The Left Opposition (Ukrainian: Ліва опозиція, romanized: Liva opozytsiya; Russian: Левая оппозиция, romanized: Levaya oppozitsiya) was a Pro-Russian coalition of socio-political organizations and parties in Ukraine established in June 2015.
On 19 March 2022, the activities of the political group were suspended, and later banned, by the National Security and Defense Council during martial law.
Contents
Leadership
The association was headed by 5 co-chairs:
Petro Symonenko – First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine
Nataliya Vitrenko – Chairwoman of the Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine
Valery Soldatenko – former director of the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory
Rudolf Povarnitsyn – world record holder in athletics
Heorhiy Kryuchkov – member of the Communist Party of Ukraine
Members
The association includes 5 political parties, 13 public organizations and 6 individuals.
Parties:
Communist Party of Ukraine (banned 15 December 2015)
Progressive Socialist Party of Ukraine (banned 20 March 2022)
"Kievan Rus'" Party
Workers' Party of Ukraine
Slavic Party of Ukraine
New Power Party (entered on 24 September 2015)
Public organizations:
Anti-Fascist Committee of Ukraine
All-Ukrainian Union of Workers
All-Ukrainian Union of Soviet Officers
All-Ukrainian Women's Organization "The Gift of Life"
Eurasian People's Union
Association "For the Union of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia" (ZUBR)
Association "Intelligentsia of Ukraine - for socialism"
Leninist Communist Youth Union of Ukraine
Labor Conference of Ukraine
Slavic Committee of Ukraine
Cathedral of Orthodox Women of Ukraine
Ideology
Political theses of the organization:
The events of February 2014 are a "coup d'état" that led Ukraine to the loss of economic and political independence;
The domestic and foreign policy of Ukraine is “determined by the United States of America, international financial oligarchies”;
Ukraine is “united by a common history, culture, spirituality, civilizational values” with Russia and Belarus, but not with the US and EU countries;
The territorial integrity and independence of Ukraine were preserved only in the conditions of the unity of "our countries (Ukraine, Russia, Belarus) and fraternal peoples";
Organization denounces laws condemning communist ideology;
The organization condemns the course towards the integration of Ukraine with Europe.
Goals:
Joining the Customs Union with Russia;
Russian as a second state language;
"Restoration of good neighborly, equal and mutually beneficial relations" with the Russian Federation and Belarus.
History
On 12 June 2015, the constituent assembly of the political movement was held in Kyiv.
Criticism
Name theft charge
The eponymous socialist organization "Left Opposition" (one of the successors of the Organization of Marxists, mainly from its Trotskyist wing; its representatives create a new left party "Social Rukh") accused "representatives of the previous authorities (KPU), marginal Russophiles ("Kievan Rus") and Black Hundreds (PSPU), who parasitize on the left movement”, of stealing its name. According to the statement of its activist Nina Potarskaya, their organization is named after the leftists of the 20s with whom they associate themselves (leftists in the Central Rada and the Left Opposition in the VKP(b) opposing Stalinism).