On May 2, a large group of Ukrainian fascists from all over the country were bussed into the city of Odessa. They used the date of a football match to bring a wide range of fascists together, from right wing-football fans to the armed paramilitary forces of the ‘Right Sector’. Approximately 1 000 fascists gathered at the ‘Sobornaya’ square, soon starting to attack local residents, targeting mainly the activists of the socialist movements opposed to the Kiev junta.
A group of locals (200-250 people) tried to confront and stop the fascists but were forced to retreat after being attacked with stones, bottles and also shot at with live ammo by the fascists. The fascist mob continued forward and attacked the tent camp of activists opposing the Kiev government and then went to set fire to the ground floor of the House of Trade-Unions. Witnesses saw people jumping from the second floor in attempts to escape the fire, only to be brutally beaten to death by the awaiting fascists on the ground. The fire spread rather quickly over the building and the fascists killed everyone they could get their hands on as they were trying to escape the flames, resulting in a total of 40 people dead. Among the victims is Andrew Brazhevsky a member of the “Borotba” union and other anti-fascists and socialists.
The conflict taking place in Ukraine is not easy to understand as the mainstream media in Europe is only giving highly distorted and simplified reports depicting the situation as only something between the imperialist interests of Russia and the U.S. but two things are clear; the Kiev junta is actively supporting the right-wing paramilitary groups that are responsible for this horrific massacre and the fascists on the streets are not going to be stopped by neither NATO nor the EU (on the contrary, the fascists of Ukraine are actually being indirectly but undoubtedly supported by these capitalist institutions and many of its leading politicians, not the least Sweden’s Foreign minister Carl Bildt).
AFA Stockholm want to send our thoughts of solidarity to all the socialists and antifascists who were brutally murdered in the massacre of Odessa, as well as our deepest condolences to all of those who survived and are now living in grief of their lost comrades and friends.
Resistance against fascism as well as capitalist imperialism requires international solidarity.
Black is our sorrow – Red is our anger!
/Anti-Fascist Action Stockholm