It’s been already a year since the beginning of the ‘special military operation’ (SMO) in Ukraine. How did this year affect an ordinary Russian worker? How did this operation change the situation in the country as a whole?

Who pays for this feast?

These days, war requires massive material expenditures, high pressure on the economic system. According to the Russian Ministry of Finance, the military spending will grow by a third, or by 3.35 trillion roubles, in 2022-2024. Additionally, the state increases the expenditures on the national security and law enforcement sector by 2.6 trillion roubles in the same period – indeed, the Motherland has not only external but internal enemies too.

But who is going to cover these extra costs?

In general, Russia is a rich country. To illustrate this, it is sufficient to point out that in April 2022, soon after the ‘special military operation’ started, there were 113 dollar-billionaires that together accumulated 522 billion dollars. The wealth of the ‘best people of Russia’ amounted to almost a third of the whole GDP of 1,779 billion dollars as of 2021. Meanwhile, it was worth three times the size of the Russian National Wealth Fund which was 155 billion dollars by the end of April 2022. Having these guys on your side, you can definitely deal with any difficulty.

The Russian authorities, though, think that the national wealth – be that a state fund or the oligarchs’ property – must not be touched since the total wealth of that ‘sacred hundred’ dropped by 60 billion dollars in 2022 as it is. Therefore, the budget holes are filled in a traditional manner – by ‘tightening the belts.’ And, surely, in all accordance with the traditions, the belts of the poorest are getting tighter. From 2023 onwards, the limit value of the base for calculating insurance contributions has increased. As a result, the Russian citizens with an average wage will lose 11.3% of their pension benefits, while those that earn below average will lose even more. In the meantime, the official data states that a fifth of all low-wage workers cannot even form their old age insurance pensions at all. Taking away not from those who have plenty but from those who have barely anything – that is the logic of the bourgeois dictatorship.

The objective circumstances also hit the wallets of the working people. The start of the SMO has caused the unprecedented sanctions to be imposed by the USA and European states against Russia. This has led to the rapid decline in the import of goods as well as means of production. For example, it has turned out that the Russian industry does not produce its own fermentation starters for dairy products, its own nails and even sausage casings; what is to say about the more high-technology products like medical equipment and drugs. Such a decrease has caused a deficit of products which, in its turn, fuelled inflation. Its rate was 11.9% throughout the whole 2022 reaching over 17% in specific months.

In such a situation, a Russian worker has to face austerity. According to the NielsenIQ’s poll, in the third quarter of 2022, 71% of respondents preferred avoiding unnecessary spending on clothing, while two-thirds saved money on entertainment and dining out. Moreover, half of the respondents denied themselves the purchase of electronics, renewal of household items and organisation of annual holidays. Buying a house or a flat is also not affordable for workers anymore: the demand for new buildings has dropped several times in all Russian regions. Still, the Ministry of Finance “found it unnecessary” to prolong the programme of preferential mortgages.

‘Give us your wallet – or your life!’

As they sink into poverty, destitute Russian proletarians crushed by work and household affairs try to improve their financial situation by signing a contract with the Ministry of Defence. And if they are killed – well, their families will be paid for it which will help them going through the hard times. That was one of the reasons for at least 80 thousand people to go to the ‘special military operation’ zone as volunteers. Still, the human losses there exceed this number significantly. There are so many injured coming from there that military hospitals cannot cope with all of them – therefore, civilian hospitals are also considered for holding the wounded. The war requires not only the ammunition, fuel and military vehicles but also people. So, as the seventh month of SMO passed, the Russian state announced mobilisation, though, a ‘partial’ one, to begin with. So far, 300 thousand people have been officially mobilised. Russian proletarians have already paid for the war from their own wallets. Now, they are supposed to give the last thing they have – their lives.

But people do not appear from nowhere. The workers, including highly-qualified ones, from various sectors of production got affected by this ‘partial’ mobilisation. It’s been only few months since it was announced when many companies have reported the lack of blue-collar workers. The sectors of metallurgy, radio engineering, electronics, space industry and instrumentation engineering face the largest deficit of specialists. The rate of the mobilised workers from the construction sector reaches 7-8%. The masters that are used to exploit the workers have realised a striking thing – proletarians are able to work or fight for the bosses’ benefits but cannot do both at the same time.

While some die at war, others make profits from it

The aforementioned facts lead to further worsening of the socio-economic crisis causing the growth of social unrest. That’s not surprising: while an ordinary labourer spends the remaining penny on the goods that got more expensive or chips in for body armour for his comrade that has recently got mobilised, big business continues to increase its profits.

In the first half of 2022, Gazprom received 2,514 trillion roubles as a net profit that was twice as much as its total income of the previous two calendar years. In comparison with the first half of 2021, Rosneft’s net profit rose by 13.1% the following year reaching 432 billion roubles. Moreover, 27 out of 113 Russian billionaires had their wealth increased last year. For instance, Viatcheslav Kantor and Andrey Guryev, the owners of companies Acron and PhosAgro that produce fertiliser, increased their net worth by 5.3 billion dollars and 4.2 billion dollars respectively. Those oligarchs for whom 2022 was rather ‘unfortunate’ are getting their affairs successfully straightened out now, in 2023. Bloomberg reports that, being the richest person in Russia, the president and the largest shareholder of Norilsk Nickel Vladimir Potanin has increased his fortune even more – by 352 million dollars. Leonid Mikhelson (Novatek, SIBUR) has become richer by 1.28 billion dollars, just like the ‘kings of metallurgy’ Vladimir Lisin (Novolipetsk Steel, NLMK) and Alexey Mordashov (Severstal) have done – by 818 million dollars and 1.31 billion dollars respectively. Alisher Usmanov, the owner of the ‘factories and newspapers’ (incl. Metalloinvest, MegaFon, Mail.ru, Kommersant), has enriched himself by 929 million dollars. The net worth of the former president of Lukoil and its current major shareholder Vagit Alekperov has rocketed by 2.4 billion dollars. All that happened just in the first two months of 2023.

These oligarchs have enriched themselves despite the sanctions that the Western states imposed against them. In the meantime, the federal budget deficit figures in 2022 are amongst the highest in the whole history of Russia amounting to 3.35 billion roubles.

The Partners

Not only Russian business profits from it. While the Western companies leave Russia, certain conditions emerge for parallel import and investments from other countries – mostly from China. Many foreign car-makers abandon their production facilities in Russia, according to Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Boris Chernyshov. In this regard, it is proposed to sell part of these facilities to the Chinese brands, so they could set up production on this basis. Such a scheme has been already introduced in the famous AZLK, which today is making a Moskvich with the Chinese ‘flavour.’ Growing Chinese capital willingly fills the niche vacated by Western capital. Day by day the Russian economy gets more dependent on China, and thus its foreign policy readjusts towards the Celestial Empire.

We are witnessing the formation of the two largest imperialist blocs led by the United States and China, which means the crucial confrontation is yet to come. The prospect of a full-scale world war is becoming more and more likely. Even bourgeois experts are sounding the alarm. According to a survey conducted by Ipsos for AXA, 84% of experts from different countries believe “there is a high risk that current geopolitical tensions will lead to a global war.”

Meanwhile, despite the brutal confrontation, Western and Russian partners continue to do business. Gas is still being pumped to European consumers through the territory of Ukraine, which still receives transit payments. Since July 2022, a ‘grain deal’ has been in effect: Russia and Ukraine – the two largest grain exporters – agree on the export of their agricultural products through the Black Sea, while simultaneously blocking the export of each other in every possible way. But the ammonia pipeline from Togliatti to Odessa is still out of order since the start of the SMO – the deal is yet to come… As always in the world of business, cooperation goes hand in hand with competition. In Europe, the consumption of liquid gas supplied by the USA is rising. After so many years of struggle, American capital has finally managed to expand its presence on the European gas market. As we can see, the other side of the conflict is doing business and making profits too, while the ordinary Europeans have to save on gas bills and get cold in their own houses due to gas price rise.

What for?

On both sides of the conflict, there are ordinary workers – whether in military uniform or not – who spill their blood. Every drop of this blood accumulates on rouble, hryvnia, dollar or euro accounts of financial monopolies. Tipping the scales in one’s favour promises even more profits from the Ukrainian market, its transportation corridor, natural and human resources. That’s why the politicians on both sides are desperately squealing about the victory.

According to official statements of Russian authorities, the goals of the SMO are: to protect the citizens of Donbass, liberate the republics of Donetsk and Lugansk and newly incorporated regions of Kherson and Zaporozhye, demilitarise and denazify Ukraine, provide security guarantees for Russia. Here’s the logic of capitalist predators:to feed the flame of war, force residents to leave their homes – in the name of “defence of Donbass”;

• to incorporate the new territories – in the name of their “liberation” from competing capital;
• to provoke unprecedented military supplies to Ukraine from NATO – in the name of “demilitarisation” of Ukraine;
• to substitute Bandera for Ilyin and Krasnov, Azov for Sorok Sorokov – in the name of “denazification” of Ukraine;
• to provide, finally, a competitive advantage and stable excess profit for Russian monopolies – in the name of “providing security guarantees for Russia.”

These goals are only a cover. In fact, the ‘special military operation’ serves the interests of Russian oligarchy. It aims to control the territories, markets and resources of Donbass and Ukraine, looks for new spheres of investment of capital, tries to get more competitive advantages on the world stage.

No less false are the touching calls of the Ukrainian authorities to “defend the Motherland.” In fact, “defending” Ukraine means protecting the interests of Western monopolies that have entrenched themselves within the country and Ukrainian oligarchs who have chosen to stake on a stronger imperialist. “Protecting the sovereignty” of the country means protecting the sovereignty of their business.

No less false are the pathetic voices of American and European politicians about the so-called defence of liberty and democracy, about the non-acceptance of aggression. It’s weird to hear that from those who bombed Yugoslavia, Iraq and Libya, conducted the ‘special military operation’ in Afghanistan – and all this in last thirty years only. Western ‘partners’ are outraged not at Russia’s means of action but at the fact that Russia breaks the Western monopoly on power in imperialist redistribution of the world’s wealth.

The fraternal peoples of Russia and Ukraine are sacrificing more and more on the altar of war. This war is unjust, predatory, aggressive on both sides. It is the hot phase of the ongoing struggle for the redistribution of markets and spheres of influence between various groups of imperialists.

Strike first

Therefore, the longer the SMO goes on, the more obvious it becomes that all the burdens of war fall on the shoulders of ordinary workers – just as the communists predicted. The profits of both the current course of the war and its result (whatever it will be) are distributed entirely among a handful of the richest owners, among a handful of financial oligarchs. Under the blows of the crisis, the working masses become aware of their class position, and a feeling of latent resentment matures in their ranks. The bourgeoisie cannot but react to this, and it reacts by carrying out preventive “social protection measures.”

1. In April 2022, Kirill Ukraintsev, a left and union activist, chairman of the independent union Courier, was arrested in Russia. Under the guidance of the union, food delivery workers fought for their rights against Delivery Club company, owned by Sber financial company and oligarch Alisher Usmanov’s Mail.ru Group corporation. The couriers’ struggle was not unsuccessful: they kept pushing for revised pay rates, warm uniforms and so on, which reduced the company’s profits. The business owners appealed to the state authorities in order to isolate the leaders of the workers’ struggle, and the authorities accused Kirill of “violating the rules of public protest.” He was released only in February 2023.
2. In March 2022, members of the Marxist circle in a town of Ufa were arrested on charges of extremism and terrorism, the evidence for the charge being their adherence to the “Lenin’s concept of revolution.” The members will be tried by the court-martial.
3. In 2022, The Criminal Code of Russia got two new statutes: 207.3 (so-called ‘fake news law’) and 280.3 (‘discreditation law’). Now any criticism of the SMO or the policies carried out by the authorities can be regarded as a crime. The examples of the application of these two laws are numerous. For instance, Sergei Krupenko, a Communist and the host of the YouTube channel Krasniy Povorot, is being prosecuted under the ‘discreditation law’. Sergei pointed out in his videos that, even according to official figures, more civilians were killed in Donbass during the SMO than during the entire preceding 2014-2022 period.

However, the bourgeoisie can no longer rely solely on the sluggish machine of the state. Along with state repression, radical and far-right groups are becoming more and more active. Mercenaries of the Wagner PMC conduct extrajudicial killings with impunity, and their souvenir sledgehammers as a symbol of such murders are publicly sent to various officials. In Volgograd, a gang of Nazis conducted an armed attack on the members of the Marxist organization Plamya. While Russia, according to the statements made by the authorities and the social-chauvinists from the ranks of the ‘left’ movement, is fighting fascism in Ukraine, the fascist elements in Russia itself are raising their heads and growing stronger, and the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie is becoming more and more open and terrorist. Using anti-fascist slogans and fiddling with the memory of the Great Patriotic War, Russia is steadily sliding towards fascism.

Conclusion

Therefore, one year after the start of the ‘special military operation,’ we can draw the following conclusions.

1. RKSM(b) was absolutely right in its assessments when it characterized the SMO as the “culmination of the process of imperialist redistribution on the territory of the LDNR and Ukraine” (Revolutionary Komsomol – against the imperialist repartition of Ukraine!, 28.02.2022). It was right when it stated that “we are facing a battle of two imperialisms: the old, mature one and the young, audacious one” (Statement by the CC of RKSM(b) on the Entry of the Donbass, Kherson and Zaporozhye Regions into the Russian Federation, 08.10.2022).
2. RKSM(b) was absolutely right when it predicted that the situation in the country would continue to worsen, but “of all possible ways, the Russian authorities will choose the one, which has little or no effect on big business interests” (Statement of the Central Committee of RKSM(b) on the mobilization in Russia and the escalation of war in Ukraine, 10.10.2022). It was right when it predicted that “the continuation of the war itself would bring new victims and devastation to the workers” (Statement by the CC of RKSM(b) on the Entry of the Donbass, Kherson and Zaporozhye Regions into the Russian Federation, 08.10.2022).
3. RKSM(b) correctly characterized what is happening in Russia today as “a vivid display of tendency to fascism, which is inherent to Russian imperialism for the last 15-20 years” (Statement of the Central Committee of RKSM(b) on the eve of the possible outbreak of the Third World War, 24.08.2022). “Allegedly fighting fascism outside, the Russian authorities have long been building fascism inside the country” (Revolutionary Komsomol – against the imperialist repartition of Ukraine!, 28.02.2022).

Therefore, our conclusions are correct:

Therefore –

No to the imperialist war! For the intensification of the class struggle! For socialism!

No to any war other than class war!

Proletarians of all countries, unite!