Martial law = more repression

Since 2014, the Kiev regime has imprisoned hundreds of communists, anti-fascists, journalists, draft resisters, and everyday workers and students who dare to speak out. Thousands more of its political opponents have been driven into exile or underground.

As Ukraine’s martial law order took effect Nov. 28, 2018, reports quickly came in of detentions of men of “military service age” ― from the late teens up to 60 years old.

“Lugansk residents returning from the Stanitsa Luhanska village controlled by Ukraine through the checkpoint on the demarcation line, informed the republic’s authorities about mass detentions of persons of military age on the Ukrainian side of the checkpoint.

“Very young guys are grabbed under their arms and dragged into trailers, as if they are going to run away. … They saw a young guy pulled out of the line and taken out with a man, probably his father, and turned back to Ukraine. [Ukrainian border guards] said: ‘Soon you will defend the Motherland with machine guns’ ― these are the words of eyewitnesses.” (Federal News Agency, Nov. 28)

“We strongly recommend our citizens not to visit the occupied territory without sound reasons in order not to become a hostage to forced mobilization implemented by Ukrainian ringleaders,” warned Daniel Bezsonov, a spokesperson for the People’s Militia of the Donetsk People’s Republic. (Donetsk News Agency, Nov. 29)

Children, too, are subject to martial law.

Mariupol, a Black Sea port, was the alleged destination of the three Ukrainian warships. The city rightfully belongs to the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) but is occupied by Ukrainian neo-Nazi military groups. It’s a frequent staging ground for attacks on the DPR.

There, 60 orphans were pulled out of school on Nov. 28 to help dig trenches for the Ukrainian military. The use of child labor for war was broadcast on local television as a “patriotic” exercise. (Free Press, Nov. 28)