The crisis in Russia

 Written by: Union of Maoists of the Urals on 8 August 2023

We continue our series of reports from ICOR’s webinar on the United front Against Imperialism and Fascism. This report is from the Union of Maoists of the Urals – eds.

The crisis in Russia

The Russian Federation is going through a severe political crisis. After the almost complete defeat of all opposition forces at the beginning of 2022, the ruling group of the imperialist bourgeoisie achieved a complete monopoly on power and complete domination in all spheres of society. However, the hopes of this group for a quick victory in the war with Ukraine and large economic gains did not materialize. The corruption-riddled army failed to win the war quickly, and the failed diplomacy of Russian imperialism led to international isolation. Competent economists were able to save the economy for almost a year, but they were not omnipotent, and in recent months the economic situation began to deteriorate. Contradictions between nations are growing in Russia. The protests of migrants and non-Russians in large cities have become more frequent, they are fighting against the lawlessness of the police and Russian nationalists.

Against the backdrop of military defeats, the struggle between the two lines among the grouping of the bourgeoisie that had completely seized power became sharper and sharper. Finally, towards the end of last year, against the background of failed mobilization and resounding defeats at the front, Putin's grouping of the imperialist bourgeoisie split into two parts. The first part of it is trying to accumulate political forces for military success and not greatly disturb the masses, hiding their cannibalism behind initiatives distracted from the population. The main slogan of this group of imperialists was expressed by a deputy from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation with the words “Please look like the people!”, said during a debate in the State Duma. 

The second group, on the contrary, is trying, out of ideological motives, to carry out the most anti-people initiatives without regard to public opinion. From these people, calls are regularly heard for the massacres of opposition-minded citizens, for the prohibition of all other ideologies and for the recognition of any non-Putin movements as terrorists. These groups are non-partisan and a split permeates all the ruling parties in Russia. They are now fighting within the authorities, sabotaging each other's initiatives. On the other hand, the Russian army is seriously decomposed, which is why the Russian imperialists are starting to run away from the front and from Russia. The most striking example is Prigozhin's pseudo-rebellion, which was aimed at the Wagner PMC escaping from the Russian-Ukrainian war. This example is not the only one. We are witnessing a serious crisis and the actual collapse of the statehood of Russia as an imperialist state.

Russia's main contradiction is war. This is a contradiction between the entirely narrowed ruling class and all other classes of Russian society, except for the labour aristocracy. One side of this contradiction is the crisis. The other side of this contradiction is a number of repressive laws and initiatives that are constantly introduced and regularly adopted. We consider the question of which side is the main one in the main contradiction still open and we are conducting further analysis. In practice, we believe that the main side of the contradiction is precisely the crisis, and the non-main side is repression. However, at the same time, we are preparing for the worst scenario, where the main side of the contradiction will be repression and the regime will stand.

About repressions and other measures to support the ruling regime. In Russia, laws against "foreign agents" were again tightened, which are used in our country for mass repressions against citizens and public organizations. Against the backdrop of last year's failed mobilization, the penalties for failing to appear at the military registration and enlistment office for conscription and mobilization have now been seriously increased, total restrictions have been introduced for draft evaders for military service, and the boundaries of those subject to conscription have been expanded. Previously, they promised to raise the lower limit of conscription from 18 to 21 years old, but did not raise it and now everyone is called up from 18 to 30 years old. 

The militarization of schools is growing, the school subject of the Basics of Safe Life has been renamed the Basics of Protecting the State. Previously, special subjects were introduced at school with state propaganda, the so-called "Conversations about the important". Under the new laws, a police officer can be “scared” because someone threatens his acquaintance and this will be a crime against a police officer. Independent psychiatry has been abolished, and conversion therapy for homosexual people has been introduced. All conditions have been created for the return of political punitive psychiatry. New restrictions on women's reproductive rights are constantly being introduced, abortions are being gradually banned in the regions, and a fight has begun against emergency contraception and the distribution of abortion drugs. All this is happening along with spy mania and calls for rallying under the state ideology of combating "Western values". The authorities have entered under "Western values" absolutely everything that prevents the fascist regime from continuing to exist.

In our daily work, we try to follow the line of the masses and create all the prerequisites for the imminent fall of the fascist Putin regime and the creation of prerequisites for the creation of a large Marxist-Leninist party. Our main enemies today are the Putin regime and the heirs of Soviet revisionism.