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The Weekly paper of the New Communist Party of Britain

Solidarity with the Ukrainian people!

by New Worker correspondent

An unprecedented international protest involving dozens of Ukrainian political prisoners and supporters in many countries took place last week, to expose and protest the inhuman conditions, torture and killings of political prisoners in Ukraine. A total of 425 people from 16 countries took part in a one-day hunger strike on 5th August, including 162 prisoners in Ukraine itself, 92 of whom were political prisoners. This was the first ever collective one-day hunger strike by Ukrainian political prisoners, and the first time actions in Ukraine and abroad were co-ordinated – a historic event.

At Vinnytsia Correctional Colony No 86, 13 prisoners joined the hunger strike; 12 prisoners at Pyatikhatka Penal Colony No 122; four prisoners at the Nikolaev and Lviv Pre-Trial detention Centres; seven prisoners at the Lukyanivskiy Pre-Trial detention Centre in Kiev; and four political prisoners under house arrest in Kiev. Around 50 relatives and anti-fascists in Ukraine also took part.

This incredible action was organised by the Ukrainian As sociation for the Protection of the Rights of Political Prisoners and Human Rights, founded by Mikhail Alexander Kononovich, and the Platform of International Solidarity for Political Prisoners.

Outside Ukraine, the Anti-Imperialist Front (AIF) and the Turkish People’s Front supported the call of the Ukrainian political prisoners, mobilising hundreds of people to participate to join the one-day hunger strike and other solidarity actions.

Some 260 people from 15 countries joined the one-day hunger strike, including 117 in Greece (of which 14 were political prisoners), 66 in France, 25 in Turkey (including nine political prisoners), eight in Belarus, seven in Britain, five in Russia, five in the Basque Country and 18 others in Europe.

In the words of the AIF, “The voice of Ukrainian political prisoners was widely heard throughout the world and caused a great wave of solidarity.”

Nearly 40 organisations from a dozen countries supported the action of Ukrainian political prisoners, including Borotba (Ukraine) and the Union of Communists of Ukraine, along with the New Communist Party and International Ukraine Anti-Fascist Solidarity in Britain (IUAFS). Many solidarity events were also held, as far away as Paraguay, and in Britain a protest was held at the Ukrainian Embassy in London with activists from the AIF and IUAFS.

Meanwhile, the latest bout of sanctions imposed by the British government against Russia demonstrates that the recent change of political leadership has done nothing to alter the UK’s anti-Russian policy.

“Since the start of the special military operation, Britain has been waging a full-scale economic war against our country, churning out ever more restrictions in pursuit of an illusory goal” says the Russian embassy in London. “More than 3,400 measures, aimed at inflicting a ‘strategic defeat’ on Russia, have failed to produce the desired outcome. Each new round of sanctions merely confirms the futility of this campaign.

“Moreover, they are deepening the erosion of international trade, freedom of navigation and financial stability. Ordinary consumers, including British citizens, are paying the price. “The lasting and just peace that London claims to seek will not be achieved by ramping up military supplies to the Kiev regime and tightening sanctions pressure. It requires addressing the root causes of the crisis.”