The Russian state is trying to conquer Ukraine. The same Russian state that supported the suppression of the Belarusian freedom movement and only a few weeks ago used tanks to put down the revolt in Kazakhstan. Putin is trying to extend his autocratic rule, crushing any rebellious or resistance movement inside and out. But when now all Western democrats sing the defense of freedom and peace in one chorus, this is an orchestrated hypocrisy: the same democrats now invoke peace whose “peace operations” aka. wars of aggression, drones, bombs and occupations enforce colonial relations of power and exploitation, supply dictators and torturers with weapons and are directly or indirectly responsible for massacres of refugees and insurgents.
The holy peace in Europe, which in any case has not existed as advertised for 70 years and which has always meant war in the global South – through proxy wars, through arms supplies, through borders and colonialism. If the West is fully behind Ukraine, it is because it is an ally. Both sides of this war disgust us: instead of positioning ourselves on one side of this war, we oppose all state armies and their wars – we abhor not only their massacres, but also their blind obedience, nationalism, stench of barracks, discipline and hierarchies. So, if we oppose any form of militarism and state, it does not mean that we think it is wrong to take up arms. If Ukrainian anarchists now choose to defend themselves at gunpoint – themselves and their neighbors, not the Ukrainian state – then we stand in solidarity with them. But an anarchist position against war – even against an imperialist war of aggression – must not degenerate into defending a state and its democracy – or becoming a pawn of it. We do not choose the side of the lesser evil or that of the more democratic rulers – because these same democracies are also only interested in their own expansion of power and are also built on repression and imperialism.
The essence of any state is war: it occupies territory and declares itself the only legitimate wielder of force – it defends its borders and controls the population that has to serve it. In this sense, our thoughts and solidarity are also with all those who are now fleeing from forced recruitment, with all those who desert, who refuse to shoot at the enemy because he wears the wrong uniform or speaks the wrong language. This solidarity, which overcomes the constructed borders of nationalism and ultimately leads to fraternization – can be revolutionary. For when people in the territory of the Russian state take to the streets against the war and residents of Ukraine flee from forced recruitment, this is a dynamic that gets rid of all the nationalist muck that the state tries to plant in our hearts and brains, the result of which is only herd mentality, leadership and masculinity cults, martyrdom, massacres, mass graves and genocides. This nationalism leads to dividing people into cannon fodder and enemies to be eliminated – it leads us to no longer see individuals, but only armies, uniforms, nations, ethnicities, believers – allies or enemies. However, when people desert the state’s logic of war with or without weapons, when individuals resist any state occupation with or without weapons, when people help and support refugees and deserters, when individuals fraternize across borders and war lines – something can be done to counter the bloodbath of the state. If the state, its generals and politicians only know the language of oppression, the oppressed know the language of empathy and solidarity. At the end of the war, it is always the rich and powerful who wanted it, as they are the only ones who benefit through power and money – those who are massacred are always the poor, and no matter what regime, the role of enslaved, exploited and excluded is always intended for them. The Ukrainian big shots were the first to leave the country in private jets.