“The answer to external pressure should be a radical change in domestic policy”.
The 2014 coup d’état in Ukraine was carried out with the support of the United States and the European Union. It brought to power extremely reactionary forces imbued with the poison of Banderite Nazism and Russophobia. The burning of people in the Trade Union House in Odessa became a bitter symbol of the anti-people intentions of those who sought power. A course was taken to sever ties with Russia, to segregate the Russian population. The response of the residents of Crimea and Sevastopol was their return to their native harbor. The population of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts followed the path of independence. Bandera’s attempts to “pacify” the DNR and LNR resulted in many thousands of casualties.
For the sake of the cessation of hostilities in Donbass, a compromise was reached in the form of the Minsk agreements. Pursuant to them, the DNR and LNR could remain part of Ukraine under conditions of broad autonomy. However, Russia’s attempt to enforce the agreements failed. There was an urgent need to implement other measures in order to protect 800,000 Russian citizens and prevent genocide of civilians in Donbass.
The drama of the situation was exacerbated by the fact that the Bandera government in Kiev was more and more active in seeking Ukraine’s admission to NATO. The country’s territory was being turned into a staging ground for the deployment of weapons by the United States and its allies. The deployment of NATO forces in Ukraine created fundamentally new opportunities for a nuclear missile strike against our country. These hostile actions were accompanied by monstrous propaganda pressure on the people of Ukraine, our brothers and sisters. The West’s preparation for a major war in Europe brought death and destruction to the people of both Russia and Ukraine.
All these years the CPRF has been guided by the ideas of historical friendship and brotherhood of our peoples, exposed the fascist essence of the Banderite ideology, and demonstrated the anti-democratic nature of the regime in Kiev. We defended the right of the people of Donbass to life and dignity, to the Russian language and their culture, and to recognition of their young statehood. Communist volunteers fought in the trenches in the line of fire and died under the fire of Nazi formations. The CPRF sent 93 convoys of humanitarian aid to the DNR and LNR, implemented the “Children of Russia to the Children of Donbass” program year after year.
Understanding the reasons for the special operation in Ukraine, the CPRF calls on the authorities of the Russian Federation to carefully and persistently take exhaustive measures to protect civilians, including from possible provocations by fascist gangs. We consider it extremely important to implement plans for the demilitarization of Ukraine, avoiding casualties among the Ukrainian army and providing all necessary support to those who have laid down their arms.
We call on all political forces in Russia to use the mechanisms of people-to-people diplomacy for the sake of the triumph of the ideas of centuries-old friendship between Russians and Ukrainians. The peoples of our two countries must deeply understand that the population of Ukraine is a hostage of NATO expansion and a victim of unbridled Banderite propaganda.
The CPRF is convinced that the cause of protecting Russia’s national interests cannot be limited to diplomatic and politico-military measures. There is an increasingly urgent need for major changes in the life of our country. The decisive turn of the government to the defense of the interests of the masses of the people is becoming a question of the historical survival of Russia.
Overcoming the social class divide and the unification of society in the face of diverse threats requires a fundamentally new model of economic and social life. It should not serve the enrichment of financial speculators, but the revival of industry and agriculture, the development of science and education, support for health and culture. Given the harsh sanctions imposed by the West, we need real import substitution, dedollarization of the economy, and stemming capital flight. Proper effect from these steps is possible only in conjunction with the nationalization of the strategic sectors of the economy, the use of the richest natural resources in the interests of all citizens and state planning of economic life. Only in this way, remembering the great experience of the Soviet Union and studying the essence of the modern successes of China and other countries, will Russia guarantee self-sufficiency, security, and confidence in its future.
The best way for the authorities to transition to a new course would be an urgent set of measures, including the return of the Soviet retirement age scale, the preservation and strengthening of local self-government, the rejection of forced vaccinations and electronic concentration camps, and an end to political repression against Communists and other leftist patriots.
In order to make the Russian political system stable and democratic, it is necessary to strengthen citizens’ trust in electoral procedures. For this purpose, it is necessary to stop once and for all the attempts to introduce electronic remote voting and three-day voting, and to support and implement the idea of a complete overhaul of the electoral system.
The CPRF expects that in the conditions of increasing external threats the leadership of the Russian Federation will take the path of comprehensive and genuine national security. In our conviction, it can only be guaranteed by a radical change in the socio-economic course and the implementation of the measures laid down in our program “Ten Steps to the Power of the People”.
G.A. Zyuganov,
Chairman of the CPRF Central Committee
INTERNATIONALIST 360° 