We have received the following appeal, signed by Mikhail Alexeevich Krylov, Representative of the Independent Donetsk Miners’ Trade Union. Krylov was co-chairman of the City Strike Committee in Donetsk during the big miners’ strikes in 1991 and later on in the 1990s. He is now the head of the Independent Miners Union of Donetsk, which organises over 1,000 mine-workers.

Statement from Independent Donetsk Miners’ Trade Union

Brother miners,

We need to explain to you the true state of affairs in Donbas. The real picture of what is happening has been misinterpreted or hushed by European media. We understand that you may not find it easy to come to the correct conclusions; and therefore, we declare that we – the miners – are forced to fight with weapons in our hands for the sake of our lives – in the name of survival!

Our interest in this confrontation is one: end the bloodshed! The end of the war will be the trial of the war criminals that began it. We can not give up, because it would mean our full moral and physical destruction! From the outset, “Euromaidan” has been under the control of the big bourgeoisie: Ukrainian oligarchs and their foreign masters. In February of this year, there was a coup in Ukraine with the active participation of neo-Nazi organizations. In response to this, there was a protest movement in the South-East of the country, which at first was pushing innocuous slogans such as federalization and Russian as a second state language. This was greeted with terror.

In Donbas, there is a real war in which civilians are killed: including the elderly, women and children. You are blatantly being lied to that what war is between Ukraine and Russia. But it is not so! The war is between the people and a handful of oligarchs with the support of the EU and U.S. authorities. The tragedy in Ukraine is that, those in power, managed to infect the people with certain fascist ideas. We, the residents of Donbas, fight against all manifestations of Nazism and Fascism. We fight with weapons in hand, for our lives and the lives of our loved ones. We have nowhere to retreat – this is our land! We appeal to you, the workers of the European countries, asking for your help and solidarity: help us break the stronghold of fascism in Ukraine. This will be our common victory!

Mikhail Alexeevich Krylov,

Representative from Independent Donetsk Miners’ Trade Union

NOTE: Donetsk miners marched on June 18 against Kiev’s “anti-terrorist operation” and gave a 48-hour ultimatum that they would take up arms unless the war stopped.