May 31, 2024,
Editorial statement of theSocialist.lk
The leader of the Young Guard of Bolshevik Leninists (YGBL), a Socialist, Trotskyist organization operating in Ukraine, Russia and the former Soviet Union, was arrested on April 25 by the SBU – the state security service of the fascistic Zelensky regime – and detained in a maximum security prison in the southern Ukrainian city of Nikolaev (Mykolaiv).
thesocialist.lk claims that he was arrested for his leading role in the campaign by the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI) and the World Socialist Web Site (WSWS) against the criminal war of NATO imperialism and calls for his immediate release and the withdrawal of criminal charges made against him.
Insisting that this arrest is a usurpation of the democratic right of the working class to stand up against the scourge of war, we call on workers, youth, and oppressed people around the world to come forward to free Bogdan and to defend the political rights of the WSWS by defeating this attack.
Bogdan has been charged primarily with treason, for which the 25-year-old Bogdan is in danger of being sentenced to life in prison. The basis of this accusation is that for the past two years, Bogdan was “engaged in the preparation of publications commissioned by representatives of a Russian propaganda and information agency, the World Socialist Web Site” [emphasis added.]
In bringing this absurd charge against the WSWS, they conveniently ignore the analytical critiques of comrade Bogdan and the World Socialist Web Site regarding the Russian capitalist regime’s invasion of Ukraine. Bogdan, who advocated the opinion of the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI) in this regard, that the bankrupt Russian capitalist class had no other choice but to fall into the trap of the world war plans of the imperialists in the face of the imperialist pressure brought on by surrounding its borders day by day, insisted that only the unity of the international working class can defeat the cruel war plans of imperialism.
The target of this repression against Comrade Bogdan is the internationalist resistance against war—the geopolitical strategy of imperialism. It is no coincidence that the WSWS is a target of the Ukrainian security service. This attack is directed not only at the WSWS but also at the socialist internationalist alternative to imperialist war.
The arrest of Comrade Bogdan is an indication of the wider crisis of not only the Ukrainian fascist regime, which has been at war with Russia for more than two years as a puppet of the NATO imperialists, but also the NATO imperialists, who are sponsoring the war by pumping money and arms behind them. The tension of the entire world capitalist order, squeezed by the already ripened antagonisms between globalised production and the world market and the capitalist nation-state system that dominates it, is characterised by unprecedented social inequality and the cracking up of the whole post-World War II order— systems of governance, international conventions, intergovernmental organisations and borders. The result is the rapid pull towards a world war by all the imperialist powers. This situation has led to a situation where the spectre of the socialist revolution is terrorising imperialism. This is why the imperialists and capitalist regimes want to crush democratic rights completely. The ruling class of Sri Lanka is being driven rapidly towards anti-democratic dictatorial plans by these very conditions of the crisis, which provides the backdrop to the war effort of the imperialists.
American imperialism, which has virtually been at war every day for more than three decades, is now leading NATO on a desperate march towards a global thermonuclear war. It is at war with Russia using the Ukrainian cat’s paw, providing weapons, funds, and diplomatic support for the genocide crimes of the Netanyahu fascist regime of Israel in the Middle East. It is working to outlaw the protests and arrest the protesters—workers and students—for those crimes. In Ukraine, the US ruling class headed by Joe Biden and NATO are working to arm the Zelenskiy regime, which is openly violating human rights, as admitted by a bureau of the U.S. State Department itself. They are giving the Ukrainian regime the ability to drop missiles on the Russian public, hence creating the potential for massive civilian casualties. The aim is to provoke Russia into a thermonuclear war.
These conditions have thrown all pseudo-leftist projects of applying pressure on imperialism and the capitalist system and of seeking refuge in capitalist ‘justice’ and ‘peace’, into crisis. Objective conditions are increasing for the potential to convince the working class that the only way to prevent genocide and war is to mobilise the working class all over the planet from an internationalist socialist perspective. It is under these circumstances that the watchdogs of imperialism jump in to attack Comrade Bogdan and the WSWS.
Thus, it is apparent that standing up against the arrest of Comrade Bogdan is not simply for the democratic rights and freedom of a socialist in a distant land. Instead, it is a necessity of the day-to-day struggle of the workers, the oppressed, students, and young people across the globe facing challenges to their lives and livelihoods. Defeating this reactionary attack is a burning need for the oppressed and the workers.
We call upon the workers in Sri Lanka, in the South Asian region, and in the entire world to mobilize struggles by organizing discussions, meetings, campaigns, strikes, and various other class actions against this arrest by taking such campaigns to the students, workers and the oppressed. Furthermore, we call upon all our readers to sign the petition posted on Change.org demanding the release of Comrade Bogdan.
[This statement was originally posted in Sinhalese on May 31, 2024]
Stop the political frame-up of Ukrainian socialist Bogdan Syrotiuk!
Demand the release of Bogdan Syrotyuk, socialist opponent of NATO’s indirect war, from Ukrainian prison – David North
