War is a rich man’s game, and this one is no different.

Putin is a reactionary, that isn’t in question. He’s not going to bring any benefit to the workers of Russia. The only reason he’s popular is because he brought stability after the Soviet Union was taken out behind the barn. After that happened, they had Yeltsin, a drunk, incompetent disaster of a person and a politician. Putin’s a far better alternative.

He started this war to protect the interests of Russia as a political entity, which does not include Russian workers. NATO has been aggressive towards Russia because the United States’ empire has no tolerance for anyone not playing ball with them, even if they’re capitalists themselves. This war has nothing to do with denazifying Ukraine (more on that in a moment), it’s entirely about preserving the interests of Russian national capital.

On the end of Ukraine we have Zelenskiy, who is all too happy to throw Ukrainian men into the meatgrinder to get in good with NATO and other liberal alliances. Ukraine has a history of radical nationalism (and by proxy naziism, given the proclivities of many “national heroes” of the country to be bedfellows with the NSDAP and related people/orgs) which provides a good reason for Putin to start this mess.

Make no mistake, this war is the same as any other: a way for powerful, rich men to play chess with real human lives to boost their ego and their buddies’ interests. There is no benefit for any working person to be found in the war itself or in the victory of either side.

Yes, there are nazis in Ukraine. No, this does not justify slaughtering tons of working class lives (most of whom are not even nazi-adjacent).

Being anti-war is the only stance one should take. No war but class war.