Reply To: Russian Tensions
This long article from a Slovakian group is worth reading to put things into perspective that explores the economic causes that led to war.
“In the Donbas, Anti-Maidan’s rhetoric resonated in relation to the future of local industry, particularly coal mining, which could be threatened by European competition or environmental standards. Equally important was the notion that the Donbas had been feeding the rest of the country with its productivity for decades and should therefore have a greater say
– and certainly not let itself be bossed around by Kiev. To some, the Russian model of capitalism, with relatively higher incomes and pensions financed by oil and gas rents, may have seemed attractive after twenty
years of failed attempts to develop Ukraine. But here, the experience of a relative decline probably played a more important role than the absolute level of living standards. While in 1995, average wages in the Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts were 133% and 112% of the national average, respectively, by 2013 their position had deteriorated to 114% and 102%
national average…A section of the local capitalists and apparatchiks placed their bets on separatism. In March 2014, demonstrations of several thousand people took place in both regions, seeking to occupy official buildings…
…In the meantime, the armed forces of the “Donetsk People’s Republic” (DPR) and the “Luhansk People’s Republic” (LPR) were reinforced by additional troops from across the Russian border, composed of veterans or members of various fascist and nationalist groups. This was necessary because – as the Russian commander Girkin/Strelkov complained at a press conference in May 2014 – there were simply not enough local volunteers…
…. Instead of creating an acceptable compromise with
Kiev’s power, the Anti-Maidan spiraled out of control and, because of the Russian intervention, led to the emergence of new statelets. Their leadership consisted of little-known people. They were second- to third-tier
capitalists (the owner of a soap factory, the former director of a meat processing plant, the owner of a fuel and oil business, a coal trader), various
lackeys (a political marketer with a neo-Nazi past, the former manager of Akhmetov’s football team, an assistant to an MP), fraudsters by trade, and a number of members of the security apparatus (Ukrainian or Russian). For the former rulers of the Donbas, such as Akhmetov, the new situation was a disaster.
The local mining and manufacturing sectors were suddenly out of the reach of their masters and in serious trouble. Many plants were damaged by the fighting, others lost suppliers or customers. Infrastructure suffered as well. The “republics” also lost a lot of labor-power and local entrepreneurs as a result of emigration. They were cut off from state
subsidies and investment. The decrease in production reduced the tax base and customs revenues. As a result, what was once the core of the Donbas economy unraveled and the statelets were left unable to rebuild what the war had destroyed – let alone jumpstart any further development. The regimes in the DPR and the LPR have been militarily, politically, and economically subordinated to Russia and dependent on its assistance practically from the beginning…”
https://karmina.red/posts/tragedy-of-ukrainian-working-class/
There is a follow-up article that is also of interest
https://karmina.red/posts/o-tragedii-ukrajinskej-triedy-pracujucich/