The events that have unfolded in Ukraine have been very unsettling. As Ukrainians flee their country and the west imposing the harshest of the sanctions in Russia, it is imperative that we delve deeper into what led to this chaos in the first place. People have been quick enough to pick sides without actually knowing what exactly is happening. Zyuganov Gennady Andreevich, the Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation had this to say about the conflict:
‘On February 24, President V.V. Putin decided to conduct a special operation in Ukraine. Its goal is the demilitarization and denazification of this country, the protection of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics.
The 2014 coup d'etat in Ukraine was carried out with the support of the United States and the European Union. He brought to power extremely reactionary forces, saturated with the poison of Bandera Nazism and Russophobia. The burning of people in the Odessa House of Trade Unions became a bitter symbol of the anti-people intentions of those who rushed to power. A course was taken to break ties with Russia, to segregate the Russian population. The answer of the inhabitants of the Crimea and Sevastopol was their return to their native harbor. The population of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions took the path of independence. Bandera's attempts to "pacify" the DPR and LPR led to thousands of victims.
For the sake of ending hostilities in the Donbass, a compromise was reached in the form of the Minsk agreements. In accordance with them, the DPR and LPR could remain part of Ukraine on the terms of broad autonomy. However, Russia's attempt to achieve the implementation of the agreements did not lead to a result. There was an urgent need to implement other measures in order to protect 800,000 citizens of the Russian Federation and prevent the genocide of civilians in the Donbass.
The drama of the situation was reinforced by the fact that the Bandera authorities in Kyiv were increasingly seeking Ukraine's admission to NATO. The territory of the country was turning into a springboard for the placement of weapons of the United States and its allies. The arrangement of NATO forces in Ukraine created fundamentally new opportunities for delivering a nuclear missile strike on our country. These hostile actions were accompanied by monstrous propaganda pressure on the people of Ukraine - our brothers and sisters. The preparation by the West of a big war in Europe brought death and destruction to the population of both Russia and Ukraine.
All these years, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation was guided by the ideas of historical friendship and brotherhood of our peoples, revealed the fascist essence of the Bandera ideology, and demonstrated the anti-democratic nature of the regime in Kyiv. We defended the right of the people of Donbass to life and dignity, to the Russian language and their culture, to the recognition of their young statehood. Communist volunteers fought in the trenches in the line of fire, died under the shelling of Nazi formations. The Communist Party of the Russian Federation sent 93 convoys of humanitarian aid to the DPR and LPR, from year to year it implemented the program “Children of Russia to the Children of Donbass”.
Adding to this, he also gives a way out:
‘Understanding the reasons for the special operation in Ukraine, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation calls on the authorities of the Russian Federation to carefully and persistently take comprehensive measures to protect the civilian population, including from possible provocations of fascist gangs. We consider it extremely important to implement plans for the demilitarization of Ukraine, avoiding casualties among the Ukrainian army and providing all necessary support to those who laid down their arms.
We call on all political forces in Russia to use the mechanisms of public diplomacy for the sake of the triumph of the ideas of centuries-old friendship between Russians and Ukrainians. The peoples of our two countries must deeply understand that the population of Ukraine has become a hostage to NATO expansion and a victim of unbridled Bandera propaganda.
The CPRF is convinced that the defense of Russia's national interests cannot be limited to diplomatic and military-political measures. There is an increasingly urgent need for major changes in the life of our country. The question of the historical survival of Russia becomes a decisive turn of power towards the protection of the interests of the broad masses of the people.
Overcoming the social-class split and uniting society in the face of diverse threats require a fundamentally new model of economic and social life. It should serve not to enrich financial speculators, but to promote industry and agriculture, develop science and education, support public health and culture. In the context of tough Western sanctions, real import substitution, de-dollarization of the economy, and curbing capital flight are needed. The proper effect of these steps is possible only in conjunction with the nationalization of strategic sectors of the economy, the use of the richest natural resources in the interests of all citizens and state planning of economic life. Only in this way, remembering the great experience of the Soviet Union, studying the essence of the modern successes of China and other countries, Russia guarantees self-sufficiency,
The best way to move power to a new course would be an immediate set of measures, including the return of the Soviet retirement age scale, the preservation and strengthening of local government, the rejection of forced vaccination and the electronic concentration camp, and the cessation of political repression against communists and other representatives of left-wing patriotic forces.’
The only way out is a class war and coming up with solutions that work for the people as opposed to those in power. The current crisis has exposed how big capital joins hands with reactionary forces and wreaks havoc all over the world. It has also exposed how some lives matter more than other. It is sheer hypocrisy to only look at half assessed narratives and pick sides. Is it not ?