The following is from the Ukrainian anarchist group Assembly: ---- While
Western countries were celebrating the 105th anniversary of the end ofthe First World War, another trench meat grinder is leading to anincrease in protest activity in Ukraine. The Assembly's recent overviewof combative sabotage in recent months is available in a separatecanvas, now let's talk about less disruptive things. ---- On October 27,in Kyiv, Odessa, Poltava and 10 other cities of the country, rallieswere held by female relatives of mobilized soldiers demanding theirdemobilization. Most of these servicemen have been at the front sincethe start of hostilities in February 2022 and are in poor physical andmoral condition. The title photo shows this event in Kyiv (Kiev) on thecentral Independence Square. On November 12, the same actions wereannounced already in 20 cities and towns of Ukraine; our correspondentexclusively covered it in Kharkov. However, many of those who do notwant to fight are in no hurry to support these actions, fearing that theneed to replace soldiers sent home will provide another reason forincreasing conscription. The issue is now under consideration by theauthorities.Residents of Sosnivka in the Lviv region spoke out against the decisionto send criminal prisoners to work at the coal mine located on theterritory of this town. "The absurdity of this question is that minerswho have a specialty, who have experience working in mines, are notexempt from mobilization, they are sent to the trenches. And these arestrangers, convicted people. We don't know under what articles they wereconvicted. We don't know what to expect from those people," said VeraBogdanova from Sosnivka. The mine employs 300 people, 87 of themdirectly extract coal. Three dozen miners were mobilized. The enterprisedecided to employ 10 convicts to work night shifts. In mid-October,residents of the town came to express their protest at the ChervonogradCity Council. They prepared a draft decision: to contact the governmentand the president to check the legality of the prisoners' stay at themine. However, there were not enough votes at the session.On October 14, dozens of residents of the Ovruch territorial community(Zhitomir region) gathered at an unauthorized rally in front of the citycouncil, demanding an explanation from the local authorities regardingthe cancellation of payments that are due to victims of the Chernobylaccident. Authorities banned the protest, citing martial law. However,people came to the administrative building (photo below) demandingassurances that the payments would be included in the state budget andan explanation of what would be done to prevent the cancellation ofthese payments. The mayor of Ovruch said that an extraordinary sessionof the city council was held and there is a corresponding response fromthe deputies of the Zhytomyr region, there are appeals that will beconsidered during the budget commissions meeting.On the evening of November 29, in the Luzanovka neighbourhood of Odessa,residents protested due to the lack of heat and light in their housesfor four days. They blocked the street, but then dispersed due to an airalert. The cops have arrived.In the second half of November, students of the National AviationUniversity in Kyiv organized spontaneous meetings due to the absence ofheating in the educational buildings. "On November 20, the heating wasturned on, before that it was freezing in the premises. When the heatingwas turned on, most of the buildings remained just as cold, because thesystem is old, there are leaks in many places. They also turned on theheating itself, that the radiators are barely warm, it feels like that'sjust to prevent the pipe from bursting," a student named Maxim told us.A new rally was held on November 21. According to the administration,they already were resolving the issue, but the university's debtscomplicate the process.Bolt Food delivery service couriers go on strike every Friday. They areseeking to determine the minimum guaranteed wage, raise rates by 70% andunblock unjustly blocked colleagues.More details about this struggle you can find in the article fromCRAS-AIT. On October 20th, approximately 70% of restaurants on the leftbank of the capital underwent a shutdown due to a strike!Also at the end of October, a scandal erupted across the country with aBolt taxi driver in Kyiv, who was banned for life from this applicationfor dropping off two aggressive passengers who demanded to speak withthem exclusively in Ukrainian. Our magazine supported the call toboycott this company, which spontaneously arose on its Instagram page.Bolt in Ukraine is known much more as a taxi than as a delivery service,so one can hope that this campaign will not only be a response to theviolation of human dignity and labor rights of the driver, but will alsohelp support the strike of couriers.In frontline Lisichansk (a part of the Lugansk region occupied by Russiasince last year), water utility workers on September 2 reportedly wenton strike due to many months of salary arrears. The 80th anniversary ofliberation from the Nazis was celebrated there at that time along withCity Day. In early October it became known that they had been paid. Alsoat the end of September, it was reported about a protest by waterutility workers in neighboring Rubezhnoye (Rubizhne), but we did notmanage to find out the exact details: perhaps the strike was preventedby promises to pay off debts; according to another version, those whogathered for the protest dispersed after seeing a group of armed people.One way or another, at the time of our report about these conflicts, wereceived evidence that debts were being repaid.And finally, an example of individual rebellion. In the same Kyiv, anunemployed drunk man smashed the screen of a PrivatBank terminal becauseit mistakenly transferred his money, which he wanted to send to hisacquaintance, to help the army. This happened back on July 11, but theverdict became public only recently. The court fined him 51 hryvniaunder the administrative article of petty hooliganism. Hooliganism isreally petty, but last year it was hard to imagine such an act!Meanwhile, at yesterday's forum, representatives of all factions anddeputy associations of the Ukrainian parliament adopted a jointdeclaration on the refusal of elections in Ukraine until the end ofmartial law. According to the Odessa historian of anarchism VyacheslavAzarov, this will destroy the hopes of the Western allies to get a lesscorrupt, more transparent and accommodating government here. And nowthey have only two options: pour billions into supporting the Ukrainianrear and the Ukrainian Armed Forces until the latter reach the promisedborders of 1991, or strangle the government by cutting funding andmilitary supplies until they agree to negotiations or a new Maidanbreaks out. The first option threatens years of weapons and financialcosts that are unaffordable for the allies. The second is not only foodriots in the Ukrainian rear, but also a more serious threat that theenemy will take advantage of the unrest and weakening of the ArmedForces of Ukraine, overthrow the defenses and seize a number of otherregions, which threatens the ruling cabinets of the Western coalitioncountries with defeat in the elections. The "suitcase without a handle"dilemma...In addition, let us remind about the recent successful campaign to savethe last pine forest of Kharkov from sand mining in its place.assembly.org.uahttps://www.anarchistcommunism.org/2023/12/05/the-autumn-rise-of-social-struggle-across-ukraine/_________________________________________A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C EBy, For, and About AnarchistsSend news reports to A-infos-en mailing listA-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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