Stuck Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Talk about being stuck between a rock and a hard place! Ukrainian leftists are really caught in the middle here, what with the government’s not-so-friendly policies toward labor on one side, and Russia’s military antics on the other. It’s no stroll in the park, I tell you.

The Ongoing Conflict

As we’re rolling into the third year of Russia stepping into Ukraine uninvited, the left-wing folks over there are still at it, juggling fight against stiff economic policies at home and, you know, actual fighting thanks to the invasion.

Sotsialnyi Rukh: The Leadership

The group leading this charge? Sotsialnyi Rukh, Ukraine’s go-to squad for democratic socialism, born right out of those hectic Euromaidan protests between 2013 and 2014. Man, those were some days! Since then, these guys have stuck to their guns (figuratively speaking) even as everything turned upside down when Russia decided to drop by in 2022.

Impact of Martial Law

Thanks to President Zelenskyy cranking up martial law—hello, no more protests and, oops, some not-so-great labor laws—the whole activism scene’s kinda hit pause. Vitaliy Dudin’s the dude steering Sotsialnyi Rukh’s ship.

Meeting in Kyiv

Met him the other day in Kyiv, right after a Russian skirmish nearby—nasty business, really. Dudin, a hardcore trade union guy, ran into court before our chat, hoping to wrap up a labor tiff for a client at no charge. But nope, air raid alerts played spoiler. Labour disput