Greek anti-militarists from the groups Meetings against War and Peace of the Dominant and Deserters of Capitalist Peace (part of our NAI network) are organizing an information and fundraising event in support of deserters. English translation of the poster statement:
In solidarity with deserters from the Russo-Ukrainian front 2022–2026: Four years since the war began, two million people missing from Ukraine’s draft registries, over 200,000 Ukrainian deserters, and tens of thousands of Russians are giving a major headache to the brass and their warmongering friends.
Faced with mass “Ukrainian-style” refusal as a snapshot from the future, European leaders are ramping up their pro-war rhetoric and constantly pitching “smart” ideas: ReArm Europe, military modernization, digital registries, reserves… in short, the construction of a war economy and the militarization of everyday life.
Closer to home, the crackdown on those classified as unfit for service and on draft resisters, the reservist citizen-soldier, and the careerization of conscription function, on the one hand, as preventive measures against draft dodgers, and on the other, as a direct form of productive discipline and social control.
How can we draw from the collective, proletarian experience of desertion and draft resistance from the cases of Ukraine and Russia? What other forms of resistance can be utilized against the war machine? How are solidarity networks for deserters in Eastern Europe organized in practice? How does the belief in “good” and “bad” states, “just” and “unjust” wars corrode internationalist solidarity, undermine class struggle, and push the proletariat into marching in step with “its” state?
With an introductory talk by the group **Meetings against war and peace of the dominant**
*There will be a donation box to support deserters from the Russo-Ukrainian war.*
Saturday, 28 February, 18:00
Prapopoulos Estate Squat
