Support Ukraine’s Independent Unions! Celebrate the Syrian People’s Victory!

Ukraine Solidarity Network-US

THE UKRAINE SOLIDARITY Network has issued this appeal:

Winter is coming to Ukraine, temperatures are dropping, but nearly 60% of the country’s electrical generating capacity has been knocked out by unrelenting Russian air strikes. After causing tens of thousands of civilian casualties, the Russians are bent on freezing every child, woman, and man.

The Ukraine Solidarity Network in the United States has teamed up with two Ukrainian trade unions, the Free Trade Union of Railway Workers and the Independent Trade Union of Miners of Ukraine and an NGO called Kryal to provide portable electric generators to families in need. Our initial goal is to raise $6,000 dollars for 12 portable generators for union members and their families. These brave workers and their families are in urgent need of support.

The UN reports that Russian attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure are impacting millions, creating serious humanitarian and public health risks, and adding hundreds of thousands to the 10 million already displaced by the war. Other critical systems including water and education are also being severely disrupted.

Join Us in Standing with Ukraine’s Workers! Your donation will provide essential power to some of those who need it most. Let’s show our solidarity with Ukraine’s rank-and-file workers and the vital work they do under unimaginable conditions.

The network is also celebrating the Syrian People’s victory and reaffirming solidarity with Palestine in the face of continuing U.S.-Israeli genocide:

THE UKRAINE SOLIDARITY Network (U.S.) wholeheartedly celebrates the liberation of Syria and its people from the half-century murderous Assad family tyranny. Like so many others, we are profoundly inspired by the scenes of people celebrating in the streets, the return of refugees who had fled their country to save their lives, and prisoners’ mass release from the regime’s incarceration and torture centers.

Ukraine’s resistance to Russia’s annexationist invasion was a key factor aiding the Syrian people in overthrowing the Assad dictatorship.  The Putin regime was also been a pillar of support for Assad’s military machine. Even as the Syrian regime was collapsing, Russia carried out terror bombing of Aleppo and other cities reminiscent of its bombing of Ukraine’s civilian population.

Like the Ukrainian resistance, the struggles of the Palestinian and Georgian peoples have in their own ways contributed to Syria’s enormous victory.

We are disgusted but unsurprised by U.S. president Biden and the State Department’s proclamation of support while United States imperialism continues to supply military support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza, bombing of Lebanon and land grabs in the West Bank.

Ukraine and Syria, vastly different in many respects, have both been devastated by war and face massive tasks of economic and social reconstruction. In solidarity with Ukraine’s people and progressive political forces, USN has demanded cancellation of Ukraine’s foreign debts. Similarly, today we demand international aid to Syria for its humanitarian and economic needs — with no strings attached, and free of repayment obligations.

All sanctions imposed on Syria by western governments must be immediately lifted and progressive movements in every country must raise that demand….

Today, above all, Syria’s freedom from Assad’s rule is a giant leap toward a democratic future, free of religious-sectarian conflict and with respect for the rights of all its people.

To the extent that Assad’s downfall weakens Russia’s imperial power, it aids Ukraine’s struggle for survival and is all the more welcome. Perhaps it may also revitalize the struggles of the “Arab Spring” which have undergone such brutal repression over the past decade. But first and foremost this is the Syrian people’s victory, and they deserve congratulation and, above all, solidarity on the part of all international progressive and left movements.

January-February 2025, ATC 234