How Ukrainian Left Activist 'Goes to Fight Russian Imperialism'

Hromadske speaks with a member of the Aidar Battalion, Maksym Osadchuk, who was a history teacher and left-activist in Simferopol, Crimea before he fled the peninsula after it was annexed by Russia. “I have always been convinced that anti-imperialism is the basis of the left-wing activism. And now we witness in Ukraine a situation that is similar to the classical foreign intervention after the progressive revolution. Putin’s ultimate goal is not expanding the frontiers of Russia, but an attempt to prevent a Maidan in Russia.   We are playing into Russia’s hands,” Onopchuk said while holding a giant form of Lenin's head from a statue that used to stand in eastern Ukraine.

" I believe it’s a matter of six months, because the recent trends related to the financial area of Russia, to the hierarchy in politics, show that Russia will not last long. If we here make an adequate contribution to the final collapse of the last empire, then at least I will be pleased," - he added.

Maksym told, that there are different political groups in battalion. " Different political groups are basically following a single goal, protecting Ukraine from external aggression. Here in Aidar, there are other leftists beside me. For instance, the activists of FC Arsenal, “The Anti-Fascists”. Step by step, the leftists are drawn to this orbit." 

The position - this is what differs, too: "Now we can observe two trends: people who accepted Maidan as their own revolution, who support and defend it, and those who find it a far-right revolutionary upheaval. Certainly, these two lines are unlikely to overlap later on," - commented Osadchuk.