Support Operation Solidarity, an Ukrainian grassroots initiative

On the 24th of February the looming nightmare of a Russian invasion in Ukraine became reality. After years of war in the Donbass region, in which the Russian army was covertly involved, the kleptocratic dictatorial regime of the Russian Federation has overtly attacked Ukraine. This crime is a continuation of the imperialist aggression that the Russian Federation has enacted on what it considers its sphere of influence. For instance, we have seen how Russian bombardments have kept the terror of the Assad regime in Syria in place.

Doorbraak is an organization that consists of members who know what it means to flee from war or the oppression of dictatorial regimes. Having to leave your house behind, bombs falling on the cities you consider home and the ever present shadow of incarceration in the state’s dungeons are not abstractions for us, but a reality we lived through.

We stand in solidarity with everyone who has to suffer the Russian imperialist aggression in Ukraine. Besides the destruction, suffering and death which the attacks of the Russian army causes, we realize that an occupation and/or installation of a Russian puppet regime in Kyiv will bring a considerable repression which already forms the daily reality in the Russian Federation and Belarus, among others. We therefore also stand in solidarity with those who are fighting now in Ukraine for the freedom to shape their own individual and collective lives. We also wish to express our support and appreciation for the many brave people who went on the streets in the Russian Federation itself to voice their opposition to this war.

Originele Nederlandse tekst. Original text in Dutch.

As a radical Left grassroots democratic organization we chose to amplify the voices of comrades in Ukraine who are politically closest to us. Therefore we call upon our comrades here in the Netherlands to support the initiative “Operation Solidarity”. This is a grassroots collective of activists in Ukraine who are organizing humanitarian aid and support for comrades who take part in the territorial defense.

In their own words: “We are supporters of horizontal society, solidarity and cooperation from different cities of Ukraine. Today we have united in the volunteer project ‘Operation Solidarity’ in order to jointly help all healthy forces of society to counteract imperialist aggression against our country. We plan to collect humanitarian aid and fundraising in favor of territorial defense fighters and in support of all grassroots initiatives that unite people in confronting a common threat. We also plan to help refugees, host social events and spread the practices of equal decision-making and direct democracy.”

This initiative asks you to spread information (such as this call out) in your own network, to organize actions again the Russian imperialist aggression and to give donations. You can also contact them if you wish to support them in other ways, you can find the different ways to contact them here.

Besides financial support and solidarity protests it’s important to realize that the Netherlands, like many countries in the EU, are a big consumer of Russian fossil fuels and mineral resources, purchased from Russian state companies. Besides contribution to the acceleration of destructive climate change and the destruction of the local ecology in places where the extraction takes place, this also finances the military apparatus of the Russian Federation which has already cost the lives of so many and threatens many more lives at this moment. We therefore ask activists in the Netherlands to raise the pressure on this destructive industry.

Ilija Andrić

Note: there is a time and place for justified criticism on oppression and imperialist aggression committed by the Dutch government and the international organizations it is a part of, such as the EU and NATO. We are disgusted by the hypocrisy of those in power with blood on their hands who are now condemning other imperialists. At the same time we realize that whataboutism is a tried and tested propaganda method used to distract from what is most important at this point, and that is solidarity with the affected people in Ukraine and with those who are fighting against this imperialist aggression.

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For a donation you can use the following information:

Bank Transfer

Anarchist Black Cross (ABC) in Germany have made their bank account available for bank transfers within the EU/SEPA. They will make sure that Operation Solidarity will receive the donated money.

You can transfer money without any additional costs from a Dutch or EU/SEPA (Euro) bank account using the following information:

IBAN: DE57 4306 0967 1216 4248 00
Ontvanger: UGMR
BIC/SWIFT: GENODEM1GLS
Description/Note (!): Ukraine
Make sure that you fill in the correct description/note when transferring the money. This way they know that the donated amount has Operation Solidarity as it’s destination.

Paypal

You can donate using PayPal

Cryptomunten (Bitcoin, Ethereum, Binance)

Cryptocurrencies are another way to support the struggle of our friends in Ukraine. This option mainly targets people who already hold cryptocurrencies or are registered at a trading platform. Since it takes some effort to get started, we recommend that people without any experience with cryptocurrencies use one of the donation options listed above. Donations made in BTC, ETH and BNB reaches our friends in Ukraine immediately and without any delay.

Bitcoin [BTC]

Wallet: 16ua3DjuQSoGHBy8BsVCKsPEnu62RBzuhK

Ethereum [ETH]

Wallet: 0x2c585f9aD8CB4BeEc4Eec685B71dC11893cec524

Binance Coin [BNB]

Wallet: 0x2c585f9aD8CB4BeEc4Eec685B71dC11893cec524

Other cryptocurrency payment options can be found here

Last updated on 13-03-2022, the most recent donation information can be found here