who are they? How are they different from politicians? "old generation"?
Alexey Albu: The difference between Anti-Maidan was that these leaders emerged directly from the people. Nobody specially trained them or conducted PR campaigns with them. The man simply stepped forward, showed himself in one direction or another, and the elements themselves made him a leader. Let's see, none of the leaders of the Odessa Anti-Maidan, and throughout the South-East, are professional politicians.
This is a movement of the people, and this is its huge advantage. I think that in the future, given the certain suppression of the movement, repressions against already familiar leaders, new ones will definitely appear. This is already difficult to contain.
Navigator: How do you assess the upcoming elections on May 25, will they be fair? Are representatives of the South-East really participating?
Alexey Albu: These elections can hardly be called fair and legitimate. The same applies to the representation of the Southeast on them.
However, I decided to participate in them, I mean the mayoral campaign in Odessa. We set up tents and distribute leaflets. I will say that this comes with great difficulty for me and my team. After all, for example, I am not in Odessa, and my activists are constantly under pressure. Recently, my group, which was distributing leaflets, was completely attacked.
But I’m not going to withdraw my candidacy yet. I will use all methods to convey and promote the position of the Kulikovo Field. Tens of thousands of Odessa residents who stood there entrusted this to me.
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