In the second part of our interview, Green Left’s Victor Osprey speaks to left-wing Ukrainian Andriy Movchan about the state of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the far right’s influence and the challenges Ukraine’s left faces in building solidarity with their struggles. Read part one of our interview here.
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What is the status of the war? What is the state of Ukrainian morale, particularly among conscripted soldiers?
As of spring 2025, both armies are extremely depleted, and have problems with personnel and low morale. However, despite the enemy’s superiority, Ukrainians continue to resist heroically and hold the front.
Ukrainian society is extremely exhausted. No one dreams of victory anymore. No one dreams of the borders of 1991.
The most painful issue for society is forced conscription, which is carried out through gross human rights violations. There are almost no people left willing to voluntarily go to the front.
Even state leaders have been forced to take these sentiments into account and set more realistic goals.
Today, Ukraine’s position is to freeze the conflict along the current frontline, with security guarantees and without recognising Russia’s annexations. Most of society agrees with these conditions.
But Russia — which still wants to “finish” Ukraine — disagrees.
The size of Russia’s population — 140 million — allows it to not involve the masses in the war and fight primarily with mercenaries. Russian society shows no signs of exhaustion.
However, the Russian army is exhausted. The warehouses are running out of Soviet military equipment. The wounded are sent into battle. The occupying army is suffering huge losses.
Even Russian military bloggers say it will not be possible to keep fighting for much longer.
To what extent has the far right in Ukraine gained in influence?
In 2014, the far right was used by the centre-right opposition as the most determined part of the protest movement against the government. They became the powerhouse of the protests, although the Maidan [uprising] itself was made up of a broad spectrum of participants.
When Russia launched its proxy invasion of Donbas in April 2014, Ukraine’s army was unprepared for the confrontation. The far right came to form the basis for the most motivated units, which were later integrated into the army.
Since 2014, the rising far right has not had a major impact on electoral politics, but it has significantly complicated the situation on the streets, where they often enjoy impunity from the state.
When someone says that there is no problem with the far right in Ukraine, it is simply not true. My own experience of having to leave Ukraine after being repeatedly attacked in the street by these far-right radicals for my left-wing views, confirms this.
Nationalists have also gained significant positions in the army. Again, this is natural. It would be surprising if the most capable soldiers in a war for national survival were liberals or social democrats.
But to call Ukraine a “neo-Nazi state” is a great exaggeration.
It is clear that Russian propaganda is fuelling the myth of a “neo-Nazi” Ukraine, which, unfortunately, sells well among the Western left.
Yes, we have certain internal problems. But what business is it of Russia’s? Is this an excuse to bomb our cities and wipe them off the face of the Earth to “liberate” them?
Our problems with right-wing groups are not a reason to conquer our country. Even if Ukraine were 20 times more reactionary than it actually is, this would still not give Russia the right to invade.
In reality, no one has done more to promote and strengthen Ukrainian nationalism and far-right movements than [Russian president Vladimir] Putin.
If he had not unleashed two wars — in 2014 and 2022 — the Ukrainian far right would be a relatively marginal phenomenon today.
What can you tell us about the influence of the far right in Russia?
At first glance, it may seem that the far-right movement is not that visible in Russia. The Russian state does not tolerate any movements and parties that are independent of it.
At the same time, the Russian state itself has embraced the radical ideology of imperial nationalist expansion and annexationism, which until relatively recently was considered the domain of marginal forces.
What Putin says and does today embodies the programs of the most insane part of Russian ultranationalists.
Traditional neo-Nazis have also gained prominence in Russia during the war. There are at least two clearly distinct neo-Nazi units in the Russian army: Rusich and Española.
Moreover, persecution of migrants and racially motivated violence has intensified in the country.
A broad network of far-right groups, Russkaya Obshchina, has been formed under the auspices of the state. It persecutes migrants and intimidates indigenous peoples.
Given the United States wants Ukrainian resources and has little to no interest in Ukrainian territorial integrity and sovereignty, should Ukraine look elsewhere for allies, whether in the European Union or the Global South?
Ever since Donald Trump came to power in the US, Ukraine has been forced to rely more on Europe. However, Europe’s military potential is many times smaller than the US’. Ukraine cannot simply dismiss the US, as it is existentially dependent on US military technologies and diplomacy.
As for Ukraine’s relations with the Global South, I believe that many mistakes were made.
Ukraine began its resistance with the hope that the richest and most powerful countries in the world were on its side, and that it could therefore neglect support from the rest. This was a delusion.
Many things depend on countries from the Global South, including diplomacy, the effectiveness of anti-Russian sanctions, the munitions market, the problem of mercenaries for the Russian army and dozens of other important issues.
About a year ago, Ukraine’s leaders realised they needed to build diplomatic ties with the Global South: to engage in dialogue with Arab countries, pay visits to South Africa, send humanitarian aid to Palestine, etc.
However, we also need to understand the limited capabilities of these countries. What has the Global South done to help Palestine against Israel? Almost nothing.
Why then should we hope that it will somehow effectively help Ukraine?
You are a supporter of Solidarity Collectives, a group of Ukrainian anarchists and anti-authoritarians who picked up arms to resist Russia’s invasion. Can you explain their point of view and role today?
Unfortunately, the Ukrainian left is a small force that has had to exist in extremely difficult circumstances.
After 2014, many activists, including myself, left Ukraine because of problems with the far right. Many others live in internal exile in Ukraine.
But there are also those who continue public activities despite the difficulties, mainly anarchists, small socialist groups and trade unions.
Activists from these movements made up the majority of the leftist volunteers who went to defend Ukraine from the invasion.
The small size of the Ukrainian left objectively meant it could not become an independent force in the armed resistance.
But despite all the contradictions, those leftists who went to war are convinced that the victory of Russia’s invasion would be the greatest injustice to the Ukrainian people.
In the eyes of the dogmatic Western left, defending a country dominated by reactionary ideologues and with an extremely weak left seems a contradictory decision, to say the least. However, such views are non-materialist.
As materialists, we have to understand that reactionary backslide has been a historical pattern following the failures of so-called “real existing socialism”.
If we look at any country in Eastern Europe, we will not find any country where socialist (let alone revolutionary) movements are strong and popular. It would be strange to expect Ukraine to be an exception.
But does the fact that a country is at a reactionary stage give someone the right to occupy it? Of course not.
Reaction does not last forever. If Ukraine defends its right to exist, it will also defend its potential to change in the future for the better — towards a progressive Ukraine.
How important is the role of anti-war and left-wing activists in Russia in bringing an end to Russian annexationist ambitions in Ukraine?
Russia is a dictatorship. Therefore, it is difficult to talk about the existence of any anti-war movement there.
There are individuals who are against the war. But they do not have the opportunity to express their disagreement within the legal framework. They have no influence on Putin’s actions.
Some of these people have sacrificed their freedom to speak out against the war. This deserves deep respect. [Marxist sociologist] Boris Kagarlitsky is among them.
In general, two trends have emerged among Russian leftists who are against the war: patriots and defeatists.
The patriotic part gives equal weight to the parties in the conflict and calls for peace through Ukraine’s concessions.
The defeatists insist the aggressor is unequivocally guilty and call for Russian troops to withdraw.
[Read the full version of this interview at links.org.au.]