What is the purpose of the ABN delegation’s stay in Moldova?
The purpose of the ABN delegation’s stay in Moldova is to express support for the democratic choice of the Moldovan people and to strengthen ties with the country’s pro-European forces. Meetings with Moldovan politicians, civil society representatives, and human rights activists are planned as part of the visit. An exhibition dedicated to the struggle of Central and Eastern European nations against totalitarian regimes will also be shown.
We believe it is important to support Moldova now, when the Russian special operation to seize power in this country has failed. Moscow tried to drag Moldova into a war, as happened with Belarus. However, hundreds of millions of dollars, agents of influence, falsifications and informational special operations of Russia could not overcome the will of the people of Moldova for democracy and a European future.
Today, more than ever, it is important to give a tough legal response to all those who tried to destabilize the country and disguise their criminal schemes to seize power, because in just six months, parliamentary elections will be held in Moldova.
The Ukrainian authorities should not stand aside either. Moldova has a significant Ukrainian national minority, which, unfortunately, mostly supported the pro-Russian candidate. We must work with our diasporas abroad, explaining the risks of Kremlin propaganda and the importance of democratic values.
Democratic and pro-European Moldova is our reliable ally, which will not allow the opening of another front against Ukraine on the southern border.
Who created ABN and when, what is its history and why was its activity resumed in 2023?
The Anti-Bolshevik Bloc of Nations (ABN) was created on the initiative of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) on 21-22 November 1943, at a secret conference in the village of Buderazh in Volyn. The conference was attended by representatives of 13 enslaved nations of Eastern Europe and Asia, including Ukrainians, Belarusians, Georgians, Armenians, Tatars, Ossetians, Azerbaijanis, Uzbeks, Kazakhs, Circassians, Chuvashes, and Bashkirs. The purpose of creating the ABN was to unite efforts in the fight against the totalitarian regimes of the USSR and Nazi Germany.
After World War II, in the exile context, the Founding Congress of the ABN was held in Munich on 16 April 1946, where the organization was reorganised and received international status. In the following years, the ABN actively acted as a coordinating centre for national liberation movements of nations under Soviet rule. The organization held conferences, published periodicals, sent memoranda to governments of various countries, and collaborated with other anti-communist organizations. Since 1948, the ABN was headed by Yaroslav Stetsko, and after he died in 1986, by his wife, Yaroslava Stetsko.
In 2023, amid new Russian aggression against Ukraine and the strengthening of the Kremlin’s imperial policy, the ABN’s activities were revived under the name of the Anti-Imperial Block of Nations. Thus, the ABN, founded in 1943 as a response to the totalitarian threats of the time, was revived in 2023 to counter modern forms of imperial oppression and support the aspirations of nations for freedom and independence.
What is the main mission of ABN?
The main mission of the Anti-Imperial Block of Nations is to unite enslaved nations to fight Russian imperialism and to facilitate the collapse of the Russian Federation as the last colonial empire in Europe. The ABN strives to support national liberation movements, strengthen international solidarity between nations fighting for freedom, and promote the construction of a democratic, post-imperial world.
What are the first results and achievements of the ABN’s work?
Since its resumption in 2023, the Anti-Imperial Block of Nations has already achieved several important results. One of the main achievements was the First World Congress of the ABN in June 2024 in Kaunas, Lithuania, which brought together representatives of dozens of liberation movements from different countries. The Congress became a platform for coordinating actions, exchanging experiences, and forming a common strategy for combating Russian imperialism.
Relations were also established with European and American politicians, human rights activists, experts and the media to promote the idea of decolonization of Russia and support for nations striving for independence. ABN actively conducts information campaigns, public events, exhibitions and publishes analytical materials on our website abn.org.ua, explaining the threat posed by Russian imperial policy to the entire democratic world.
Why did you decide to pursue a career in human rights?
The Anti-Imperial Block of Nations has decided to focus on human rights activities, since modern Russia remains a “prison of nations” where repressions against representatives of national liberation movements continue. In November 2024, the ABN initiated an international human rights project “Putin’s Real Prisoners. Political Prisoners of Enslaved Nations”, the purpose of which is to attract the attention of the world community to the fates of political prisoners from Bashkortostan, Tatarstan, Chechnya, Oirat-Kalmykia, Sakha-Yakutia, Karelia and other regions striving for freedom and independence.
We presented the project in Kyiv, as well as in many European capitals: Brussels, Helsinki, Stockholm, Oslo, Copenhagen, Vilnius, Tallinn and others. Today, we are presenting the project in Chisinau and heading to the EU countries neighbouring Moldova.
In March-April 2025, the project was presented in Canada and the United States, including Toronto, Vancouver, Buffalo, New York, Washington and other cities. Representatives of the Bashkir, Oirat-Kalmyk, Buryat, Tatar and Circassian national liberation movements spoke at the presentations, emphasizing the relevance of the ABN’s human rights work. Thus, the human rights direction has become an important component of the ABN’s activities, aimed at protecting human rights and supporting nations striving for liberation from imperial oppression.
What is the exhibition you are presenting in Chisinau about? Where else have its presentations taken place?
The exhibition “Putin’s Real Prisoners. Political Prisoners of Enslaved Nations” presented in Chisinau is dedicated to activists, human rights defenders and fighters for independence who became victims of repression by the Putin regime because of their courage to speak out against the dictatorship. These are convicted activists of national liberation movements in Chechnya, Ingushetia, Karelia, Bashkortostan, Tatarstan, Yakutia and other regions. We also show the stories of two repressed activists of the Crimean Tatar movement and five ethnic Ukrainians, citizens of the Russian Federation, who were imprisoned only because they are Ukrainians.
Each of them paid for their beliefs by losing their freedom. The exhibition shows real stories of the struggle for truth and justice that will not leave anyone indifferent. Their names should be heard all over the world so that no one forgets this injustice.
How can the experience of the ABN and the results of this exhibition be used in Moldova?
First of all, we would like Moldova to know about the essence of Russian imperial policy. Russia is active and aggressive in the information sphere in the post-Soviet space. Those centres of instability and conflicts formed and organised by Russia after the collapse of the USSR continue to destabilize Moldova. The work of Russian media, “public” organizations, and charitable foundations is part of this process. They cannot be trusted. The country with thousands of political prisoners, no freedom of speech, the country and its leaders who are infected with the virus of chauvinism, the citizens of Moldova should not trust, but on the contrary, build their state based on their national interests, and being dependent on Moscow is definitely not such an interest.
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