Two years ago today, a new historical chapter began. After 8 years of UkroNazi fascism in Ukraine following the Euromaidan coup (that itself is turning a decade old), and a genocide in the Donbas against Russian-speaking people by a government that now honors real Nazi collaborators like Stepan Bandera and Roman Shukavitch, the Russian Federation took a bold step and committed to an anti-fascist military campaign against the fascist government of Ukraine. Many in the west, including in the western left, do not understand (or do not want to acknowledge) why this was a necessary action and why this war is a justified war against a fascist country backed by NATO.
At the Peoples School for Marxist-Leninist Studies, we’ve paid great attention to this since way before February 24th, 2022. We have a plethora of classes and videos available on this subject and would like to share them in an effort to provide education to our comrades about Ukraine and show them a perspective they might not have heard fleshed out before.
History of Ukraine Pre-2022
History of Ukrainian Fascism class – covers broad history of Ukrainian nationalism and fascism from ~1918 – Present Day
80th Anniversary of the Liberation of Kiev class – covers the 1943 liberation of Kiev by the Soviet Red Army, drawing parallels to the current war in Ukraine and paying tribute to the Great Patriotic War on such an anniversary.
Babi Yar Massacre in Ukraine film viewing – “Babi Yar: Lessons of History” dates to the 1970s, and it was released in the West in the 1980s. It was originally produced by Soviet filmmakers through the Ukrainian Studio of TV Films. The film depicts the horrors of the Nazi occupation of Ukraine and the massacre of Jewish people during the Holocaust at Babi Yar, where they were buried in a mass grave outside of Kiev. The film is a historical account of events and warns nations about the dangers of Neo-Nazi ideologies around the world, especially in the United States. The events are told from the perspective of Ukrainian-Jewish poet Vitaly Korotich through voice over that is intertwined with survivor testimonies and archival footage.
Fascism in Ukraine, Part 1 – Professor Barry Lituchy – Professor Barry Lituchy speaks at the Left Forum in 2015 on the history of fascism in Ukraine up to the present day.
Fascism in Ukraine, Part 2 – Comrade Kayla Popuchet from the PCUSA – Comrade Kayla Popuchet of the PCUSA speaks on Midwestern Marx with an analysis of contemporary fascism in Ukraine.
The Special Military Operation in Ukraine
The Communist Vol. II, “Fighting Fascism in Ukraine” narration – The Peoples School for Marxist-Leninist Studies presents a reading of “Is it Justifiable to Fight Fascism in Ukraine?” from the Russian Communist Workers Party (RCWP), as published in Volume II of The Communist.
Overview of One Year of War in Ukraine Part 1 – This class gives an overview of events in the first year of the Special Military Operation in Ukraine. We touch on important flashpoints, such as the US sabotage of the Nordstream 2 pipeline.
Overview of One Year of War in Ukraine Part 2 – The second half of our class on the first year of the war in Ukraine! Covering events from the Nordstream 2 sabotage up to the present day, as well as presenting vital maps and statistics on the conflict so we can better understand how this war is going for everyone involved.
Bonus: Ultraleftism In Our Time class – This class will be on the trends of the ultraleft in our time, and how it harms the communist movement, including a trend within the international communist movement to oppose the special military operation.
Additionally, be sure to look out for our class coming up concluding the History of U.S. Imperialism series, “The Fall of American Unipolarity” which will of course touch on the American relationship with Ukraine’s fascist government and how this war is going for the American imperialists as it drags on and yields low results while the situation in the Middle East takes attention.
As we have stated before, the PSMLS and the sponsor of our school, the PCUSA, stand with those fighting the war against Ukrainian fascism, and we seek to explain the history of Ukrainian fascism. There is a history that goes back nearly a century of Ukrainian nationalism and collaboration with Nazis and more that matters and should be understood by everybody before they evaluate the current war. We do our best to sum up that history and explain the rise of the current Ukrainian fascist state we see today.