The Free Nations League, a socio-political platform, launched at the height of the war in Ukraine in the spring of 2022, whose members were the first to publicly declare the need for the disintegration of the Russian Empire, which has a confusing name: the Russian Federation. In the struggle against the historical Russian Empire, this position is a continuation of the history of the struggle for the destruction of the Russian prison of peoples, which lasted for most of the 20th century. The Free Nations League has many predecessors whose dreams and goals it is up to all of us to make a reality in the near future. These were numerous emigrant organizations of non-Russian peoples of the former Russian Empire and the Soviet Union. In contrast to him, even more numerous Russian emigrant anti-Bolshevik organizations wanted both a change of power and the preservation of the so-called “united and indivisible Russia”. The same sad and stupid story repeats itself today, when “Russian” liberal-opposition-imperialists, branding the FSB clique and their Fuhrer Putin, the Nazis and the pro-Kremlin dark masses, however, are not going to agree with the right of non-Russian peoples to real self-determination – independence. From this large list of groups and organizations, my attention was drawn to an association quite well-known among historians – the Anti-Bolshevik Bloc of Nations, because the goals of this association were not only and not simply the overthrow of the Bolshevik-Soviet government, but also the division of the USSR into nations’ states , enslaved by Russia and the Soviet Union. are not going to agree with the right of non-Russian peoples to real self-determination – independence. From this large list of groups and organizations, my attention was drawn to an association quite well-known among historians – the Anti-Bolshevik People’s Bloc, because the goals of this association were not only and not simply the overthrow of the Bolshevik-Soviet government, but also the division of the USSR into nations’ states , enslaved by Russia and the Soviet Union. are not going to agree with the right of non-Russian peoples to real self-determination – independence. From this large list of groups and organizations, my attention was drawn to an association quite well-known among historians – the Anti-Bolshevik People’s Bloc, because the goals of this association were not only and not simply the overthrow of the Bolshevik-Soviet government, but also the division of the USSR into nations’ states , enslaved by Russia and the Soviet Union.
From the works of many researchers, we learn that the Anti-Bolshevik Bloc of Nations (ABN) was secretly created on November 21-22, 1943 at the initiative of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists at the 1st Conference of Enslaved Peoples of Eastern Europe and Asia in the village of Buderaz in the Rivne region. From the very beginning, this organization was directed against the Stalinist USSR and against Hitler’s Germany. The ABN included political organizations of nations that were under the rule of the USSR.
It is more convenient for me to base myself on the research of Oleksandr Skrypnyk, a historian of the special services of Ukraine.
The ABN was officially and openly created at the founding congress on April 16, 1946 in West Germany. The ABN included such peoples as Albanians, Belarusians, Bulgarians, Armenians, Georgians, Estonians, Cossacks, Latvians, Lithuanians, Slovaks, Turkmens, Hungarians, Ukrainians, Croats, and Czechs. Almost all these peoples later, after a certain time, gained freedom.
Since 1948, ABN was headed by Ya. Stetsko, as the head of its Central Committee, who was re-elected in 1954. The Presidium included Colonel-General F. Dyurchanskyi (Slovak). His deputy was Professor R. Ostrovsky (Belarusian), and his secretary was J. Gitis (Lithuanian). ABN organized massive anti-Bolshevik demonstrations, organized press conferences, sent memoranda to leading world politicians, published periodicals and non-periodical publications in various languages.
Yaroslav Stetsko was one of those from whom the world learned about the liberation struggle of the Ukrainian people for independence, about the activities of the OUN, UPA and ABN. The activity of Ukrainians in ABN is a vivid example of how the nation, in the most difficult conditions of the unlimited power of the communist totalitarian system and in the conditions of the emigration of its political leaders and activists, relying only on its own strength, was able to break the course of events, seeking to restore an independent state.
In the conditions of unequal confrontation, it was necessary to seek support among the countries of the West, to unite with other organizations and movements that fought for their freedom in a similar situation. In 1948, 14 more nations joined the ABN – Komi-Zyryans, Mordvins, Maris, Cossacks, Lithuanians, Latvians, Romanians, Slovaks, Balkars, Turkmens, Tajiks, Kyrgyz, Kara-Karakalpaks and Serbs. In the 1970s, Cubans and Vietnamese joined. ABN included representatives of 35 nations. During 1946-1986, the head of ABN was Yaroslav Stetsko.
An important programmatic article by Yaroslav Stetsk entitled “Problems of Ukrainian Revolutionary and Liberation Policy”, published at the time in the socio-political and scientific-literary monthly “Liberation Path” for July 1960, partially answers many questions. Already in the first paragraph, the author states: “Our concept of liberation is the Ukrainian national liberation revolution, together with the liberation revolutions of peoples occupied by Russian imperialism and communism, that is, peoples enslaved within the framework of the Russian Empire. ” He then talks about the collapse of the Bolshevik empire and the liberation of enslaved peoples.“Therefore, the restoration of the Ukrainian state belongs to the most important problems of world politics. But this cannot be achieved by any means of separate, isolated liberation, nor by means of diplomatic negotiations, only by a radical change of the current order in Eastern Europe and captured Asia, that is, by the collapse of the Bolshevik empire.” The struggle against Russia, as “an ancient invader, enslaver, destroyer of cultural and social values, an enemy of human and national freedoms “, according to the author of the article, is the historical purpose of Ukraine, and in this struggle “Kyiv has always been a symbol of the freedom of man and peoples, justice and faith in God, as opposed to Moscow, which is a symbol of slavery, tyranny and godlessness.”
Yaroslav Stetsko concludes that “ABN is the only real, viable concept for the liberation of the peoples enslaved by Moscow Bolshevism” and that “the enemy of Ukrainian national-state independence is the entire Russian political world, regardless of its party-political color” because “among Russians there is no anti-imperialist political groups” .
An important place in the program provisions is given to the activities of international organizations and their ability to protect the rights of oppressed peoples, to be real guarantors of freedom and independence. “From this point of view, ” the ABN leader notes, ” the United Nations will fulfill its positive role in the future, when the right of veto will be eliminated and all states will have equal rights, and if, after the collapse of the Russian Empire, the UN will include speakers from the enslaved nations…
The real United Nations must be reorganized in the sense of excluding the representatives of the Russian Empire – the USSR and its satellite ranks, and accepting national representatives of the peoples enslaved by Moscow. The UN should become not a forum for coexistence with tyrants, but a combat formation of organized world anti-Bolshevik forces, a world anti-Bolshevik bloc of nations.” This echoes what LVN has been saying since its formation regarding the Russian Empire, which became the so-called Russian Federation.
There are many other interesting theses that have not lost their relevance today among the program provisions and activity strategy published by Yaroslav Stetsk. In particular, the view on the issue of arming and disarmament: “Despite the unprecedented development of military equipment, the decisive role in the future collision of two worlds: the world of freedom and the world of enslavement will still be played by a person, an armed people. Because together with the development of technology, the importance of the armed forces of the people, its revolutionary-insurgent cadres is increasing, not decreasing.”
During his speech at the Edinburgh conference of the ABN, Stetsko stated: “It would, of course, be criminal to belittle the sense of security of the Western world by saying that war with Russia can be avoided by the resistance of enslaved peoples. On the contrary, we must solve the problem of how to achieve a final victory over Bolshevism in order to save our culture and the world from enslavement. Bolshevism is coming aggressively…” Exactly 70 years later, the Russian Empire led by Putin confirmed the prophetic power and vitality of his words.
Stetsko in his speech reproached the Western countries for the fact that after the Second World War they did not properly support the aspirations of the oppressed peoples for liberation from the Moscow-communist oppression, they are trying to flirt with the Soviet Union and negotiate something. The same thing happened before and even after the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, when some Western politicians sought to pursue the same policies as their short-sighted predecessors. They are still ready to offer Ukraine a similar scenario of concessions by the Russian Empire, not understanding at all that the empires will always pursue an aggressive aggressive policy towards their neighbors and threaten the rest of the world .Such is the nature of empires. But the West still does not fully understand this – either because of the corruption of some of its politicians, or because of immaturity.
Stetsko emphasized that “the totalitarian system can adapt to new conditions and partially transform, but in essence it will always remain a prison of nations.”
“Bolshevism and Russia can be defeated only by the united forces of the whole fair world ,” Stetsko urged again. – There is no need to look for any more compromises with the Bolsheviks. There cannot be any agreement between a just democracy and totalitarian ideas, between humane freedom and slavery.” Today, we can add to these words that the enslaved peoples can and should take the most active part in the decolonization of the Russian Empire.
Yaroslav Stetsko visited Spain, Italy, Australia, Turkey, the USA, Mexico and other countries, where he was received warmly and kindly. In particular, the main achievement of the ABN in relations with the United States in the 1950s was the establishment by Congress of Enslaved Peoples Week.
This event itself, according to the members of ABN, confirmed that Soviet Russia (USSR) was recognized as an aggressor and occupier on Ukrainian land. The enslaved peoples in Russia can also rightly claim that they are under the centuries-old occupation of the Russian colonial empire.
At that time, the KGB noted that the leaders of the OUN had developed a new strategy and were putting forward a number of demands to the West in this regard. Among these requirements are quite interesting from today’s point of view, namely:
— “cancel international treaties with Russia, as those that do not correspond to the principle of protecting people’s rights, ensuring the sovereignty of nations;”
– “to develop a universal strategy against the historical Russian imperial-communist policy.”
— to insist that the West “create a special “psychostrategy department” under NATO or the Pentagon, which should include representatives of “liberation movements of nations enslaved by Bolshevism” and a service that would organize insurgent or liberation wars along the lines of Afghanistan or the UPA, created the so-called “Academy of Freedom” in opposition to the University named after P. Lumumba in Moscow with the aim of in-depth study of the problems of the liberation struggle of “enslaved nations”, their spirituality, culture, philosophical system, as well as the training of relevant personnel;
And today this project is in great demand. The West needs to make this issue a priority and involve FNL for the implementation of this project.
— ” in order to really succeed, the West, according to the estimates of the OUN, must stop lending, supplying equipment, technologies and thereby “force Moscow to give up further armaments “. Western countries, alarmed by the aggressive actions of the Russian Empire, adopted a number of restrictive sanctions against both state structures and its oligarchs. Recently, the Russian Federation was named a sponsor of terrorism, along with free and democratic countries.
— “At the same time, the leaders of the OUN draw attention to the fact that the USSR is unable to compete in the arms race due to the degradation of the economy, the low level of development of technologies, electronics, microelectronics, etc.”
Today, several platforms have been opened under this agenda: the League of Free Nations and the Forum of Free Nations of Post-Russia, etc., which convey to the whole world the tragedy of the existence of enslaved peoples in the Russian Empire.
Yaroslav Stetsko firmly stated: “only open disobedience can save us from slavery. It is necessary to remember that we will not receive help from the West until we prove that we ourselves are strong.” He said this in 1952 – prophetic words that remain relevant 70 years later.
The materials about the Anti-Bolshevik Bloc of Nations, which are stored in the Branch State Archive of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine, allow us to look at the imperial policy of Moscow in all periods of its existence in certain state entities from a slightly different angle in the current situation and to appreciate the efforts of the liberation movement activists. who tried to unite the enslaved peoples in the fight against the evil empire, warned the entire civilized world to be vigilant, united and not to have any illusions about the real intentions of the Kremlin leaders.
From today’s standpoint, declassified materials about the activities of the ABN are perceived in a special way, and many cases of past events have not lost their sharpness even today. Moreover, their relevance is growing in the conditions of the future collapse and completion of the disintegration of the Russian Empire.
About 80 years have passed since the founding of the ABN, but, as before, a mortal threat hangs over Ukraine from the Russian Empire, which has taken on a new form – the Russian Federation. As before, cities and villages of Ukraine are being destroyed. As before, Ukrainian citizens are dying. From the very beginning of this criminal war started by Russia in Ukraine, many people were against this aggression and all the policies of Russia that accompanied it. Representatives of peoples enslaved by Russia who opposed the war were persecuted and forced to emigrate. The representatives of these peoples, who are in different countries, decided to create the League of Free Nations, which today continues the struggle against expansionism, endless cynicism, lies of the “Russian peace”, as in the past, the ABN did.
Today, FNL, which previously announced the Presumption of Subjectivity and self-determination of enslaved peoples, actively conducts its activities: hearings on the assimilation of peoples and the ban on native languages, pickets and protest rallies against the war in Ukraine. Like, for example, the day of remembrance of Albert Razin, who committed self-immolation as a sign of protest against the linguicide of the Udmurt language. The issue of the genocide of enslaved peoples, which should result in the initiative to create an International Tribunal on the criminal ideology of Bolshevism and Communism, is a hot topic on the agenda. The Nuremberg Trials of 1946 showed that the Nazi regime had been sentenced, but the Communist regime was yet to be condemned. The future condemnation of Vladimir Putin and his criminal regime awaits its turn.
The Free Nations League is a direct continuation of the cause of the ABN and other anti-imperialist and anti-Bolshevik organizations. Much of what was at the basis of the struggle of the ABN against the regime of the Soviet power, today has to be taken into account and carried out by the LSN. The former enemy is an imperial repressive state that keeps its citizens, peoples, territories in restrictions, discrimination and lack of freedom. However, the methods of his politics have become more sophisticated. Already today, some members of the FNL , knowing the fascist nature of the Russian Empire, propose to conclude an agreement on mutual assistance and cooperation with all peoples, world states fighting for their freedom, and to begin the formation of national self-defense forces to provide assistance in the armed struggle to Ukraine and after the victory of the Ukrainian people
The FNL , like the ABN in the past, among other things, today has to make efforts to change the agenda, essence and direction of Western politics, both in relation to Russia and Putin’s government, and in relation to representatives of unfree peoples who are waging a real national liberation struggle. and the future organization of the post-Russian space, taking into account the interests of these peoples. Unfortunately, the reality still persists, in which many Western politicians believe that the preservation of the Russian Empire is the only acceptable option, and therefore the only way to go is to appease the Kremlin beast. Earlier, ABN pointed out this strategic mistake of the West and FNL , taking into account the war in Ukraine and the situation that has directly arisen, it directly says that today the policy towards the unfree peoples of Russia must change radically.
Returning to the filthiness of the FNL , in addition to the struggle against the Russian Empire, we have to keep in mind the Russian liberals, who, remaining convinced great-power imperialists, seek to preserve a huge centralized state, denying the right to freedom and independence of indigenous peoples, captive nations of Russia. The counteraction on their part has the character of intrigues, denigration, interception of attention and subpoenas, discrediting of representatives of enslaved peoples and the idea of reformatting a huge space through the formation of independent states on the place of the empire. They deliberately block and prevent the expansion of the understanding of the idea of self-determination in the leadership of Western countries and international organizations. If earlier ABN opposed only the KGB, today representatives of the enslaved peoples are opposed not only by numerous Russian special services.
In the future, Western politicians should treat the Russian liberal opposition as one of the co-conspirators in the promotion and a hidden guide to the preservation of the idea of a great Russian state. The Russian opposition, if it calls itself democratic, must exclude from its practice arrogance, pride, egoism, snobbery and imperialism towards representatives of enslaved peoples, recognizing them as equal and worthy partners, participants in future political processes on the former territory of the Russian Empire. Otherwise, with such behavior, Russian liberals lay a minefield of endless conflicts in the post-Russian space.
Today FNL begins active work on the liberation of enslaved peoples and needs funding. The activity of FNL corresponds to the interests not only of the countries of the collective West, to which we include Ukraine, but also of almost all countries of the world that strive for peace and stable development. No one wants to deal with an unpredictable state that is a member of the UN Security Council, invades a neighboring country and commits atrocities and criminal offenses there. Unfree peoples, and in the future – independent states, are not going to threaten anyone or fight with anyone, and the most important desire of these peoples is to become full members of the international community and join the family of civilized countries.
The Anti-Bolshevik Bloc of Nations was dissolved in 1996 after the collapse of the USSR and Soviet communism, when it fulfilled its historic mission. In the new conditions, at the new stage of the struggle against dictates, authoritarianism, totalitarianism and the nuclear threat to humanity, the League of Free Nations must continue the line of succession to the final victory over the repressive, totalitarian, Russian empire and the complete political liberation of the enslaved peoples.
Let me remind you: Slava Stetsko, the wife of Yaroslav Stetsko, opened the first session of the newly elected Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in 1998 as the oldest deputy, and the activities of their supporters contributed to the strengthening of the Ukrainian national ideology, in the bosom of which millions of supporters of Ukrainian independence were raised, who opposed the Russian influence of two revolutions and Russian aggression since 2014. For many years, US policy was influenced by the activities of the Anti-Bolshevik Bloc of Nations, which influenced the actions that led to the collapse of the evil empire – the Soviet Union in 1991. In the conditions of an aggressive war in Ukraine, threats from the Russian Empire to use nuclear weapons, America and Western countries should once again listen to the ABN,
Vladimir Dovdanov,
deputy chairman of the Congress of the Oirat-Kalmyk people, member of the League of Free Nations.
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