The question of the level of readiness of the enslaved peoples for this struggle deserves special attention. We must admit that globally, on the territory of the entire empire, this level is quite low. This state of affairs was facilitated by various factors that are traditional for the imperial policy of “carrot and stick”: the erosion of national identity (the creation of a single “Russian people”), the latest genocide (Ichkeria), political repression (the law on so-called “foreign agents”), religious persecution (Muslims, Buddhists) – on the one hand, and on the other – bribing representatives of national pseudo-elites with positions and the possibility of extra income. However, such a policy still did not completely equalize the degree of readiness for resistance. For example, for the majority of the people of the North Caucasus or the Idel-Urals, the issue of national liberation has never disappeared from the agenda of public life. Despite the fact that most of the leaders of the liberation movement were forced to find themselves abroad, the topic of separation from the center, often under the slogan “stop feeding Moscow”, found fertile ground among a large part of ordinary residents of individual republics and regions.
At the same time, the beginning of a full-scale war against Ukraine significantly changed the existing state of affairs. Colonial structures that seemed to be reinforced in concrete and “eternal” began to show the first cracks. There has been an intensification of the activities of anti-imperial national organizations and associations that directly proclaim the ideas of creating independent states, appealing to the international right to self-determination of peoples. Almost all of them openly opposed the military aggression and expressed support for the Ukrainian people, recognizing their right to independence and the liberation of the occupied territories.
And, actually, the first case that Ukraine should offer to all enslaved peoples is the experience of the national liberation struggle. The long-standing opposition to imperial policy in the conditions of statelessness is undoubtedly extremely rich in both success stories and analysis of failures and defeats. Even if we take into account only the last hundred years of struggle, then they absorbed the entire palette of events: from occupation and another colonization, to underground and armed struggle, and, finally, to independence and a new war. Throughout this period, one of the leading roles in the confrontation with occupiers of various types was played by the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists. The experience of a Ukrainian partisan, ideological and propaganda work, and diplomatic activity are just a few main areas, each of which predisposes to a separate course for study or adaptation to modern events and conditions.
Of course, not all mechanisms that worked, say, a hundred or fifty years ago, are effective in modern times. However, the main precepts and principles of the national liberation struggle remain constant. Let’s say, the question of relying on one’s own, on the internal forces of the people, as the main basis for the uprising. Without awareness of this key principle, it is impossible to move towards real, full-fledged independence and statehood.
If we talk about the external factor, then it is worth using case number 2 — the Anti-Bolshevik Bloc of Nations, whose promoter was also the OUN of Bandera and which is currently undergoing transformation into the Anti-imperial (anti-Putin) Block of Nations. The statement that Ukraine should become a center of support for enslaved peoples is not only something that cannot be doubted, it needs to be implemented as soon as possible and as fully as possible. However, Ukraine is not the only one involved. It is necessary to involve all civilized states of the world in the process of the division of Russia, as the leaders of the Soviet Union did at one time, approaching the collapse of the USSR. In the opinion of one of the leaders of the renewed ABN, the coordinator of the “Freedom for Nations” project, Leontii Shipilov, both Ukrainian diplomacy and representatives of the national liberation movements of enslaved nations should simultaneously convey to foreign partners the position that “the disintegration of Russia is an inevitable, objective and desirable process. In order to reduce its chaos and conflict, it should take place with the participation and under the auspices of the world community.” A new liberal quasi-empire should not be reborn in the endless expanses of Putin’s empire, but dozens of national states of free nations should appear.
Case number three is armed struggle. It is worth stating that it is already being tested on the fronts of the great war of liberation. After all, representatives of many enslaved nations are fighting in the ranks of the Armed Forces: Chechens and Ingush, Sakha and Erzya, Nogai and Circassians side by side with Ukrainians, Belarusians, Georgians and Azerbaijanis, not only bringing the Ukrainian Victory closer, but also preparing their national units for the future struggle for independence. And it is these units that need maximum support from the Ukrainian state and the Ukrainian military.
Despite the fact that the three directions outlined above look extremely multifaceted and complex, the fourth Ukrainian case, the case of state formation, is even more important, if not decisive. Its complexity also lies in the fact that, to be honest, Ukraine has not yet created a balanced and effective model of state management in thirty years of independence. And yet, even now, at the preparatory stage for the liberation struggle, representatives of the majority of enslaved peoples declare the need for the creation and functioning of such a “University of Free Nations” for high-quality training and professional training of the management elites of future national states.
And the last Ukrainian case, which can be called a kind of safeguard against imperial revenge, is the “Maidan case” or the “freedom case”, which should protect young states from the danger of returning to authoritarianism or dictatorship. It was this that saved the Ukrainian nation from the latest enslavement and formed a force for a decisive battle with the enemy. For many years, the empire was afraid of the export of the Maidan and the Ukrainian revolution to the territories under its control, because the Kremlin’s special services, like no one else, had good information about the potential of the liberation struggle. Instead, for the sake of their own salvation, they activated the option of war, to which tens of thousands of soldiers are sent as “cannon fodder” – representatives of enslaved peoples who die en masse for empty imperial pseudo-ideals under Ukrainian Bucha, Bakhmut, Ugledar and Avdiivka.
It’s time to take up arms against the real enemy – the last empire in the Eurasian space!
