Borotba, political party, Ukraine (original) (raw)

Borotba (Боротьба; Struggle) was established in 2011 as the Stalinist wing of the former Organization of Marxists, the Troskyite wing being renamed to Left Opposition. Borotba took the name of Ukrainian social democratic party active in 1918-1920, while Left opposition is a nod to the Trotskyite platform in the Soviet Communist Party of the 1920s.
Both groups saw the creation of a leftist party with parliamentary ambitions as their task.

Initially taking a sceptical position (typical for most leftists) towards the Maidan in Kyiv, Borotba went on to break with Ukraine�s other left groups in January 2014. As the protests took on an anti-police character, and the Yanukovych regime intensified its repressive tactics, one thing became clear: there was no going back. Instead, what we faced was either the victory of Maidan (and an uncertain future) or a new authoritarian regime in the Russian model. Despite this, Borotba openly took the side of AntiMaidan, a pro-government movement, which later transformed into pro-Russian separatist movements in the south and east of the country. Today, Borotba�s leadership resides partly in western Europe, partly in Russia, and has tied its political future to the separatist movement in the east of Ukraine. In so doing, Borotba has lost its political appeal for the rest of Ukraine. Have they managed to achieve anything on that side of the frontline? It�s hard to say: separatist authorities have arrested Borotba members on several occasions. The Communist Party of Ukraine has also found it difficult to enter the �political process� in the Donetsk People�s Republic (DPR).
https://www.opendemocracy.net/od-russia/denys-gorbach/ukraine%e2%80%99s-left-between-swamp-and-hard-place- openDemocracy, 24 July 2015

In an interview by Andrej Hunko, German MP for the left-wing party Die Linke, Sergei Kirichuk, founding member and coordinator of Borotba, provides the movement's analysis of Maiden movement and attempts to refute the accusations of support to pro-Russian separatism and cooperation with conservative, chauvinistic and fascist organizations.
https://www.andrej-hunko.de/7-beitrag/2120-they-hate-us-because-we-are-communists- Andrej Hunko's website, 9 July 2014

In an interview to "R�volution Tendance Marxiste Internationale", Dmitry Kolesnik, presented as one of the leaders of Borotba, describes the movement as "defending workers' unity and the international socialist revolution" and opposed to the Kyiv government, "resulting of the tactical alliance of the neo-liberal right and extreme-rightist paramilitary groups". Borotba considers the separatism was caused by the Ukrainian government.
https://www.marxiste.org/international/europe/ukraine/671-borotba-son-origine-et-son-programme- R�volution Tendance Marxiste Internationale, 7 December 2014