Russia - October 17, 2026

Putin intensifies repression and his regime of terror in Russia to continue the massacre in Ukraine…

Crying “Down with the Tsar!” and “No to the war!”
the anti-war movement is beginning to rise up in Russia

On October 4, the youth and the exploited took to the streets of Moscow, seizing the opportunity to express their rage against the tyrant and murderer Putin. They did so during a mobilization called by the Communist Party of the Russian Federation -an ally of the Putin government that masquerades as the official “opposition”- to mark the anniversary of the defense of the Russian “White House” (the Russian parliament building, which was shelled and cleared by force on Yeltsin’s orders in 1993).

The demonstration organized by the Communist Party of the Russian Federation -whose leader, Zyuganov, has access to Putin’s offices- had government authorization. A group of young exploited people managed to seize the moment to express their outrage and righteous hatred toward a regime that not only recently committed a scandalous fraud in the legislative elections but has also, for years, dragged its own people into war. These young people broke away from the main demonstration, shouting, "Down with the Tsar!", "No to war!", and "Peace, peace!" Immediately, Putin’s police descended upon the group and arrested more than 60 people-.

The elections that took place in late September were marked by the banning -and in some cases, the imprisonment- of political parties and hundreds of candidates, as well as by rigged votes, stolen or altered ballots, and hundreds of other irregularities. The outcome fabricated for these parliamentary elections was a scandal: it was claimed that Putin’s party secured 57% of the vote and 347 of the 450 parliamentary seats up for election. The Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) itself won 38 seats -a decline of 19 compared to the previous election. Naturally, the other parties that took the remaining seats are nothing more than worn-out carbon copies of Putin.

A brutal regime imposing a war that the exploited do not want to fight: the anti-war movement is gaining ground in Moscow, just as it is in Western European countries and the United States

In Russia, the repressive regime grip on the masses has tightened; there is no space left for expression –let alone for organizing marches or protests- without the immediate risk of being brutally suppressed or imprisoned. The Putin regime, which maintains its occupation of Ukraine through the forced conscription of a population that opposes the war -alongside the use of paid mercenaries- can only sustain this by wielding an iron fist within Russia itself and across the nations it oppresses, crushing the working class and any sign of opposition.
The demonstration on October 4th was merely the starting point. Despite the arrests, another demonstration took place in Moscow the following day. In dozens of cities, the exploited are seeking to protest against electoral fraud, yet the regime is banning these protests -citing ridiculous pretexts- in at least 15 cities.
In Russia, criticizing Putin is a crime that has led hundreds of people to being detained, persecuted, or convicted. This is the case, for instance, of Arseny Turbin -Russia’s youngest political prisoner- who is now 17 years old and has been in custody since he was 14 for criticizing Putin in class and on his YouTube channel. Hundreds of people have been sentenced to prison simply for posting a criticism on Twitter; even writing the word "Ukraine" in a messaging app can result in a two-year prison sentence, as happened to Andrei Amkhanitsky, who was recently convicted. Authorities fabricate charges against activists and harass their families through arbitrary detentions and threats -as seen in the case of an activist named Morozov, whose parents were held at a police station after he was arrested and accused of drug trafficking. Animator Oleg Kuvaev was sentenced to four years in prison for "inciting rebellion" due to an episode of a series in which a fictional character urged Russian soldiers to surrender. These are just a few examples of cases that have occurred in recent days.

Earlier, in April this year, the St. Petersburg Municipal Court sentenced six young anti-war activists -Anna Arkhipova, Yan Ksenzhepolsky, Vasiliy Neustroev, Pavel Sinelnikov, Evgeniy Zateev, and Valentin Khoroshenin- to more than 10 years in prison. They were also subjected to post-release prohibitions, barring them from participating in public events or posting content online.
The repression and persecution are brutal. Only in this way -through a truly extreme, Bonapartist-style regime- can Putin sustain a war that no one wants to fight. Since 2022, thousands have fled to avoid being sent to the war in Ukraine, while dozens have been detained and forcibly taken to the front lines. Others have been arrested on charges such as sabotage or treason. Human rights organizations have been designated as “terrorist” groups, and access to the internet is becoming increasingly restricted.

And there are still political currents that claim to be on the left yet presenting this murderer and war criminal as an “anti-imperialist” and an “ally of the peoples.”

talinism and all its cohorts -who asserted that Putin was “denazifying” Ukraine- have much to answer for, with their hands stained in blood. They consistently supported this jackal in every massacre he unleashed against the oppressed, whether in Syria or, previously, in Chechnya. Groups like the Workers’ Party (Partido Obrero) of Argentina argue that Putin is confronting NATO in Ukraine -even as he massacres the oppressed, occupies the country, and dismembers the nation that Zelensky, a lackey of imperialism, has handed over so that these hyenas might divide the spoils. These apologists for Putin continue to claim that there is no task of national liberation to be pursued.

While Ukraine is being torn apart, occupied by Putin, and fiercely contested by imperialist hyenas, French youth have taken to the barricades for the sake of education, adopting the Palestinian cause as their rallying cry; German youth are fighting in the streets against conscription; 250,000 exploited people in London have marched against the massacre and genocide in Palestine; and demonstrations against Putin reveal a Europe in turmoil. A pre-revolutionary situation is shaking Europe, and the exploited people taking to the streets in Moscow -much to the chagrin of the reformist left- are joining this same continental struggle, which stretches from Portugal to the Russian steppes. It is a matter of life and death for the working class in the core nations to swiftly take up the cause of the Ukrainian workers in their struggle against Putin’s occupation and the plunder carried out by European and US imperialism. From Portugal to the Russian steppes: one single class, one single enemy, one single fight against those who exploit the people.

Zelensky and his generals -who have not fired a single shot- are abandoning the national liberation struggle and auctioning Ukraine

Today, 20% of Ukraine’s territory is occupied by the jackal Putin, while Zelensky has effectively put the nation and its natural resources on the auction block, offering rare earth minerals, gas, and the country’s highly fertile land to the highest bidder. Putin is doing what he does best: massacring the exploited and driving the nation into the ground, while imperialist hyenas scramble for the spoils, saddling the country with debt amidst an arms race that has turned Ukraine into a vast assembly plant and a testing ground for the war industry. Major investment funds, such as BlackRock, are already profiting from this massive enterprise and are gearing up for the next colossal opportunity: the reconstruction of a shattered nation.
Meanwhile, the working class continues to contribute its dead and its blood and muscles, which, if they manage to survive, are super-exploited, both in the part of Ukraine that is under Putin's boot and in Western Ukraine in which Zelensky remains in power, calling elections off and applying the worst attack against the exploited in the rear. Zelensky and his battleless generals, the cowards who have not fired even fireworks to defend the nation, fill their pockets by handing over the national liberation struggle. The exploited have given their lives to defend Ukraine. It is time for the workers and soldiers who risk their lives to defend the nation to set up their committees to take the leadership of the war in their hands, expropriating the expropriators of the people, to liberate the nation and defeat Putin, at a time when, within Russia itself, its fundamental ally is beginning to stand up: the Russian workers and exploited.
So that Ukraine is not a divided, occupied colony, the only way out is a Soviet, independent Ukraine!

Down with “Tsar” Putin! Putin out of Crimea, the Donbas, and all of Ukraine!
Immediate freedom and the drop all charges against Russia’s political prisoners!
End forced conscription!

Zelensky -who has sold out the country- must go!
The Ukrainian oligarchy and all those who have dispossessed the people must be expropriated, so that the exploited may eat and live with dignity, and so that all resources can be put toward defeating the invader!

Out with the generals who have never seen battle! For committees of workers and rank-and-file soldiers to take charge of the national war -joining with Russian workers and the workers of “Maastricht Europe” to defeat the Russian occupation- and, together with the rising masses of Europe, to crush the imperialist war machine!
For the revolutionary restoration of the dictatorship of the proletariat!
For the Socialist United States of Europe!

Eliza Funes