WORLD WORLDWIDE EUROPE uk United Kingdom - news journal UPDATE - (en) UK, AnarCom: Myths and the truth about the enemies of our enemies (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

 Let me start by asking a question: Are the enemies of our enemies

automatically our friends and allies? This is a question that people
have always asked themselves when deciding with whom and how to ally in
pursuit of their goals. Even today, questions of this kind are relevant
to us. For example: if our enemy is Putin and his supporters, is anyone
who takes up arms and uses them against Putin's supporters automatically
our friend and ally? Some may argue that a question posed in this way is
too vague to be answered immediately. I will therefore try to be more
specific. I will describe a few specific people who have died in the war
in Ukraine and have become uncritically glorified martyrs for quite a
few people.

1) Yuri Samoylenko /

The obituary on the website of the Anarchist Federation states "Yuri
Samoylenko: a great organiser of anti-fascist resistance". But on his
tombstone it says 'Right Sector officer'.

source: https://x.com/Voxkomm/status/1678148412347404288

_______________________________

The question arises: Can both of these statements be true, or are they
mutually exclusive? Let each answer for himself. And if anyone has
trouble finding the answer, here is some basic information about the
Right Sector that may serve as useful clues.

Right Sector (Ukrainian:  [právyj séktor]) is the name of a Ukrainian
nationalist party founded on March 22, 2014. The movement combines
radical Ukrainian nationalism in the tradition of Stepan Bandera and the
Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA).

Right Sector supporters carry a flag with a portrait of Stepan Bandera,
Kiev, January 1, 2015

________________________________

And who was this Stepan Andriyovich Bandera? He was the leader and
chairman of the radical wing of the Organisation of Ukrainian
Nationalists (OUN-B). In 1939, he collaborated with Nazi Germany and
organized a military unit under the German Wehrmacht. Bandera pledged
the cooperation of the new Ukrainian state with Nazi Germany under
Hitler, with the final remark "Glory to the heroic German army and its
Führer Adolf Hitler". The declaration was accompanied by violent pogroms.

And what was the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA)? It was an armed unit of
the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), more precisely its
radical faction led by Stepan Bandera (OUN-B). The organisation is seen
as highly controversial, especially for its association with the Nazi
occupiers and for its massacres of civilians.

I will now ask two questions, clearly and specifically. Was Yuri
Samoylenko - i.e. the fallen Right Sector officer - a hero who should be
praised because he was an enemy of the Putinists, just as the anarchists
are? Was this enemy of our enemies our friend and ally? Let everyone
answer for themselves.

2) Roman Legar /  "?"

"On 9 June 2024, an anarchist, soldier of the Azov Brigade, our comrade
and close friend Roman Legar was killed," wrote his obituary on the
Revolutionary Action profile . A few lines later, it says: "The
hardships of his service and environment did not break Roman, he
remained faithful to his anarchist convictions until the end."

Does this mean that the Azov Brigade, infamous for its collaboration
with the far right, was transformed into a formation for people with
anarchist convictions? Again, let everyone answer for themselves.

3) Sergey Petrovichev /

The Autonomous Action website announced death of Sergey Petrovichev,
also known by the names "Rubin" and "Vasili Volgin". "We mourn the
martyrdom of our comrade who gave his life for the freedom of all
nations." the website says. "Sergey Petrovichev: the unbreakable
anarchist from Russia" reads again the obituary on the Anarchist
Federation website. But on his personal FB profile, the same Sergey
Petrovichev posted a photo of himself proudly posing with neo-Nazi Maxim
Martsinkevich. He uploaded the photo 2 days after Maxim's death with
comments about how people should "avenge" him.

source: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=3293046094106365

________________________________

So the question is: Has the political situation really changed so much
with the war in Ukraine that being an "unbreakable anarchist" now means
something like being a "friend of a neo-Nazi"? I'll leave the question
unanswered. As a clue, I will now cite information from the antifa.cz
website about the White Rex clothing brand, in front of whose logo
"unbreakable anarchist" Sergey Petrovichev posed with neo-Nazi Maxim
"Tesak" Martsinkevich.

White Rex is a Russian clothing brand that focuses on combat sports.
Although the owner is all obfuscation and denial, one doesn't have to be
much of a guru to figure out that White Rex is primarily targeting
neo-Nazis. The brand was founded in 2008 by Denis Nikitins with the idea
that it should bring together people with similar views and beliefs
while raising some money for "charity". By charity, he means financial
support for incarcerated neo-Nazis, whom he calls "prisoners of
conscience." (...) In 2011, White Rex started a series of its own
tournaments called "Duch Vojna" (Spirit Warrior). Although they are not
exclusively for neo-Nazis, it is clear that they are primarily intended
for them. (...) During the last event in December 2012, a well-known
neo-Nazi activist from Format18, Maxim "Tesak" Martsinkevich, spoke at
the event.

And some more essential information about the aforementioned
Martsinkevich ( ? in Russian). He first gained public attention as the
leader of the far-right youth group Format 18, which was presented as
the "armed wing" of the National Socialist Society. The number 18 is the
code or symbol for the name "Adolf Hitler", as the letter A is the first
and H is the eighth in Latin. Members of Format 18 attacked Asian
migrant workers and homeless people. They filmed the attacks and
uploaded the videos to the internet.

Martsinkevich was sentenced three times in prison for inciting racial or
ethnic hatred. The first time was in 2007 after he disrupted political
debates by shouting "Sieg Heil!" at a book club in Moscow. In 2009, he
was again convicted for making a video with racist content. In the
autumn of 2013, he was again accused of publishing new videos with
racist remarks. During his next sentence in 2020, an investigation was
opened into his involvement in hate killings. He confessed to
involvement in a series of murders motivated by racist ideology.
According to the investigation, the victims were several men of
non-Slavic appearance (mostly Central Asian migrants) and a Russian sex
worker. Martsinkevich testified against other participants in the
murders and led investigators to some of the victims' bodies, but was
soon found dead in his cell.

That's right, this is the man that the "unbreakable anarchist" Sergey
Petrovichev took pictures with, defended and called for revenge after he
was found dead in a prison cell.

Final summary

A friend of a neo-Nazi and a murderer is presented to us as an
"unbreakable anarchist", a Right Sector officer as a "great organizer of
anti-fascist resistance" and an Azov soldier as a "man with an anarchist
mindset".

Why do I have the feeling that something is wrong here? Or are my
feelings deceiving me, because according to some people I am just a
confused dogmatist and sectarian who does not understand the meaning of
pragmatism? Who knows? Make up your own mind.

Lukásh Borl, December 2, 2024

A new article by our Czech comrade Lukas

Article can be found here:
https://lukasborl.noblogs.org/myths-and-the-truth-about-the-enemies-of-our-enemies/

https://anarcomuk.uk/2024/12/22/myths-and-the-truth-about-the-enemies-of-our-enemies/
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