Dear Readers: In recent days Ukraine has seen an interesting phenomenon: All over the country people are blowing up the so-called “recruitment centers”.
Ukraine the acronym is ТЦК which stands for Територіальний центр комплектування та соціальної підтримки (Territorial Center for Recruitment and Social Support).
A policeman and his dog not far from the site of an explosion in Rivne. [Don’t click on it, it’s just a static screenshot from a video.]
Despite the benign name, these are, basically, the draft centers where Ukrainian men are dragged, against their will, to serve in the army.
I have this piece from the Ukrainian site New Voice nv.ua to describe what is happening.
On February 1 in the city of Rivne (Western Ukraine), there was an explosion at the ТЦК. One man died, 6 were wounded.
On February 2 in the city of Pavlograd (Dnepropetrovk Oblast), there was an explosion outside the building of the ТЦК. One man was wounded, he was said to be a soldier.
On February 1 in the town of Piryatin (Poltava Oblast), a man wearing a gray balaclava and “pixellated” (greenish camo) pants approached a soldier of the Poltava ТЦК waving a hunting rifle and demanding that he hand over his weapon.
This occurred at the exact time when a group of draftees were being escorted to the 199th training center. When the soldier refused to hand over his rifle, the unknown man shot him dead from a distance of 2-3 meters.
Having killed the soldier, the unknown man helped himself to the soldier’s automatic rifle and then fled, along with one of the men who was being drafted. [In other words, the killer basically was there to rescue one of the draftees.]
In an update to the Piryatin story: The shooter and the draftee he rescued were both apprehended on that very same day. Evgeny Rogachov, who is Chief of Police in Poltava announced that they had apprehended the duo just a few hours after the shooting.
He doesn’t give out his names but says that the shooter was a native of Poltava, born in 1984, and the man he took from the ТЦК is also a Poltava native, born in 1988.
[yalensis: what do you want to bet the two men are brothers or cousins?]
These incidents listed are just the tip of the iceberg, there are other such incidents of resistance, either spontaneous or otherwise, happening all over Ukraine.
Also in Russia there have been a series of attacks on recruitment centers, often by anti/war activists, and some brave anarchists have been jailed under accusations of taking part.
The Ukrainians, of course, blame Russia, claiming that the FSB and GRU are organizing these acts of resistance and sabotage. Andrei Kovalenko, who heads Ukraine’s “Center for Countering Russian Disinformation” is convinced that the Russians are behind it.
He also blames the Russians for the media campaign against mobilization, for example all the videos posted online showing men being dragged into draft centers against their will. Bloggers, bots, and social media are all being directed in this endeavor by the Russian GRU, according to 100% State media under Martial Law..
By now there is absolute horrific chaos as Ukraine has run out of volunteers and, as the frontline of the war collapses, “recruits”, often captured in the street” are sent to near certain death as lowly foot soldiers with little or no training. Any man who could bribe their way out, hide or flee the country has long since disappeared and foreign mercenaries are difficult to hire at any price.
For over 3 months now, Louna, an anarchist trans woman fighting against the A69, has been held in pretrial detention in the Tarbes men’s remand center, in solitary confinement.
Despite this confinement that is starting to last and the conditions of solitary confinement, she remains in good spirits, and we are still angry at knowing that she is locked up.
Louna is accused of setting fire to a construction machine intended for the construction of the A69, a highway project that is both useless and deadly, between Castres and Toulouse, French State.
Requests for release, including under judicial supervision or electronic bracelet, have been refused to date.
Here we return to the reasons for her incarceration, with the elements that we collected following the other GAVs and during a public hearing, or with what we interpret from them, but also on the means to support her.
The next important deadline for Louna’s release arrives in mid-February: the judge of liberties and detention will have to decide whether or not to renew her pretrial detention. Let’s widely disseminate the slogan “Free Louna”, demand her release and let the jails, repression, and state transphobia die! Elements of the investigation
On the night of May 4 to 5, 2024, a construction machine was set on fire not far from the A69.
According to investigators, CCTV footage on site shows two people setting fire to an excavator, then one of them being the victim of a backfire.
However, that same night, a person was admitted to the emergency room in one of the hospitals closest to the scene of the fire, with injuries that could be compatible with the accident filmed.
This is Louna, who was actually hospitalized that night.
According to the hospital’s video surveillance images, three people appeared to be accompanying her. Investigators spotted the car in which Louna allegedly arrived with these three people, they noted its license plate and therefore the identity of its owner.
In addition, Louna indicated a relative’s phone number on an emergency form, a number that the cops seem to have assigned to one of the escorts.
Cops also came to seize her clothes during her hospitalization, and found DNA on a pair of shorts as well as on a covid mask contained in a pocket. This DNA was attributed to one of the people suspected of having accompanied Louna to the hospital.
During their visit, the cops also took photos of the escorts, of better quality than the CCTV images because they were taken with a smartphone.
This was probably to try to do facial recognition, for example by comparing them with the TAJ¹ photos or the photos of A69 activists from their incessant profiling.
After two days in hospital, Louna decided to leave on her own.
Based on this evidence, four people were arrested in mid-October: Louna, two people suspected of being among the escorts, and the owner of the car.
The police custody lasted up to 94 hours, and the interrogations continued.
The investigators also took advantage of this police custody to recover Louna’s DNA from a cup she had used, in addition to having probably already picked it up on her clothes at the hospital.
They state that this same DNA was found on a covid mask left at the scene of the fire.
Following this, Louna was indicted as part of this investigation and the three other people were released.
The charges are the destruction of an excavator by an explosive substance and participation in a criminal conspiracy with a view to destruction by dangerous means.
In mid-November, investigators carried out a new search and arrest at the home of an activist, still looking for at least one of the hospital escorts.
They searched his apartment for a watering can, because the hospital’s video surveillance allegedly shows a person getting out of the car with a watering can (hide your watering cans haha).
Apparently, the cops targeted this person using facial recognition, because she was known to the police for her activism in the green circles of her city. She too was released without further action to date.
Among the other techniques that the cops said they used or that are assumed to have been used, they allegedly tapped one or more of the suspects for calls and text messages in clear text and tracked the movements of one or more people by tracking their cell phones.
Para lo que no falta el dinero es para gasto militar. Esta es la “democracia plena” de la que tanto se vanagloria el presidente del gobierno español, Pedro Sánchez.
El gasto militar real del Estado español supera el 5% del PIB en 2024. Pero decir 5% es un engaño. El presupuesto social del Estado es solo una fracción pequeña del PIB total. Calcularlo!
El presidente del gobierno español, fiel lacayo del imperialismo yanqui, subrayó que España ha incrementado su inversión en defensa un 70% en la última década y aboga por movilizar fondos adicionales a través de proyectos conjuntos en la industria militar europea
Nos referimos a su secretario general, Mark Rutte, el mismo que pedía a los gobiernos de los países miembros que aumentaran sus presupuestos, ya desorbitados, de defensa.
Sin sonrojarse ni un ápice, dijo hace no tantos días: “De media, los países europeos gastan fácilmente hasta una cuarta parte de la renta inicial en pensiones, sanidad y sistemas de seguridad social, y solo necesitamos una pequeña fracción de ese dinero para reforzar mucho más la defensa”.
Este deshumanizado individuo pasó ayer por La Moncloa para mantener una conversación con el presidente del gobierno español, el “socialista” Pedro Sánchez. Hablaron de cuestiones clave como la inversión militar, el apoyo a Ucrania y la cooperación con la Unión Europea, mientras desde Moncloa se enfatizó que el Estado español es un “aliado serio y responsable”.
Rutte insistió en “la necesidad urgente” de aumentar considerablemente el gasto militar, planteando incluso la posibilidad de elevarlo al 4% si no se optimizan las inversiones.
«El descubrimiento de los yacimientos de oro y plata de América, el exterminio, la esclavización y el sepultamiento en las minas de la población aborigen, el comienzo de la conquista y el saqueo de las Indias Orientales, la conversión del continente africano en cazadero de seres humanos para ser esclavizados: tales son los hechos que señalan los albores de la era de producción capitalista. Estos procesos representan factores fundamentales en el movimiento de la acumulación originaria».
«Bajo el sistema colonial, prosperaban como planta de estufa el comercio y la navegación. Las “Sociedades Monopolias” (Lutero) eran poderosas palancas de concentración de capitales. Las colonias brindaban a las nuevas manufacturas, que brotaban de todas partes, mercado para sus productos y una acumulación de capital intensificada gracias al régimen de monopolio. El botín conquistado fuera de Europa mediante el saqueo descarado, la esclavización y la matanza, refluía a la metrópoli para convertirse aquí en capital”.
«… Irlanda era el proveedor de mano de obra barata para el imperio inglés, una mano de obra que además permitía dividir a la clase obrera de Inglaterra sobre criterios raciales y, por tanto, bajar los salarios de los trabajadores, era también un mercado de productos lecheros y de patatas para Inglaterra. Sin hablar de que durante siglos fue la proveedora de madera para la construcción de los barcos de la Royal Navy y del carbón vegetal inglés, base de la primera fase de su industrialización… hasta el punto de que los bosques irlandeses han desaparecido por completo. Irlanda fue pues el terreno de prácticas del colonialismo inglés exportado después a ultramar”.
África. Esclavizada, colonizada, esquilmada y resistente.
Agenda
La Colonización
-I de II-
Viñeta. Reparto de África a cartabón.
El rápido desarrollo industrial en Europa y su creciente expansión económica, acentuó la necesidad de disponer de más materias primas. El abundante descubrimiento de estas en los territorios africanos, al tiempo de disponer de la mano de obra necesaria sin necesidad de transportarla, una suerte de esclavitud in situ, inició la carrera por la colonización del interior del continente y finalmente del reparto de la casi totalidad de África entre las potencias europeas del momento. Por ello, y no por razones humanitarias, a principios del s. XIX surgieron las primeras leyes contra el tráfico de esclavos, pese a lo cual la esclavitud perduró de múltiples formas hasta finales de ese siglo a uno y otro lado del Atlántico.
Por espacio de más de trescientos años la presencia europea en África había quedado limitada a las zonas costeras. Los intentos de penetrar hacia el interior eranimpedidos por las dificultades en las vías de acceso, losestragos de la malaria entre los invasores y la resistenciade las poblaciones locales. Adueñarse del control de lasrutas del comercio interior fue posible solo en el últimocuarto del siglo XIX, merced a la posesión de barcos devapor capaces de navegar por los ríos y a la superioridadde las armas, así como del empleo de la recién descubiertaquinina para combatir la malaria o el paludismo.
La penetración europea, tanto comercial como armada,utilizó la instigación y creación de conflictos de todo tipo,imponiendo variados sistemas de dominación y subordinación. Como forma de dominio emplearon una mezcla de ocupación militar, imposición de sistemas de tributación coercitivos, confiscación de tierras y obligaciónde proporcionar fuerza de trabajo para construir infraestructuras y en la producción agrícola para la exportación.
Cada potencia colonial impuso estructuras administrativasde su elección, según la naturaleza de las sociedades quese querían someter, realizando divisiones territoriales sinrespetar etnias y tribus, a las que arbitrariamente se lesasignaron nombres y subordinaciones jerárquicas ordenadas según la voluntad y el interés colonial. Hasta los conocimientos que les proporcionaba la antropología sobrelas sociedades africanas fueron empleados para manipularsus creencias animistas, mitos y supersticiones. Esta división administrativa y política impuesta por los colonialistas europeos creó un África hasta entonces inexistente, moldeada para ser sometida a su total dominación.
La voracidad sin freno entre las potencias colonizadoras que competían entre si acabaron imponiendo en sus territorios impuestos aduaneros a sus rivales. A fin de tratar de poner cierto orden en esa rapiña … /…
We learned at Climate Summits Cop 28 and Cop 29 that our shares in oil, gas, coal are going to continue OK. And now, the world’s leader, the USA is going to again withdraw from the landmark Paris climate agreement, so we can forget all that silly reductions emissions nonsense. And no more of our money to be grabbed by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Gee, America has just been saved from a “national energy emergency,” by President Trump’s foresight, with an executive order with its promise to “drill, baby, drill.” Saved in several other ways, such as removing incentives for electric cars.
Canada and Mexico have already lashed out against Trump’s accusations and tariffs. Hours after the announcement, Canada slapped 25% tariffs on US goods
Trump announced new tariffs on China, Mexico, and Canada on Saturday, citing concerns over the three countries’ failures in stemming the flow of migrants and illegal drugs, such as fentanyl, into the US
Hours after the announcement, Canada slapped 25% tariffs on US goods, which will be “far-reaching and include everyday items,” according to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum instructed the Economy Ministry on Saturday to implement “Plan B,” which involves tariff and non-tariff retaliatory measures against Washington.
While details have not been disclosed, sources claim that Mexico aims to impose measures on US industries such as agriculture.
China to sue US over Trump’s new tariffs
The US president has placed restrictions on Chinese goods in what he said was retaliation for failing to stem the flow of migrants and drugs into America
China will file a lawsuit at the World Trade Organization (WTO) and take other retaliatory measures against US President Donald Trump’s new tariffs on its goods, the Commerce Ministry said in a statement on Sunday. According to the statement, Beijing sees Washington’s unilateral tariff increase as “seriously violating” WTO rules.
In order to hike the tariffs, Trump declared a national economic emergency, invoking the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which authorizes the president to unilaterally manage imports.
The tariffs, set to enter into effect on February 4, will amount to a 25% tax on all imports from Mexico and most goods from Canada, and a 10% tariff on Chinese goods. According to a fact sheet published by the White House, the tariffs will be in place with no exemptions “until the crisis is alleviated.”
China’s Commerce Ministry said Beijing is “strongly dissatisfied” with Washington’s action and “firmly opposes” it.
“It is not only unhelpful in solving [Washington’s] own problems, but also undermines the normal economic and trade cooperation between China and the US,” the ministry stated, adding that Beijing “will take corresponding countermeasures to firmly safeguard its own rights and interests,” without disclosing details.
It added that the US should “objectively and rationally view and deal with its own problems” such as illegal drug imports, instead of “threatening other countries with tariffs.”
The ministry said Beijing will file a formal complaint over the new tariffs with the WTO, which has legal power to permit a country suffering from another country’s tariffs to respond with its own. As both the US and China are WTO members, they are required to abide by its decisions when in dispute.
China’s Foreign Affairs Ministry called the tariffs “not constructive,” warning that this could reignite a trade war.
“China’s position is firm and consistent. Trade and tariff wars have no winners… This move cannot solve the US’s problems at home and more importantly, does not benefit either side, still less the world,” the ministry said in a statement late Saturday.
It also warned that the new tariffs will “harm the counternarcotics cooperation between the two sides in the future.”
Banner shows 11 of the civilian ‘human shield’ protestors murdered in cold blood by Turkey at Tishreen Dam
Such a move could weaken the SDF to the point of collapse and we hope the reports are mere rumors.
The revolutionary AANES constitution reflects the democratic principles, communal work, human rights, ethnic and religious tolerance, Woman-Life-Freedom, gender equality, and the decentralization of power already being implemented with great enthusiasm in their liberated area..
The revolution, unique in the middle east if not the world, follows the teachings of Abdullah Öcalan, imprisoned forever on a Turkish island. It began in Turkey in where there are over 20 million repressed Kurds, when Ocalan organised the PKK defenders to make a 2nd successful truce with Turkey, until the Erdogan regime forced the collapse of the agreement in 2015 and drowned the civil revolution in blood, even bombing Kurdish cities in Turkey like Nusaybin to rubble to stamp out Kurdish horizontal democratic practices . see photo.
City of Nusaybin in Turkey after Erdogan’s ‘Peace Police’ operation. Zehra Dogan was jailed for painting a picture based on this photo.
The revolution survived however in NE Syria. The Assad regime had to abandon the area due to almost losing the civil war.
The Turkish armed jihadi ISIS Caliphate had been sweeping north Syria, but the Kurdish defenders defeated them in the epic Siege of Kobanî (Sept 2014 to Feb 2915) despite the destruction of the city, with the International Coalition (mainly the USA) finally intervening with some air support.
After the Kobani victory the Kurdish defenders (YPG men and YPJ women) went on to organize the SDF (Syrian Democratic Forces, now over 100k strong) as a host of other militia groupings joined them, Arabs of all sorts, Yazides, Womens militias, Christians, Syriacs, Turkmen, Armenians, etc
The rest is history, the SDF defeated ISIS in Manbij and set up a vibrant unique multi cultural multi religious city following the communal liberation agenda and continued east.
(However in January 2025, taking advantage of the fall of the Assad regime, Manbij was finally conquered by Erdogan’s horde of Turkish backed jihadi mercenaries in an orgy of looting and rape, even executing the injured SDF defenders in their hospital beds.(videos)
Serekaniye in Rojava, Syria was seized and ethnically cleansed by Turkey in part of its 3rd invasion labeled ‘Operation Peace Spring’, thousands of residents are still surviving in internal refugee camps
The SDF went on to defeat the ISIS Caliphate, finally taking over their capital of Raqqa (2017) with air support (which is now rebuilt and a thriving, free, minority Kurdish multi-ethnic city) and driving them out of all NE Syria, including the Arab area in Deir Ezzor, where most of the limited oil reserves are located.
Feb 2025 – Is the END of Rojava Looming? – you can help save a unique human experiment in real time –
Trump is rumored to be planning to withdraw the 2000 US troops and cancel its support for the SDF/AANES in suppressing and guarding ISIS.
The region’s ethnic and religious diversity is its defining feature, which the AANES authorities often highlight as part of their political platform promoting coexistence and tolerance among the different groups.
AANES/SDF would objectively be better with almost any other guarantor than the genocidal predator capitalist USA, which reduced Syria to starvation levels since 2019 under Trump’s orders under the draconian Caesar Act Sanctions (now paused) as revenge for its proxies not winning the civil war.
How can we save the Rojava Revolution?
The best thing we can do is to promote International support. The Kurdish Diaspora is strongly behind AANES/SDF, also the Kurds in Turkey, though heavily suppressed.
There are dozens of support groups especially in Europe as well as some ONGs and Human Rights Groups who could try to deliver some aid in the event of a US withdrawal and major Turkish invasion.
However there is extensive Rojava support media, also international and multilingual, and one of the chief ways you can help defend the revolution is by sharing these media reports, including many videos and trying everything to make mainstream media include them.
It is possible to volunteer, especially if you have medical or military experience, and there still are international groups that can organize the trip. Many international comrades have been killed defending Rojava.
Unfortunately Rojava is blockaded on three sides, for the moment aid can enter via Iraq where there is some Yazidi and Kurdish support but this could be blocked if/when the US leaves Syria and/or keeps its promise to leave Iraq.
What are most needed perhaps are thousands of lightweight drones which could even stymie NATO’s 2nd largest army in guerrilla warfare. Turkey has always been wary of committing its own troops, mostly forced draftees and prone to a bad image and some embarrassing losses.
Other options look unviable or unlikely:
Trump abhors the local ideology of course. He betrayed the SDF back in 2019 and let Turkey invade and ethnically cleanse the border area. He also declared in a macho rave that the US was only there for the oil. Ever since then the entire Arab media always repeats that Rojava exists to help the USA steal their oil (though the quantity is insignificant and there is no modern refinery).
As for the new HTS “inclusive” regime in Damascus – it’s looking grim. Jolani, now named Syria’s ‘President’ has declared all militia groupings are being integrated under his control into the State army, except the SDF which is happy to be an autonomous part of the new “inclusive” State – but refuses to disband and face destruction and likely genocide.
There’s a fundamental contradiction between the brilliant Constitution of Rojava and the ideology of President Jolani, former leader of the Al Qaeda ‘head choppers’.
The AANES Constitution represents a region where various ethnic and religious communities coexist peacefully, where women and minorities are guaranteed equal rights, and where local governance is based on the principles of autonomy and self-determination.
Iran
Then there is Iran, could it help Rojava survive? Unfortunately ‘Woman-Life-Freedom’ is anathema to the present clerical regime. Indeed several women in Irani Kurdistan are right now facing the imminent Death Penalty for their Jineology views. –Iran: Two Kurdish Women at Risk of Execution
Russia
Could Russia intervene to stop the Turkish invasion destroying Rojava?. – It’s true that Russia has played the peacemaker, sometimes limiting Turkish atrocities against Syrian Kurds in the past, although they betrayed them by gifting the Afrin area to Turkey,by allowing their ongoing invasion, occupation and ethnic cleansing, in exchange for an oil pipeline. In any case Russia is now out of the picture, being the main backer of the defunct Assad regime.
Also there is Israel, now grabbing a slice of southern Syria… It’s doubtful whether the SDF would accept aid from the genocidal zionist settler regime even to save their own lives, and very unlikely that Israel would ever offer.
Israel
Finally there is International support. The Kurdish Diaspora is strongly behind AANES/SDF, also the Turkish Kurds, though heavily suppressed. There are dozens of support groups especially in Europe as well as some ONGs and Human Rights Groups who could try to deliver some aid in the event of a US withdrawal and major Turkish invasion.
Turkey’s jihadi mercenaries are now better trained, well armed and supported, nevertheless they are an unstable conglomeration of many authoritarian militias whose base loyalty is to Turkish promises of looting and women.
SDF local support is at it highest ever with daily demonstrations and displays of local organisations, especially youth, declaring they will fight to the death.
This is also evidenced by the continuing convoys traveling to the Tishreen Dam frontline , despite daily Turkish massacres, to act a human shields.
At the Tishreen Dam crossing of the Euphrates tens of thousands of multi ethnic civilians have traveled in convoys from all over the AANES area, taking turns at an ongoing day and night demonstration in freezing conditions, with the hope of shaming Turkey before international opinion into halting the invasion.
The Free 