The Donbass in 2014: Ultra-Right Threats, Working-Class Revolt, and Russian Policy Responses

ABSTRACT

The 2014 revolt in Ukraine’s Donbass provinces had deep roots among the region’s industrial workers. Key sources of the uprising included resistance to neoliberal austerity measures planned by the radical right-wing government that had come to power in Kiev, and a determination to block attacks by ultra-right militias allied with the new Kiev authorities. The inchoate nature of labour movement politics in the Donbass meant that leadership of the Donetsk and Lugansk republics fell primarily to politically ill-assorted individuals drawn from the region’s socio-economic “middle layers.” The Russian leadership met the Donbass uprising without enthusiasm, but under pressure from domestic opinion, provided sufficient aid to allow the revolt to survive. Meanwhile, the Kremlin used a variety of pressures to forestall any evolution of the uprising in a radical left direction. Despite the limitations of the rebellion, it defended important interests of the Donbass proletariat, and dealt a sharp, unexpected rebuff to the eastward advance of NATO military influence and of neoliberal economic policies. Important numbers of workers gained a much keener grasp of their class interests.

KEYWORDS:

• Ukraine
• Donbass revolt
• nationalism
• neoliberal austerity
• Russia

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Renfrey Clarke is an Australian writer, translator and political activist. From 1990 to 1999, he was Moscow correspondent for Green Left Weekly of Sydney. He holds a PhD on aspects of Soviet-Latin American relations, and is among the editors of the New Cold War website (www.newcoldwar.org).

Notes

1 See http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-27222023.

2 See http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-27360146.

3 See http://www.kiis.com.ua/?lang=eng&cat=reports&id=302&page=8.

4 See https://www.rt.com/news/157404-putin-ukraine-crisis-kiev/.

5 See https://www.rt.com/news/161304-donetsk-lugansk-unite-state/.

6 See http://en.voicesevas.ru/news/analytics/2750-the-man-who-devised-the-donetsk-republic.html.

7 See http://www.worldlibrary.org/articles/donets_basin.

8 See https://www.newcoldwar.org/two-differing-views-in-the-new-york-times-on-the-war-in-eastern-ukraine/.

9 See https://ukraineantifascistsolidarity.wordpress.com/2014/06/18/british-italian-war-correspondent-most-of-the-fighters-are-ukrainians/.

10 See https://www.rt.com/news/popular-uprising-eastern-ukraine-314/.

11 See https://www.rabkor.ru/news/2014/04/09/east_ukraine. Accessed September 5, 2014.

12 See https://www.rabkor.ru/news/2014/04/21/ukr_decline. Accessed September 5, 2014.

13 See http://www.kiis.com.ua/?lang=eng&cat=reports&id=302&page=8.

14 See https://www.electoralgeography.com/new/en/countries/u/ukraine/ukraine-legislative-election-2012.html.

15 See https://www.rabkor.ru/news/2014/04/10/Donetsk_defense. Accessed September 5, 2014.

16 See http://www.marxist.com/ukraine-lugansk-strike.htm.

17 See https://www.rabkor.ru/news/2014/05/16/dnr-constitution. Accessed September 5, 2014.

18 See https://ukraineantifascistsolidarity.wordpress.com/2014/06/30/donetsk-peoples-republic-to-nationalise-akhmetovs-enterprises/.

19 See https://www.rabkor.ru/news/2014/06/11/lnr_nationalization. Accessed September 5, 2014.

20 See https://www.rabkor.ru/news/2014/06/16/develop_donbass. Accessed September 8, 2014.

21 See https://www.rabkor.ru/news/2014/06/16/develop_donbass. Accessed September 8, 2014.

22 See https://ukraineantifascistsolidarity.wordpress.com/2014/06/18/miners-march-in-donetsk-against-anti-terrorist-operation/ and https://ukraineantifascistsolidarity.wordpress.com/2014/06/19/donetsk-miners-give-kiev-48h-ultimatum-stop-war-or-we-will-take-up-arms/.

23 See https://twitter.com/GonzaloWancha/status/459658995348025344 and http://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1s1haev.

24 See https://ukraineantifascistsolidarity.wordpress.com/2014/07/14/donetsk-miners-to-the-workers-of-europe-help-us-break-the-stronghold-of-fascism-in-ukraine/.

25 See https://www.rabkor.ru/news/2014/08/08/militia. Accessed September 8, 2014.

26 See http://tass.ru/en/world/745065.

27 See http://tass.ru/en/world/745065.

28 See http://www.interpretermag.com/ukraine-liveblog-day-178-russian-aid-convoy-on-the-move-again/.

29 See http://www.mk.ru/politics/2014/10/30/dadut-li-novorossii-sdelat-vybor.html.

30 See http://dnr.today/news/cik-dnr-oglasil-togovye-cifry-resultatov-vyborov-2-noyabrya, and https://www.rt.com/news/201711-donetsk-lugansk-republics-elections/.

31 See https://www.rt.com/news/201711-donetsk-lugansk-republics-elections/.

32 See http://tass.ru/mezhdunarodnaya-panorama/1537981, and http://www.mk.ru/politics/2014/10/30/dadut-li-novorossii-sdelat-vybor.html.