Union of Communists of Ukraine

Union of Communists of Ukraine
Союз комуністів України
AbbreviationСКУ
FoundedDecember 1992
NewspaperMarksizm i sovremennost
IdeologyCommunism
Marxism–Leninism[1]
Anti-revisionism
European affiliationINITIATIVE (2013–2023)
ECA (2023–)[2]
International affiliationIMCWP
ColorsRed
Verkhovna Rada
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Website
ucu-rg.org

The Union of Communists of Ukraine (Russian: Союз коммунистов Украины, Ukrainian: Союз комуністів України abbreviated СКУ or SKU) is a Ukrainian anti-revisionist[1] Marxist–Leninist Communist party.

In May 2015, a set of new Ukrainian decommunization laws came into effect, banning the Union of Communists of Ukraine from participating in electoral politics.[3]

History

The founding conference of the Union of Communists was held in December 1992, and it was registered with Ukrainian authorities in March 1993.[4][5] At the time of organization on 12 March 1993 it claimed to have 2,000 members in 13 oblasts.[4][5] Yurii Solomati was registered as the leader of the organization.[5] The main stronghold of the party has been Luhansk.[5] Initially many party members were also affiliated to the Communist Party of Ukraine (KPU), although the KPU soon began purge dissident elements.[5][6] Whilst the influence of the Union of Communists waned, it acted as a competitor of KPU in south-eastern Ukraine at an early stage.[6]

At the 23rd congress of the Union of Communist Parties – Communist Party of the Soviet Union held in March 1993, the Union of Communists is included as an associative member.[7] Considering itself as the legitimate heir of the CPSU, the Union of Communists demanded return of CPSU property seized by the Ukrainian state.[6] The organization called for the reconstruction of the Soviet Union.[6]

The Union of Communists began publishing the theoretical journal Marksizm i sovremennost' (Марксизм и современность, 'Marxism and Modernity') from Kyiv in 1995.[8] Politically it is close to the Russian Communist Workers Party, with many people (including Yabrova) holding dual memberships.[6]

As of the early 2000s, the group was led by Tamila Yabrova.[6]

In 2013, the party took part in the founding of the Initiative of Communist and Workers' Parties.[9]

In May 2015, laws that ban communist symbols came into effect in Ukraine.[3] Despite that, the Union of Communists of Ukraine remained active.

In June 2022, the party released a statement outlining that the Russian invasion of Ukraine was a confrontation between "the international capitalist alliance of countries, led by the USA and NATO, and the international capitalist alliance of countries, led by Russian state-monopolistic capital."[10]

References

  1. ^ a b "12 IMCWP, Intervention by Union of Communists of Ukraine [Ru.]". Archived from the original on 3 July 2014. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  2. ^ "European Communist Action's Founding Declaration". 27 November 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Ukraine bans Soviet symbols and criminalises sympathy for communism". The Guardian. 21 May 2015. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
  4. ^ a b "Союз коммунистов Украины: 20 лет спустя - Институт социализма". Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 27 November 2015.
  5. ^ a b c d e "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 27 November 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. ^ a b c d e f Jane Leftwich Curry; Joan Barth Urban (1 September 2004). The Left Transformed in Post-Communist Societies: The Cases of East-Central Europe, Russia, and Ukraine. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. pp. 213, 219. ISBN 978-0-585-46676-7.
  7. ^ Справочник: Общественно-политические движения и партии в России (2 ed.). Информационно-справочная служба. 1993. p. 13.
  8. ^ В. Тюлькин (2002). Не дрогнуть на избранном пути. БФРГЦ "Слово". p. 473. ISBN 978-5-86639-029-8.
  9. ^ "Initiative of Communist & Workers' Parties - Home".
  10. ^ "Union of Communists of Ukraine: On the War and the tasks of the working class". In Defense of Communism. 12 July 2022. Retrieved 23 July 2023.