Three Years of Ukraine War: A Russian Trade Unionist Settles Accounts

After three years of invasion into Ukraine, Russian war opponent and trade union activist Kirill Buketow (54) takes stock. And he explains why Putin's internal opponents have failed so far.

Three years have passed. Three years since the beginning of the second phase of the military operation of Russian troops. Three years after the attack on a neighbouring country, on Ukraine. We return in our thoughts to this point, to 24 February 2022. We try to understand what has changed in us. What has changed outside. What has changed in Russian society. And how Europe has changed during these years.

But when we look at the last three years, we must recognise that it is impossible to separate them from the historical process that began in Russia after 2000 and eventually led to this merciless, senseless and terrible military operation.

The story began when Vladimir Putin came to power and tried to deconstruct Russian civil society. From 2008 onwards, we experienced the intensification of repression against civil society. Of course, at that time we could not imagine the extent this would take. But now much becomes clear.

The War of 2014 – Moscow in a Sea of Blue and Yellow Flags

The war broke out in 2014. When Russia moved its troops into Ukraine for the first time. But this war was ended within a few months. The Russian authorities had not expected such strong resistance from the Ukrainian population. They began to actively resist. But the Russian authorities had also not expected such a strong wave of protest at home.

The anti-war protests from 2014 to early 2015 were massive. Hundreds of thousands, probably even millions, took to the streets. Many more people condemned the actions of the Russian authorities in silence. Unfortunately, not everyone was aware at the time that this horror would continue – in the form of a second phase of the operation – if they did not actively protest against it.

But the number of people who took to the streets was very considerable. On the internet, there are numerous photos and videos showing how the streets and squares of Moscow and St Petersburg filled with people carrying Ukrainian flags. When we look at these photos today with Ukrainian friends, they can hardly believe that once so many yellow-blue flags were visible in Moscow. And that so many slogans called for an end to the massacres.

In February 2015, the operation was stopped. But we did not know that it was only suspended and that the authorities were already preparing a new war. From 2014/15, we saw how much money and resources were pumped into the military apparatus. The Black Sea region in particular was rearmed. But it should not be forgotten that at the same time the dismantling of democratic institutions began.

Civil Society Smashed, Then Tanks Rolled Out

The most important starting point is the assassination of Boris Nemtsov, the most prominent war opponent and Putin's main contender at the time. He was shot on 27 February 2015 right next to Red Square in Moscow. The result was a massive wave of protest. Again, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets. Then the authorities recognised that the nocturnal murder of opponents in the middle of cities had anything but the desired effect, instead causing the protests to grow.

This led to other mechanisms for eliminating dissenters. Poison, particularly Novichok, was increasingly used. Numerous Russian opposition leaders were victims of poisoning attempts. In addition, one free media outlet after another first lost its independence, then the publications were forced to close. Political activists were sentenced to long prison terms. The courts were purged of all judges who were not obedient enough.

There were mass arrests and large-scale trials. While earlier repressions focused on individual cases, after 2015 collective proceedings and trials were initiated. The penalties became harsher. At the same time, all democratic institutions were curtailed and civil organisations closed.

At the end of 2021, the Moscow Helsinki Group was destroyed, a human rights organisation that dates back to the Helsinki Conference of 1975 and the basic principles for security in Europe established there. In February 2022, Memorial was finally dissolved, the international organisation for human rights and the reappraisal of Stalinist tyranny. With this, the deconstruction process of civil society was completed. Shortly afterwards, the tanks rolled towards Ukraine again.

Why Putin Supports the Weakening Lukashenko

I describe this in such detail because it is important. There is a direct connection between domestic and foreign policy. And the problem of war-driven foreign policy cannot be solved without solving the problem of aggressive suppression of civil liberties at home. Any peace process will fail if it tries to separate foreign policy from domestic policy.

When Russian forces crossed the Ukrainian border on 24 February 2022, the anti-war movement within Russia had already been purged and deprived of any instruments and structures for action. We no longer had the opportunity to protest – at least not like in 2014. Society was in a state of shock. Numerous people tried to take to the streets, but these protests were not very numerous and mostly silent. Those who held up banners and placards were immediately arrested.

The democratic mass movement in Belarus had previously been suppressed in the same way. When thousands of Belarusians took to the streets in 2020 to protest against the falsification of election results, they were genuinely surprised when Putin intervened in favour of Alexander Lukashenko. And we also wondered why the Russian authorities supported this faltering dictator. Now it is clear that Putin could not let anyone other than Lukashenko win, because only Lukashenko could provide Belarus as a platform for an attack on Ukraine. In this sense, the fates of Belarus and Russia are similar. Both countries have become hostages to Putin's military ambitions.

In February 2022, civil society was left in tatters – with hundreds of political prisoners in Russia and Belarus, with terrible, inhumane detention conditions for those who protested, with massive use of the most cruel torture against civil activists and with a truly depressed and demoralised society that no longer had the opportunity to speak out against the actions of the authorities.

From Shock to Solidarity

The following three years can also be divided into several stages. The first year was a year of paralysis. People were in shock. Many people lost faith in the possibility of changing anything. Many were forced to save themselves and their families, they had to flee and find a new place to stay. People were traumatised and depressed.

Yet even then, in March 2022, Russian civil society began to shake off the nuclear dust that had covered it. The first and central task was humanitarian – to help people who had suffered from military aggression in Ukraine. A great deal was done in this first year. Here in the West, Ukrainian refugees were received along almost all humanitarian corridors by activists from Russian civil society. From Przemyśl to Warsaw to Berlin and so on – wherever refugees arrived, Russians were also ready.

Russian-speaking people were in great demand. Because most people fleeing the hostilities came from the eastern regions of Ukraine. For them, Russian was naturally the main language of communication. And a large number of accommodations, refugee camps and legal information centres were organised by Russian activists. They saw this as an opportunity – not to excuse their inability to stop the war, but an opportunity to at least slightly compensate for the damage that Russia was inflicting on the neighbouring country and its population.

The mass demonstrations across Europe in support of Ukraine were also very important during this time. The evacuation and reception of refugees, the mass solidarity actions such as in Zurich, Bern or Geneva – everywhere these demonstrations were prepared with the participation of Russian activists.

Culture Flourishes in Exile

But such actions took place not only in Europe, there were also numerous petitions against the war in Russia in spring 2022. They were signed by doctors, teachers, university professors and students. Subsequently, the initiators and signatories of these petitions were persecuted, and it became impossible to protest in public.

Gradually, the movement shifted to other countries, and many Russian civil society institutions were revived in exile, especially in European countries. Today, there are countless new media outlets. We have democratic newspapers published in Russian. We have websites and web resources. There are television channels. There are blogs. There are publishers that publish books in Russian, and there are distribution networks for these books. In Switzerland, there is the "Dar" literary prize. More than 150 Russian-speaking, anti-war authors have already submitted their books for this. Musicians also perform, films, documentaries and feature films are being made. And Russian theatre is also alive. Today, in almost every major city, for example in Zurich and Geneva, there is at least one Russian acting ensemble with anti-war convictions.

Thousands of people are involved in all this, bringing Russian culture back to where it belongs: into the bosom of humanistic thinking and the humanistic culture of the world. We now use the Russian language as a means of consolidating society and as a means of countering Putin's propaganda.

The Serious Mistakes of the Democratic Opposition

What else has changed in these three years? We have learned our lessons and recognised many things. We have recognised that we have made many and big mistakes. Especially during the time when we were busy building civil society institutions and free, independent and democratic trade unions in Russia and in the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

We have recognised that a real civil society must be completely independent and uncontrolled. That it must raise its own financial means and must not depend on state subsidies, private donors, the charity of oligarchs or foreign subsidies. And it should rely on people who are ready to invest their time and energy daily in maintaining civil control over the state system.

Today, the Russian democratic movement, which sees itself as an opposition movement, holds various conferences. There, discussions take place about the possible "beautiful Russia of the future" and what it should look like. Declarations and statements are drafted containing many correct messages. Such as the demand for an independent parliament, independent political parties, independent media or independent courts.

But practically nowhere, on no platform and in none of these memoranda do we find an appeal to the social necessities and the basic needs of working people. The democratic movement still prefers to ignore these people, as if they did not exist. But this is precisely one of the reasons why civil society was unable to establish a sustainable democracy in Russia. Their platforms contain no elements of social justice. So it is not at all clear why wage earners should support a democratic movement. What do we need democracy for if people live in poverty?

Poverty as a Driver of War

Of course, the creation of a large mass of poor people also served to prepare society for war. The main motivation for those who volunteered for military service was not political support for Putin. Nor was it hatred of Ukrainians. The main motivation was their low income. It is so low that people cannot live in adequate conditions. They also have no access to high-quality information, to high-quality education that promotes critical thinking, or to culture. And of course, such a society is the most important fuel for war propaganda. But above all, it creates the economic incentive for people to consent to participation in the war.

Our discussions about the future of Russia, about the future of Eastern Europe, about the future of all of Europe must include an answer to the question of how the new world will respond to the demands of the working class, at least to the most basic needs. People must have a decent income and decent working conditions. In the 25 years of economic prosperity, when all those transnational companies extracted super-profits from Russia, while the wages of Russian workers remained miserable, a large stratum has formed for whom war has become the only possibility of earning an adequate income. And if we don't want this to be repeated, we must recognise that democracy and peace cannot be achieved without social justice. These three elements cannot exist in isolation from each other.

What is Needed for a Sustainable Peace

These are the most important conclusions we can draw from the extremely bitter experiences we have had during these 25 years under Putin and these ten years of war between Russia and Ukraine. A war, by the way, that is also raging within Russian society – between those who oppose the war and those who use it to maintain their chauvinist-kleptocratic power.

Paradoxically, these chauvinist sentiments are now being fuelled as the war profiteers receive unexpected support – from the President of the United States of America. Donald Trump has significantly accelerated talks about a ceasefire and peace. But what kind of peace can this be? How sustainable can it be if Russia does not return to the path of democratic development and the programme to destroy civil society that has been running for ten years is not reversed? If we do not bring back the independent courts and independent media? If we do not bring Memorial back to Russia? If – and this is the most important thing – thousands of political prisoners in Russia and Belarus are not released?

We know that Ukrainian society has its own perspective and its own understanding of a just peace. But I would like to emphasise that there is another central element: There will be no lasting and just peace in Europe if dictators continue to rule in Russia and Belarus.