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Members of Kent & Sussex branch finished distributing leaflets throughout the ward on Sunday and Monday. Quite a few left over. Waiting to see if there will be any coverage tomorrow in the local free paper The Times of Tunbridge Wells, also online.
Ilya Kiva doesn’t seem to be exactly a reliable or unbiased source of information:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illia_Kyva
It wouldn’t be surprising if Zelensky’s had a few million dollars statched away somewhere (a million dollars is about £800,000) but $1.2 billion. That’s a lot of money — about £960,000,000. So much as to make the claim unbelievable.
I suppose it is a good thing that propagandists always exaggerate so much as to lead to people not believing them.
A bit like when a Russian missile kills 6 or 7 civilians in Lvov as collateral damage the deputy mayor cries “genocide!”
A good article here, by Caitlin Johnson, as to how difficult it is not to be taken in by war propaganda:
This news item is instructive:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-61285833.amp
especially the explanation of why it was spread:
“Ukrainian military historian Mikhail Zhirohov described the Ghost of Kyiv story as “propaganda for raising morale”. Speaking to the BBC from Chernihiv, he said that early on in the war the Russians dominated Ukrainian airspace, so a Ukrainian pilot “could only shoot down two or three”.
“It’s essential to have this propaganda, because our armed forces are smaller, and many think we can’t be equal to them [the Russians]. We need this in wartime,” he said.”This explains why they exaggerate the number of enemy planes downed, tanks destroyed, troops killed, buildings targetted, civilians under the rubble, etc. etc. They will all be lies or unbelievable exaggerations aimed at raising the morale and/or hatred of the enemy amongst soldiers and civilians.
The same goes for Russian propaganda (though we don’t hear the same amount of that as it’s banned as disinformation — as it is, but so is the Ukrainian propaganda that is religiously relayed by the pro-war-against-Russia media here)
Unfortunately yesterday’s MayDay march in London turned out to be another Bokshevikfest rather than a trade union event. Without contingents from Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Greece and Sri Lanka it would have been a rather small event.
Each Bolshevik group presented its case on the Ukraine War. Most supported Russia. At least one, calling itself the “Communist League”, supported Ukraine. The Ukraine Solidarity Campaign were handing out a leaflet, in English and Ukrainian, from some Trotskyists in Ukraine (“Social Movement” which presents itself as an NGO so as not to get banned by the government) which called for “free supply of modern weapons to Ukraine, in particular, air defence systems that would allow to minimise civilian casualties.”
The pro-Russia ones based their case on Lenin’s mistaken theory of imperialism which divides capitalist states into “imperialist” and “non-imperialist”. They were at pains to classify Russia (and China) as “non-imperialist”. According to “Socialist Fight” (whoever they are):
“Neither Russia not China are imperialist powers, they are not integrated into the IMF and World Bank and cannot extract surplus value from the global south in that way, though China in particular aspires to do so. (…) Russia‘a and China’s spending on their military and naval warships are completely defensive …”
Oh yeah, pull the other one.
Another group proclaimed “For the right of Russia to defend itself against imperialist encroachment!”:
“Although Russia has been capitalist since 1991 it is not an imperialist power in its own right. Imperialism is more than when one state employs military force against another. Imperialism is a stage of capitalism represented by the dominance of finance capital. Russia is not part of the ‘imperialist club’ but a relatively backward dependent capitalist economy.”
Maybe, but why is that a reason to abandon socialist internationalism and support one capitalist state against a group of other capitalist states? (Incidentally, what are the Russian oligarchs if not finance capitalists?)
I thought it referred to those members of the British CP (and their descendants) who supported the Russian tanks crushing of protests in Czechoslovakia in 1968 which the party’s leadership criticised (and which turned out to be the beginning of the end for the party since, apart from loyally supporting everything the Russian government did, the party had no reason to exist). In 1956 the leadership of the British CP supported Russian tanks crushing an uprising in Hungary. But I don’t think they were called “tankies” at the time.
That a Maoist group should defend post-USSR Russia so fervently is odd seeing that the Maoists didn’t even regard post-Stalin Russia as socialist and sometimes even referred to it as state capitalist with a new, bureaucratic ruling class. But there is a perverse logic in their position — they are opposed to “imperialism” and, for them, Russia is the victim of Western imperialism and, as such and even as an openly capitalist country, it should be defended.
This ignores the fact, of course, that present-day Russia is as imperialist as it always has been, seeking to expand its territory and spheres of influence. Everyone can see that. “Imperialism” is a slippery concept anyway as any state is potentially imperialist in the sense of expansionist. China, India, Indonesia and Turkey are examples of successful expansionism; Argentina and Iraq of states that tried and failed.
In any event it is not imperialism that is the enemy but capitalism of which imperialism, war and militarism are products.
Rather surprising piece by MI6-vetted BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner on how most of the world is not supporting NATO in its proxy war with Russia:
Here is a blow by blow account in a local online paper of the online hustings last Saturday from which we excluded:
The following comment has been submitted:
“You state that the parties contesting the elections were all represented. This is not accurate. The Socialist Party of Great Britain, which is fielding a candidate in Clapham East, was not only not represented but was deliberately excluded. The organisers even refused to read out a one-minute statement saying we were standing. Adam Buick, Election Agent for Danny Lambert.”
We have also sent the Brixton Buzz the exchange of emails with the organisers to back up what we stated in the comment.
After banning 11 political parties as “pro-Russian”, the Ukrainian regime has now moved on the next stage — getting its secret police to round up the members and supporters of these parties on the grounds that they are “traitors” and “collaborators”:
https://globalnews.ca/news/8797266/ukraine-traitors-russian-army/amp/
It is becoming increasingly clear that the Ukrainian and Russian regimes are as bad as each other.
A comrade in a nearby ward in Clapham where we don’t have a candidate has distributed about 700 leaflets as part of the QR experiment. They only have less than 200 left which will be distributed before polling day in 5 May.
There are also less than 200 left at Head Office which the branch hopes to distribute tomorrow.
I thought I was going to read some breaking news but then I saw the date!
More interesting will be the fate of the Makhno statue in his home town of Hulyaipole (or Gulyaipole as it may be renamed) Russia captures it. I suppose, if hasn’t been destroyed in the preliminary shelling it depends on whether or not he is portrayed as a Ukrainian patriot as, stupidly, here (click preview) but
busts of “Ukrainian patriots” must be selling well these days.
