“The road of life”: how the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh live under the blockade
July 29. The 229th day of the blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh). 68-year-old Vagif Khachatryan was evacuated by a Red Cross vehicle to Yerevan for a vital heart operation. He was detained at the Azerbaijani checkpoint near the Hakari Bridge. The Azerbaijani military took away Vagif’s passport and ordered him to enter the ward for a […]
Dana El Kurd: “Palestinians are tied to this particular place, like Ukrainians are tied to theirs”
Struggle of the people of Palestine for their freedom and independence is probably one of the ‘don’t ask – don’t tell’ topics for many Ukrainians covered under such a generalisation as the ‘Near East’, and is associated with wars in the first place. At the same time Israel is often presented as a role model […]
Elia J. Ayoub: “The fall of Putin’s regime could lead to the collapse of Assad and the Iranian regime”
Commons talked with Elia J. Ayoub, a writer, researcher, activist and podcaster from Lebanon. Throughout the last year and a half Elia invited Ukrainian activists to his podcast, took part in discussions about Russo-Ukrainian war and advocated rights of Ukrainians to resist on the international level, connecting Ukrainian struggle to struggles of other oppressed nations. […]
Kavita Krishnan: “Our indifference to Ukraine did harm to our struggle in India”
Kavita Krishnan is one of the prominent figures in India's left and women's movements today. She has long been fighting for the rights of women, workers, and discriminated communities, playing a crucial role in large-scale campaigns to stop violence against women. In her texts, she analyzes the problems of Indian society and experiences of struggle […]
Interview with Kavita Krishnan on Inequality, Leftist Struggles, and Repressions in India
Kavita Krishnan is one of the prominent figures in India's left and women's movements today. She has long been fighting for the rights of women, workers, and discriminated communities, playing a crucial role in large-scale campaigns to stop violence against women. In her texts, she analyzes the problems of Indian society and experiences of struggle […]
Africa and the War in Ukraine: Russian Money, Wagner Group, and Grassroots Solidarity
This article is based on the left-wing activists' conference materials organized by the Global and European Networks of Solidarity with Ukraine (ENSU) in Africa. These activists represent various grassroots initiatives, organizations, and parties. They talk about the situation on the African continent, solidarity, problems in the region, and how the Russian-Ukrainian war affected them. The […]
From Lisbon to Kryvyi Rih: a conversation about labor struggles with Yurii Samoilov
Yurii Samoilov is the leader of an independent miners' union in Kryvyi Rih and an activist of the left-wing organization Social Movement. For years, he has been organizing and supporting workers, especially in the mining and metallurgical sector. As a trade union representative, he joined the fight in courts, at demonstrations and strikes, and conducted […]
Not like a fish in water: how we listened to the experiences of Ukrainian refugees and learned about ourselves
"The amazing paradox of the ethnographic moment… is that coming closer to the Other creates a clearer sense of self, and thus opens up ways to know the Other better," emphasizes anthropologist D. Soyini Madison. In August 2022, a study called ‘The Art of Arriving’ started to explore the experiences of Ukrainian refugees in Austria. […]
The main goal of trade unions is to remind everyone that governments serve the people, not vice versa
Every year left-wing and trade union communities celebrate Labour Day – the day of resistance and solidarity in fighting for peace and worker’s rights. In Ukraine we constantly have discussions around this date’s meaning and importance. May Day as a day off not for picnics but for demonstrations of left-wing and trade union solidarity. We […]
Sub-Imperialist positioning, not “anti-colonial consciousness,” behind the neutrality of reactionary elites in the Global South
Time and time again, we have been told that ‘the Global South’ – ie, the developing world consisting largely of former colonies – does not support Ukraine’s resistance to Russia’s barbaric colonial invasion, or is even supportive of Russia. According to this rendition of reality, support for Ukraine is entirely a project of the imperial […]
