We publish below an interview by the Czech antimilitarist group Dezerter
with the Russian group KRAS. We do so to provide information about thesituation in Russia, and the movement against war there. ---- 1)
Greetings to Russia. Please give our readers a brief introduction to
your local syndicalist organisation and the International Workers
Association. ---- Greetings, comrades! We in the KRAS, Confederation of
Revolutionary Anarcho-Syndicalists, see ourselves as a small initiative
group from which, we hope, in the future an anarchist workers' union
could grow, capable of waging practical struggle in the workplace. As an
organisation, we have existed since the mid-1990s. Over the years, we
have actively supported strikes and social protests in various
industries and professions, trying to give the movement a self-organised
character. In particular, we held solidarity actions with the strikers,
collected funds, and conducted information campaigns. Not limiting
ourselves to issues of economic struggle, we also took part in other
social protests, including protests against the wars in Chechnya,
against gentrification of cities, against pension reform, against the
destruction of public health care, education, and so on. At the
international level we are part of the anarcho-syndicalist
International, the International Workers Association (IWA-AIT), which
sees itself as a continuation of the federalist wing of the First
International, revived in 1922. It is an international association of
anarcho-syndicalist trade unions, whose sections operate in many
countries of Europe, America, Asia and Australia.
2)Our magazine is anti-militarist, how about you, your organisation and
the International? How do you perceive antimilitarism and how would you
explain it to an ordinary Russian or Ukrainian worker?
Anarcho-syndicalism has always been anti-militarist from the very
beginning. This has been confirmed in the resolutions of many IWA
congresses and in the many anti-war actions in which sections of the
International have participated throughout its history. It is very
important to note that anarcho-syndicalists have condemned and continue
to condemn militarism from all sides, whether it is the militarism of
capitalist or so-called "socialist" states or the so-called "national
liberation" movements. Our organisation also takes a consistently
anti-militarist position. We are against any wars and armies, and adhere
to the simple idea of "no war except class war". In fact, this is
precisely what we focus on in our agitation. We try to explain that wars
serve the interests of the ruling classes and the state apparatus, while
the working people gain nothing and only suffer from them. Moreover,
they suffer not only because the workers are forced to kill people like
themselves and die for the interests of others, the interests of power
and profit, but also because war brings economic hardship and ruin to
ordinary workers in the rear.
3)Your analyses predicted an escalation of the conflict in eastern
Ukraine and the outbreak of war. What changed for you and ordinary
Russian workers after the outbreak of war?
The Russian-Ukrainian conflict has been going on since 2014. It is based
on the desire of the ruling classes of both countries to redivide the
territories and property of the former "Soviet Union" as a single
capitalist corporation, which they already divided in 1991, as well as
on the interests of the ruling classes of the great world powers,
including the United States, the European Union states and China. On the
one hand, the contradictions gradually escalated, which is in principle
inevitable at the current stage of capitalism's existence, and this
potentially always leads to war. On the other hand, it could not be
ruled out that the parties would reach an agreement this particular
time, as had happened in the past. We hoped that the escalation into a
large-scale war, which broke out in 2022, would still be avoided. At
least that everything would not explode this time. But events began to
develop according to the worst-case scenario.
With the outbreak of large-scale war, the situation for us and for the
working classes as a whole worsened dramatically. The authoritarian
neoliberal regime ruling in Russia has always been extremely repressive,
but now, in the context of war, these repressions have taken on massive
proportions. Under the pretext of war, a large-scale "tightening of the
screws" is taking place. New laws that have been adopted and continue to
be adopted and tightened have essentially abolished civil liberties.
There is no possibility to freely express one's opinion; rallies and
other protest actions are not allowed. Critical statements about the war
or the government's policies can lead to many years in prison. In
addition, there is a practice of declaring critics of the regime
"foreign agents", which also means that they are denied access to work
in the education sector and public institutions.
The practice of denunciations is widespread. The anti-migrant campaign
and the campaign against women's rights are gaining momentum. The
ideology is set on a course towards nationalistic and clerical
obscurantism. Of course, in such conditions, our organisation was forced
to stop open, public and street actions. But we continue the explanatory
and agitational campaign for self-organisation of working people, for
social and personal emancipation, including trying to explain in whose
interests this war is being waged and what the historical practice of
anti-military resistance is.
4) How did the social situation change after the outbreak of war?
The wars that states wage among themselves always turn out to be on the
"internal front" the wars of the ruling class against the exploited
working people and the "social weak" people. War always costs money, and
this money comes from the pockets of workers and "socially vulnerable"
people. It is not known exactly how much Russia is spending on its armed
conflict with Ukraine. Various sources quote figures ranging from $500
million to $1 billion per day, although it is unclear whether these
figures can be trusted. Regardless, these are huge expenses. Therefore,
the state sharply increases military spending and cuts spending on
social needs. If in 2015-2021, on average 28% of budget expenditures
were spent on social policy, then in the 2025 budget, expenditures on
social policy amount to only 16%. At the same time, the share of
official military spending exceeds spending on social policy,
healthcare, education and the economy combined. Prices are rising
rapidly. The so-called "inflation for the poor" (which takes into
account food products, medicines, cleaning products, transport and
communication services, and housing and communal services) reached 16%
in 2024. Prices for some food products have increased several times.
It is becoming increasingly difficult for poor people to survive. It is
enough to mention that 34% of Russian residents experience difficulties
in purchasing the medications they need (while 54% of them directly say
that the reason is a lack of money). 35% of the average family's
expenses go towards food. In 2024, only 37% of families had enough money
for everything they needed, except for a car and real estate.
Taking advantage of the military situation, entrepreneurs have increased
pressure on workers. There have been cases where labor activists and
strikers have been accused of anti-state actions and undermining the war
effort. War is a great excuse for "optimisation". The share of companies
planning layoffs has grown from 7% in January of this year to 11.5% in June.
Strikes do occur, however. People demand payment of wage arrears or
better working conditions. There are also social protests due to the
poor state of infrastructure, which has not received the necessary
investment for years.
5) Many Russian workers support Putin's war campaign, others are silent.
What is the real situation? Why is this and how is it changing over
time? If it has changed?
Russian society has been divided since the beginning of the armed
conflict, although it is quite difficult to assess the real ratio of
supporters and opponents of the war. Official poll figures in the
current conditions do not inspire much confidence: people often simply
do not dare to answer honestly. And some polls that record the
percentage of those who refuse to answer questions at all show that such
people are the overwhelming majority.
However, even opinion polls that, at first glance, show a predominance
of those who approve of the current government while responding, - even
these polls show that the number of those who support an end warfare is
very high. For example, in February of this year, 59% of respondents
said that peace talks should now be held rather than military action
continued. The number of those in favour of continuing military action
was 31%.
If we talk about subjective feelings, then we have the impression that,
although most people perceive this war as something routine (as, for
example, in Soviet times they perceived the war in Afghanistan), they
have long been tired of this routine and would like to see the conflict end.
But, of course, there is a huge distance between such fatigue and any
active actions.
Here we should take into account the enormous social passivity in
post-Soviet societies (and Russia is no exception, just like Ukraine).
People are not happy with the situation, but they do not believe in the
possibility of changing anything through collective action. Everyone
tries to solve their problems alone. From our point of view, this is the
result of both the frustration of hopes during the so-called
"Perestroika" period, and the general social atomisation and egoisation
that resulted from the "market reforms". This is a deep trauma, which is
not easy or simple to overcome.
6) We have traced from various sources that at least 50,000 men have
deserted the Russian army? Are those numbers real or are they
underestimated?
The recently deceased German pacifist Rudi Friedrich, whose organisation
«Connection» helps
war objectors and deserters around the world, said earlier this year
that according to his data, about 250,000 conscripts who did not want to
fight in the war left Russia during the conflict. In the same period,
300,000 conscripts left Ukraine. Of course, this is not collective
resistance, but individual, but it is also extremely important and
significant.
7) How does the Russian army recruit men? There is a violent
mobilisation in Ukraine where people are being hunted like animals in
the street. Is this also happening in Russia?
In Russia, there are universal conscription for men from 18 to 30 year
old. The term of military service is 1 year. In addition, the
authorities announced additional mobilisation in the fall of 2022. Now
it is effectively limited, although not cancelled. At the same time, the
so-called "voluntary recruitment" into the army is expanding through the
so-called "contract service". A man can sign a contract with the
military department, according to which he serves in the army for a
fairly large reward. This reward is so large by Russian standards that
many people enlist in the army to pay off loans, mortgages, debts, or
simply to provide for their families. In addition, prisoners are
recruited into the army on the condition that they receive forgiveness
for their crimes.
Recently, the authorities have been trying to send to the front, first
of all, such "contract soldiers".
Probably to avoid such widespread indignation over forced mobilisation
as in Ukraine. However, in practice, signing a contract is far from
always a "voluntary" matter. Relatives of military personnel have
repeatedly complained that soldiers called up for regular military
service were often forced to sign a contract while still in the army,
after which they were sent to the front.
As for the hunt for people, it has not yet reached the same scale as in
Ukraine. The authorities have tightened penalties for draft dodgers. A
unified electronic system of accounting and control is being introduced.
From time to time, raids are conducted to find draft dodgers. Such
actions may include checking documents on the street, in the metro or
other public places, serving summonses on the spot and raids on places
of residence (hostels, rented apartments, warehouses and dormitories),
in gyms, etc. It should be noted that the favourite victims of such
raids are also migrants who have received Russian citizenship.
8) Does the Russian government respect the conscientious objection to
refuse to join the army guaranteed by the human rights charter? In
Ukraine they simply 'democratically' abolished it in violation of
international law.
Officially, in Russia there is the possibility of so-called "alternative
civilian service". A conscript has the right to undergo alternative
civilian service instead of military service only in two cases - if
military service is contrary to his beliefs and religion, or if he is a
representative of an indigenous minority and leads a traditional way of
life. In this case, the conscript must justify "his views, beliefs and
moral principles", the Defense Ministry website says. The decision on
whether a conscript can undergo alternative service or refuse him such
an opportunity is made by the draft board. If approved, he is sent to
work either in civilian positions in the army for 18 months, or in
civilian government agencies, but for 21 months. In most cases,
conscripts undergo civilian service within the region of their residence.
In reality, it is very difficult to achieve a replacement of military
service with an "alternative" one. In the first half of 2024, for
example, only 2,022 conscripts received it.
9) What are the ways to avoid being conscripted into the army and to the
front? We know that there is an organisation called 'Idite lesom' that
helps.
Previously, there was a rule that a draft notice was considered
officially delivered if it was handed over to the conscript in person
and against signature. In those conditions, the main method of evasion
was not receiving the draft notice. Many tried to obtain an exemption
from military service for medical reasons.
Now the situation has changed. Now draft notices are issued
electronically, through a special website. And it is very difficult to
get an exemption from the army due to illness: more and more often they
report about completely unhealthy people being called up to the army.
But Russia is big. Therefore, the most common way is still to move to
another region, to change one's place of residence. Some people manage
to go abroad. But now the authorities are taking measures to make such
opportunities as difficult as possible (by compiling a single electronic
list of conscripts who have received draft notices).
We are not personally acquainted with the activists of "Idite Lesom". We
know that this group exists and helps conscripts change their place of
residence, leave the country, desert, and so on. The authorities have
declared this group a "foreign agent".
10) The anti-war protests from the beginning of the war are no longer
heard of. Are there any? How strong is the persecution of these
manifestations? How many people are in prison or awaiting trial?
To be fair, it should be said from the very beginning that not all of
those who protested were against the war and all the warring parties.
Many of them were for the Ukrainian state. And this is not at all the
same as being against war as such. One way or another, after the
adoption of new repressive laws and the tightening of repression, the
wave of open and public protests began to subside. Such protests (not
only on the topic of war, but in general) in today's Russian state are,
as a rule, completely impossible. To hold any non-governmental public
event, you need to obtain permission, and it is almost never granted if
the issue in any way affects the interests of the authorities.
Interestingly, in Moscow and some other cities, the refusal to grant
permission is motivated by safety measures against COVID, although this
does not prevent official mass events from being held. An unauthorised
public event can result in a fine or even imprisonment. The exact number
of people arrested, tried, and imprisoned for criticising the government
in connection with the war (in one form or another) is unknown. It is
sometimes difficult to separate one reason for the repression from another.
Human rights activists cite the following figures. In total, from
February 24, 2022 to February 17, 2025, 20,081 people were detained in
connection with criticism of the war (in various forms and for various
reasons). Currently, most people are arrested not for public actions,
but for what they wrote on social networks. In addition, 46 people were
detained during protests by women relatives of those mobilised who were
holding protests to have them released home. The number of people
prosecuted for criticising the war politics, from February 24, 2022 to
February 17, 2025, was 1,185. As of 2025, February 17, - 913 people were
under criminal prosecution, of whom 372 were in places of imprisonment.
And one of the leaders of the liberal opposition, Grigory Yavlinsky,
spoke in June about approximately 1,000 political prisoners (not only in
connection with the war).
11) What is your prognosis for how the war will develop? How will the
conflict end and how long will it last?
Alas, we are not prophets! Today we see that both warring states do not
really want to stop the fighting, but justify their reluctance with
various excuses. At the same time, such powers as the US, EU countries
or China are actually only fueling the conflict, strengthening the
parties in their irreconcilable position. War is too profitable for
capital, the military-industrial complex, producers of arms and
politicians who, under the cover of the arms race, continue to attack
the working class and social achievements. And at the same time, it is
becoming increasingly clear that the war, despite the monstrous
casualties, has reached a dead end from which there is no way out.
Of course, the working people of Russia and Ukraine could put an end to
this war by means of class war if they organised themselves and took
their fate into their own hands. But it seems to be a some way to
that... And this is not an automatic process. This makes the daily
anti-military position and activity all the more important.
12) Thank you for the interview. What would you say in conclusion to our
readers in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and possibly to compatriots
living abroad?
We can only ask people all over the world, including in your countries,
not to forget about the war in Eastern Europe. It is a shame when tens
of thousands of people taking part in pro-Palestinian demonstrations,
but there are virtually no demonstrations against the military conflict
that is taking place here. Where are the protest rallies at the
embassies of the warring states, at the government institutions of the
countries that support this war? At times it seems to us that we have
all been given up on, that we have been forgotten. We wish it were
different.
As for the citizens of Russia and Ukraine who found themselves abroad...
We have nothing to say to the oligarchs, the bourgeoisie or the
politicians who are waiting for their "hour after". And to the working
people we would like to convey our advice: do not give in to the
nationalistic and militaristic propaganda of governments and patriots.
Realise that your enemies are not the same working people on the other
side of the front line, but capital and all states. Understand that the
boundaries do not run between "peoples" and "nations", but between the
upper and lower classes. This is what we should all remember!
https://www.anarchistcommunism.org/2025/10/19/interview-with-kras-iwa/
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