Ukraine crisis deepens

Ukraine is being relentlessly pushed into deeper and deeper crisis, threatening its very existence as a sovereign country. The US imperialists and their NATO allies are directly responsible for this terrible situation. They set loose their fascist agencies in Ukraine to spread anarchy and violence in the capital Kiev and other cities.

Ukraine is being relentlessly pushed into deeper and deeper crisis, threatening its very existence as a sovereign country. The US imperialists and their NATO allies are directly responsible for this terrible situation. They set loose their fascist agencies in Ukraine to spread anarchy and violence in the capital Kiev and other cities. The reactionary forces in Ukraine who are linked with the US and German agencies then carried out a coup in February 2014 to overthrow the constitutionally elected President Viktor Yankovych. The aim was to integrate Ukraine with NATO and the European Union, and break the moves of Russia for a Eurasian Union in which Ukraine was to be a key player. The strategic aim was to get hold of the rich industrial and agricultural base of Ukraine, as well as encircle Russia completely. Since then, the disintegration of Ukraine has begun.

On May 8, the anniversary of the surrender of Hitler's Germany to the allies in 1945, addressing the gathering on the occasion, the Governor of Ukraine's southern province of Kherson hailed Hitler's role as a "liberator" and the then Soviet Union as "occupiers". Tens of thousands of Ukrainian patriots had been tortured, humiliated and murdered by the Nazi fascists in the years before Ukraine regained its independence. The people attending the ceremony were aghast. A young woman with a child in her arms rushed to the stage and snatched the mike from the neo-fascist governor. The people, many supporters of the coup, booed the governor and supported the young woman. The imperialists and their agencies in Ukraine are trying to rewrite the history of the Second World War. The people of Ukraine, recalling the stories of their mothers and grandmothers, are expressing their anger and opposition.  

Within Ukraine, following the February US imperialist organized coup, the province of Crimea organised a referendum and decided to rejoin Russia. In the provinces of Southern and Eastern Ukraine, there is great opposition to the US and European strategy, and to the illegitimate government that has been installed in power in Kiev. On May 11, referendums were organized in the Eastern provinces of Donetsk and Lugansk seeking self determination for these provinces. These referendums have been condemned as "illegal" by the current pro imperialist government of Ukraine, as well as the US, Germany and other imperialist states backing it. These states are shedding crocodile tears about "sovereignty" of Ukraine, after having deliberately violated it and having imposed their puppet regime.

A reign of terror has been unleashed by the fascist forces backing the Kiev government. Over 46 people died a horrible death in the city of Odessa in eastern Ukraine, after fascist forces supporting the current regime in Kiev were given full licence to set fire to the Trade Unions building in which protestors had taken refuge after their protest camp outside had been forcibly dismantled. It is expected that the actual number of deaths is much higher and could cross 100, as more of the injured die each day.

The Kiev regime’s assault on the city of Kramatorsk also left more than ten people dead and scores injured, while a similar number of people died in Slavyansk during shooting unleashed by pro-Kiev fascist forces. Fighting continues in several other towns, and in villages along the way.

Protests have unfolded in dozens of towns and cities across Ukraine, especially in the eastern and southern regions. In many cases, the protests have taken the form of local people taking over and occupying government buildings. The May 11 referendum in Eastern Ukrainian provinces was part of this protest movement.

The fascist offensive against the people in Ukraine has been instigated by US imperialism and its European allies. The visit to Kiev by the American CIA director James Brennan in April was immediately followed by the beginning of the Kiev regime’s military offensive against the eastern part of the country. It received a further boost after the visit of the US Vice-President Biden. US president Obama explicitly justified the violence against the protestors in a joint press conference he held with the German chancellor Angela Merkel. The US ambassador to the UN Samantha Power called the actions that had led to the devastating bloodshed in Odessa and other places “proportionate and reasonable”!

It is clear that neo-fascist criminal elements have been let loose in support of the Kiev regime against the protestors and local populace in the eastern and southern parts of the country to spread terror and anarchy. Evidence has come to light of English-speaking mercenaries also taking part in the offensive, whom Russia has claimed belong to Greystone, American military contractors working with the Kiev regime. Kiev’s declaration that it would go ahead with presidential elections throughout Ukraine under these conditions has further inflamed the situation.

US imperialism is accusing Russia of backing the opponents to the illegal regime in Kiev. This is nothing less than a thief crying "stop thief". To put pressure on Russia, and implement its plans in Ukraine and Eastern Europe, the US has already imposed sanctions on Russia. It has threatened further sanctions if Russia does not capitulate to the US plans in Ukraine. Russia meanwhile has threatened to cut off gas supplies to Germany and other European countries in case US imposes further sanctions on it. It has consistently opposed the US and German sponsored coup in Ukraine.

The US imperialists and their Western allies that have organized and instigated the present political crisis in Ukraine are playing for very high stakes. The stakes they are playing for are nothing less than the colonisation of Ukraine. Their larger sights are set on Russia herself, with its vast natural resources. They want to put an end to any challenge Russia offers to their efforts to strengthen their hegemony in West Asia, the Persian Gulf and other parts of the world. For this they are prepared to push the world once again perilously close to all-out war. Their slogans of “democracy”, “humanitarianism”, “defence of territorial integrity”, and so on have been exposed as just hollow words to disguise naked imperialist self-interest.

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