Alliance of the post-Soviet Left (BPL)

Left-wing anti-war activist and punk musician from Yakutia (Sakha) Aikhal Ammosov avoided extradition to Russia and arrived safely in Germany.

Aikhal was detained in October last year in Kazakhstan at the request of Russia, where he fled with the support of the organization "Vyvozhuk". After spending 12 months in a Kazakh pre-trial detention center, he managed to avoid extradition thanks to the efforts of the Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights.

Activists of the BPL organization actively supported Aikhal in the fight for freedom. An important role was played by one of our members, who was part of the support group, as well as the help of the Foundation for Support of Left-Wing Political Prisoners, which ultimately allowed Aikhal to go to Germany.

We strongly oppose political repression for anti-war views or any other beliefs and call on you to support political prisoners. We also remind you that hundreds and thousands of left-wing political prisoners continue to be held in various prisons in Russia, as was our material on political prisoners.

A world in which there is a place for freedom and justice should not know prisons for dissenters!

The Left Emigration Forum took place in Cologne

On November 2-3, 2024, the Left Emigration Forum took place in Cologne. More than 70 participants from Belarus, Russia and Ukraine took part in it.

Among the topics discussed were: the problem of evacuating activists from the risk of repression, the creation of networks and mechanisms for mutual assistance among emigrants, a political program of action and support for leftist, anti-war initiatives in the countries of origin.

Much attention was also paid to formulating a positive program for the left and constructive interaction with left and social initiatives in the host countries.

Text of the general resolution of the Forum:

The left has a historic mission to lead the modern world out of systemic crisis, and we consider ourselves part of this process.

Although we differ in many ways, we are united in our rejection of Putin’s aggression against Ukraine.

Holding a forum of left-wing emigration is a step towards developing interaction and coordination, without which there cannot be a strong left movement.

1. The forum participants believe that the forum fulfilled its main task by bringing together left-wing Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian emigrants from different countries and allowing them to exchange opinions, establish or restore direct contacts, and clarify positions on current issues on the political agenda.

2. The periodic holding of such large-scale events in the future makes sense provided that the following orientations are maintained:
anti-war;
anti-imperialist;
democratic in its methods of preparation and implementation.

3. It is also desirable to maintain the connections that have arisen on the forum in correct and variable forms (newsletter, chats, work groups, other forms of interaction).

https://postsovietleft.org/2024/11/05/the-left-emigration-forum-took-place-in-cologne/

https://postsovietleft.org/

Now we have our own site!

Die Ukraine setzt alles auf die Mobilisierung

Seit mehr als anderthalb Monaten gilt in der Ukraine ein neues Mobilisierungsgesetz. Jeden Tag begegnen uns in den sozialen Medien und den Medien schockierende Aufnahmen von gewaltsamen Festnahmen von Männern im wehrpflichtigen Alter. Die öffentliche Unzufriedenheit mit diesen Methoden führt immer wieder zu Konflikten, gelegentlichen und teilweise auch relativ zahlreichen Protesten, die in direkte Akte des Ungehorsams und gewaltsamen Widerstands übergehen. Was der erste Monat der Geltung des neuen Mobilisierungsgesetzes zeigt und welche potenziellen Folgen es hat, lesen Sie im Artikel von Viktor Sidorchenko.

Link zum Artikel: https://telegra.ph/Die-Ukraine-setzt-alles-auf-die-Mobilisierung-09-03

Summer work of BPL

Summer is traditionally considered a period of political calm. People go on vacation, do their personal business, and there are usually fewer political events.

However, our organization has been actively working all this time to promote the anti-capitalist internationalist agenda and find supporters. Thus, BPL members participated in two major camps of communist forces - the camp of the Communist Party (Kommunistische Partei, KP) in Germany and the second international forum organized in France with the support of the Workers' Party (Parti des travailleurs, PT) of France. During these events, we distributed our brochure to political prisoners, received contacts with our supporters and allies, and outlined our future plans.

Also, our comrade, Andrey Konovalov, on his YouTube channel began to give detailed video comments on behalf of a Ukrainian left activist about the situation in Ukraine (in German).

Moreover, one major event with our participation is planned for the fall. Follow our news!

You can contact us for cooperation and feedback here: @RLeftA_bot

We are pleased to share our organization's stance on the role Russia should play in resolving the current international and social crisis in Eastern Europe, and outline the groups within Russia with whom we are willing to collaborate to achieve these goals.

https://telegra.ph/The-BPLs-position-on-the-Russian-regime-08-09

Die Zwangsrekrutierung von Soldaten in der Ukraine nimmt zu, da der Mangel an Soldaten im andauernden Krieg immer größer wird. Zahlreiche Videos, die zeigen, wie Beamte lokaler Rekrutierungszentren Männer gewaltsam auf der Straße festnehmen, sind in den sozialen Medien der Ukraine an der Tagesordnung. Friedliche Demonstranten, die gegen die Zwangsmobilisierung protestierten, wurden festgenommen, wie das Video zeigt. Wir sind der Meinung, dass es in keinem Land, weder in Russland noch in der Ukraine, eine Zwangsmobilisierung geben darf. Der Krieg muss beendet werden, um Verluste unter denen zu vermeiden, die nie kämpfen wollten.

Wir laden dazu ein, den Kanal eines ukrainischen Mitglieds unserer Organisation zu abonnieren, der kritische Videos über die Situation in seinem Land und seiner Gesellschaft produziert

Can't find the enemy? Create one!

Recently, a number of Russian official bodies have been actively ranting on the subject of all things foreign. Thus, as recently as the beginning of this month, a number of Russian activists abroad had their domestic passports cancelled. This is effectively cutted them off from being able to make many transactions remotely in Russia.

Yesterday and today, however, a whole host of new repressive measures against foreigners and all those who are in any way connected with them. For example, yesterday it was announced about a new draft strategy for ‘countering extremism’, where it was proposed to create a data bank of persons who ‘left the Russian Federation to participate in extremist organisations, as well as for training in foreign centres of unfriendly states’.

What are these foreign centres of unfriendly states? The wording is so vague that potentially any Russian who has received, e.g., an offer of temporary professional training abroad could become an enemy for the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Today, however, the mad printer of Russian parliamentarism passed several bills at once:

- providing for the possibility of recognising any foreign organisations as undesirable in Russia, including those whose founders are foreign government agencies;
- the right of the police to decide on the expulsion of foreigners;
- criminal punishment for participation in the activities of any undesirable foreign organisations.

All these measures, taken together, paint a such a disappointing picture. Far from any specifics, anyone and anything can be declared ‘undesirable’. The Russian state is trying to regulate everything foreign not because it is threatened by it (and it is unclear how some abstract foreign centres can do this). Russian bureaucracy faces a completely different environment, with which it does not know how to interact in principle, and in order to prevent anything from happening, it screws the screws in advance, because it is difficult to understand social, labour and political immigrants and emigrants, fenced off by metal detector frames, cameras and cars with blinkers even from its own people.

Besides, the witch-hunt inside Russia itself is getting more and more complicated, because there are no witches left. They have to look for new ones.

📢 Discussion on the Situation of Ukrainian Conscientious Objectors in Germany

Amid the escalation of the war in Ukraine, there are systematic violations of the right to refuse military service on grounds of conscience. Our member, Ukrainian conscientious objector and student at the University of Cologne, Andrey Konovalov, together with Yuriy Shelyazhenko, leader of the Ukrainian pacifist movement who is on the brink of imprisonment in Ukraine, will hold a meeting at the University of Cologne. They will discuss the current situation of Ukrainian students and conscientious objectors, as well as the role of conscientious objection and academic exchange in fostering peaceful prospects for Ukraine. The event will be held in English with translation into German and will be available via Zoom.

📅 July 15, 19:30
📍 Lecture Hall V, Main Building of the University of Cologne, and also on Zoom (link in the leaflet above).

We look forward to your participation!

Essen: together against the AfD!

The congress of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party will be held this weekend in Essen, NRW. A broad anti-fascist bloc is organising a series of events against it to show that in a country that once experienced Nazi rule, there are large numbers of people opposed to the far-right revanche, ready for active civil resistance.

This Saturday, 29 June in particular, there will be a big, broad demonstration against AfD in Essen. The gathering is planned for 10:00 on Essen Hbf / Freiheit.

BPL is going to take an active part and we encourage all supporters and those interested to attend this event and join our part at the demo!

To join our part and communicate with like-minded people from the former Soviet countries, write us to the bot: @RLeftA_bot

BPL's position on the snap parliamentary elections in France

There will be snap elections in France in June-July, in which essentially the entire choice is centred around left, right and centrist.

We believe that it is our duty today to critically support our comrades in the New Popular Front, who today oppose both the right-wing revanche and the ruling coalition. A special place here is to criticize the policies of Western governments, which are also responsible for the bloodshed in Ukraine. Although the main responsibility lies with the Eastern European oligarchy led by Putin, Poroshenko and Zelensky and the far-right groups fuelled by them, which have been terrorizing large numbers of people on both sides since 2014, we consider it important to confront Western imperialist groups as well.

We are convinced that a real peace, not a compromise for a couple of years, not the protection of the property of oligarchs of any of the countries in the form of territories, but a peace that is truly an expression of the interests of Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians, can only be achieved by destroying the status quo on the left side.

We believe that only a victory of united left forces in France can provide a force in the near future that can support the democratic peace initiative and lobby for it in the international arena. While we disagree with the moderate position of the Socialist Party, which effectively duplicates the liberal narrative, we call for support for the New Popular Front in France.

Only a left-wing response can put an end to the enmity of nations against the interests of the Russian, Ukrainian and EU oligarchy, and their chain dogs in the form of the far-right of all stripes: from the back alleys to the authorities.

About us

Alliance of the post-Soviet Left (Bündnis der postsowjetischen Linken, or BPL) is the organization for the coordination of the leftist activists from post-Soviet space in the EU (mostly in Germany for now, but we have plans for expansion).

We stand on internationalist and socialist positions, working to eliminate exploitation, overcome war and its pernicious consequences, and advocate for socialist transformations in the post-Soviet space.

Our tasks:
- providing a platform for coordination and discussions between workers, trade unions, various left-wing organizations in post-Soviet countries and Europe;
- assisting and supporting political prisoners, refugees and migrants from the post-Soviet space;
- coordinating efforts towards establishing a democratic peace in the interests of the people, and not the ruling classes;
- organizing political solidarity campaigns.

Down with the war and exploitation!