REST IN POWER LESHY

We read tonight that another anarchist comrade has died in the fight against the imperial invasion of Ukraine. None of us knew Leshy, so here we share the thoughts of the Resistance Committee, the Combat Organization of Anarcho-Communists (BOAK), Solidarity Collectives, and his own words.

Rest In Power Leshy
- OEC

Ed. Leshy died alongside two other international anarchist volunteers, Finbar Cafferkey of Ireland and Cooper ‘Harris’ Andrews, an American.

[Leshy had been a constant advocate for the defence of the Ukraine and the Anarchists cause there, here are some of the various interviews he gave:
The Final Straw Radio Podcast spoke to him in February last year while he was living and organizing in Kyiv. You can listen/read this discussion here.
You can watch Alexis Daloumis' interview with Leshy here with a short supporting piece in Freedom which you can read here.
In January 2022, he spoke to Anarchistisches Netzwerk Dresden, which you can listen to here.

CrimthInc host a biography and his writings which you can find here.]

It is with pain in our hearts that we wish to inform you of a terrible tragedy. On April 19, 2023, our comrade and friend, the Russian anarchist Dmitry Petrov, better known to you as Ilya "Leshy", died in the battle for the crucial road to Bakhmut.

Dima was one of the founders of the Resistance Committee and one of the first anarchists to take up arms to fight Putin's army. He began his service in the anti-authoritarian platoon, and afterwards, in the ranks of the volunteer unit, he fought the imperial troops in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions. 

During those 1.5 years he proved to be a tenacious fighter, who could not be stopped by any obstacle on his way to creating an anarchist military unit and a sustainable anarchist organization.

As a consistent revolutionary and internationalist, he took part in the grassroots resistance and in the popular uprisings in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus. Risking his life, he visited Syrian Kurdistan and became one of the authors of Hevale resource, in the pages of which he told the Russian-speaking audience about the Kurdish liberation struggle.

Such active and combustible people are always sorely missed in our movement and his death is a great loss for us and for the liberation movement worldwide. Each of us will remember Dima as a role model.

Ilya Leshiy is forever in the ranks!

- Комітет Спротиву /// Resistance Committee

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The dark day for the entire anarchist movement and for our organization in particular. 

April 19 2023, near Bakhmut in Ukraine, our friend, one of the founders and active participant of the Combat Organization of Anarcho-Communists (BOAK), Dmitry Petrov, martyred fighting for freedom.  

Dima is long-time and consistent anarchist. In the movement he was known as "Ecolog" but his activity was not limited to the defense of environment.

He participated in the defense of the Bitsa Park in Moskow, in "Food not bombs", fought against infill development and against building of incinerators, for the rights of workers in the ranks of the Anarchist union MPST and against police brutality. 

He participated in the antifascist movement and fought Nazis on the streets of Moscow and other places. Participated in the protests on Bolotnaya Square in Moscow 2011, on Maidan in Kyiv 2014, in Belarus 2020. 

He published and translated activist literature. 

He participated in ethnographic expeditions and got a PhD degree in History.

This would be enough for ten activists, but Dima did not limit himself here. 

Dima stood at the foundation of the Anarchist partisan movement in the end of 2000s. And continued to be partisan every day since then. "People’s revenge", group "ForNurgaliev", "AntiNashi action" (1) – all these groups operated not without his participation. And yes, of course, Dima was one of the founders of the famous Black Blocg (2) and an active participant of all its actions.  Including the explosion of the traffic police post on 22 km of the Moscow Automobile Ring Road in 2011.

At the same time, Dima did not just devote himself to the revolutionary practice. He also developed the Anarchist theory. A significant part of programme and theoretical texts of the Black Blocg and BOAK were written by him or with his participation.

As the revolutionary, Dima was internationalist. He fought against the atrocity of oppression everywhere he saw it, borders did not stop him. Besides activities in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus he went to Rojava and trained there, took part in the liberation struggle of the Kurdish people.

In response to the Putin’s invasion in Ukraine, he joined the Resistance Committee to fight against the aggression with weapons in his hands. Later he participated in the Battle of the Svatove –Kreminna line.

In everything he undertook, he acted with complete dedication. He didn't live but burned.

His feat is immortal. His case is eternal.

We still don't completely comprehend this loss. Can not find the right words so you can realize what a person he was. Everyone should strive to be that kind of person. But we will try to find and bring these words. In the meantime, we publish Dima's message that he left when he went to the front.

(1 - Nashi ("Ours") was a pro-Putin youth movement in Russia founded 2005.  )

(2 - Black Blocg was a media-platform and network which connected anarchist militants in the post-Soviet space.)

- Боевая Организация Анархо-Коммунистов (BOAK)

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This text is difficult for us to write. On April 19, there was a battle on the outskirts of Bakhmut where three of our comrades were killed. All of them were international volunteers. We will definitely tell about each of them. But at the moment the publicly known fact is the death of one of them, our close friend and convinced anarchist Dmytro Petrov, also known as Illia Leshyi.

Dmytro had a PhD in History and was an anthropologist. He was active in all protest events in Russia, particularly the protest on Bolotnaya Square. And in 2014, he supported the Maidan.

In 2017, Dmytro went to Kurdistan, where he spent half a year researching the Kurdish experience of self-organization and the struggle for free society. The result was a book and lectures on Rojava, which he continued to support even from the frontline in Donbas (and which was deemed “fake news” (https://www.stopfake.org/uk/fejk-ukrayinski-vijskovi-zaklikali-nadati-svobodu-regionu-rozhava-vid-turetskih-okupantiv/)).

Dmytro realized that it was dangerous to stay in Russia, so he moved to Kyiv, and when the full-scale war began, he and other anarchists joined the Territorial Defense forces. He also became one of the founders of the Resistance Committee, an association of anti-authoritarian fighters, and participated in the creation of the volunteer movement which we are working on today. He gave many interviews in which he called on the left and anarchists from all over the world to support the Ukrainian people’s fight against the aggressor.

Leshyi always rejected any kind of nationalism, he based his actions solely on anti-authoritarian values and ideals. And his personal qualities immediately made everyone fall in love with him, even those who had nothing to do with anarchism. Lately Leshyi was forming a new anti-authoritarian unit, so it is a serious loss not just for us personally, it is a blow to our movement.

Today everyone is remembering Dmytro. He is really impossible to forget. But we also encourage you not to forget his legacy. The ideas he believed in (https://t.me/boakom/110). Never give in to the mainstream and always be on the side of the oppressed against the oppressors.

Solidarity Collectives

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My name is Dmitry Petrov, and if you read these lines, then most likely I died fighting against the Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

I am a member of the Combat Organization of Anarcho-Communists (BOAK), and I will still remain this after my death. The BOAK is our brainchild, born of our faith in an organized struggle. We managed to carry it on different sides of state borders.

I tried my best to contribute to the victory over dictatorship and to bring the social revolution closer. And I am proud of my comrades who fought and fight in Russia and beyond.

As an anarchist, revolutionary and Russian, I found it necessary to take part in the armed resistance  of the Ukrainian people against Putin's occupiers. I did this for justice, for defense of the Ukrainian society and for liberation of my country, Russia, from oppression. For the sake of all the people who are deprived of their dignity and the opportunity to breathe freely by the vile totalitarian system created in Russia and Belarus.

Another important sense to participate in this war is to approve internationalism by example. In the days when the deadly imperialism awakes, as a response, a wave of nationalism and contempt for Russians, I argue by word and deed: there are no "bad peoples".  All peoples have the same grief – greedy and power-hungry rulers. 

It was not just my individual decision and step. It was a continuation of our collective strategy aimed at creating sustainable structures and guerrilla combat confrontation with the tyrannical regimes of our region.

My dear friends, comrades and relatives, I apologize to all those I hurt with my leaving. I appreciate your warmth very much. However, I firmly believe that the struggle for justice, against oppression and injustice is one of the most worthy meanings that humans can fill their life with. And this struggle requires sacrifices, up to the complete self-sacrifice.

The best memory for me is if you continue actively struggle, overcoming personal ambitions and unnecessary harmful strife. If you continue to fight actively to achieve a free society based on equality and solidarity. For you and for me and for all our comrades. Risk, deprivation and sacrifice on this path are our constant companions. But be sure – they are not in vain.

I hug you all.

Your Ilya Leshy, "Seva", "Lev", Fil Kuznetsov, 

Dmitry Petrov