Support the Ukrainian anti-fascist resistance!

NCP leader on the picket line

by New Worker correspondent

Members of the New Communist Party joined other demonstrators in London’s Whitehall on Saturday to show solidarity with Ukrainian anti-fascists and hear warnings from campaigners in the United States that Washington is preparing to provide $500 million in military aid to the Ukrainian regime, including so-called “defensive lethal assistance”.

NCP leader Andy Brooks joined British and Italian comrades at the protest picket opposite Downing Street called by the NCP and Socialist Fight with the support of the Solidarity with the Anti-Fascist Resistance in Ukraine (SARU) campaign. Gerry Downing of Socialist Fight took the mike last Saturday, along with NCP comrades Theo Russell and Dermot Hudson, whilst others gave out leaflets and argued the case with those who wanted to know more about the problem.

Messages were read out from international campaigners including Dmytriy Kovalevich, a Ukrainian antifascist in exile, and Phil Wilayto, coordinator of the Odessa Solidarity Campaign based in Richmond, Virginia.

Dmytriy Kovalevich said that: “The Kiev government mercilessly suppresses the left and antifascist forces inside Ukraine, while our army and fascist volunteers daily shell the defiant miners’ cities of Donbas region – punishing them for the resistance against Nazis and neoliberal policies imposed by IMF [International Monetary Fund].

“Once, British soldiers and antifascists fought against Nazis, now the British government supports a regime that promotes outright Nazis, justifying their violence. Every single day the civilians and antifascist fighters die in result.”

Phil Wilayto sent greetings “to the sisters and brothers gathered today at Downing Street to demand an end to British military aid to Kiev and the war in Donbas,” and warned that Washington was preparing to provide $500 million in military aid to Ukraine including so-called “defensive lethal assistance”.

He said “It is very, very encouraging to see this level of awareness and determination displayed by our comrades in London. Similar protests have taken place here in the United States, but I’m afraid they have been few and far between.”