Money made on war: why we have to cancel Moscow Death Brigade. Pt.2
UANTIFABack to the first part
Branding
To understand that MDB are blatant liars and hypocrites you also have to look at their brand history. We recommend to start from their profile on Last.fm. There are 16 versions of their bio there and in early versions you can find the following specific statements:
and...
MDB from 2007 are: out of politics, against "political clowns" (both right-wing and left-wing activists) and "political correctness zealots" (which in our context is how feminists, pro-feminists, and LGBTQ+ activists were mocked for their criticism and actions).
Five years later, on April 23, 2014, they are saying something absolutely different. We recommend to read this interview for the "Plastic Bomb" where MDB answer the question about the "gray zone" in this way:
These words, again, contradict the facts of their history and later interviews.
They don't say: we used to be of A views, but now we are of B views and therefore not interested in C views. From 2014 MDB hid and are hiding uncomfortable facts of their biography in order to fit in and stay in the left-radical music scene of the Europe and of the world. And thanks to Destiny tourbooking, the indifference of commercial leftist festival organizers, tankies and genocide apologists, they succeeded completely.
Twelve years later, on January 3, 2021, they deleted the Russian part, along with a statement about their non-political views.
On March 27, 2021 they updated their bio with obviously contradictory information. They still "doesn't consider themselves a political band and claims that their views are just "human". However, they go on to describe what they are singing about:
We remember their videos from 2015, and that street activism and the fight against discrimination are the basis of leftist political thought and movements. And we see a clear contradiction again.
There are several more examples of lies/half-truths from MDB from the mentioned already interview from March 28, 2022.
Initially, MDB didn't have anti-authoritarian views (by which, apparently, they mean leftist/anarchist views), but instead disowned and ridiculed them (see 1. History. The first period 2007-2014). Clandestine or public support for RF actions, its proxies and close friendship with "Z-antifas" and leftist views are incompatible. The basis of truly leftist and anti-fascist views, among other things, is consistent anti-imperialism, i.e., support for anti-colonial and national liberation struggles.
In the same interview, MDB confirm that their position on Ukraine has not changed: they continue to dehumanize Ukrainians, appropriating the concept of "war victim"; they focus readers' attention on the suffering of Russians and accuse the West of sanctions. MDB is selectively inconsistent, because when they talk about supporting refugees from Ukraine and civilian victims, they emphasize support for all refugees and sympathize with civilian and war victims in different countries. But when they talk about neo-Nazis, they talk only about Ukrainian units. At the same time they keep silent about the Russian PWC 'Wagner', about mass shootings of civilians and rapes of Ukrainian children, women and men, about ruthless bombing of Mariupol in which tens of thousands of ordinary people were killed. Instead, they choose to blame the victim of aggression - Ukraine.
We strongly recommend reading this article to better understand the situation with the far-right in the Ukrainian army.
It's important to deal separately with the issue of aid and support for civilians, which is so important to the Western "leftists" and "pacifists" who make up the core of the Brigade's target audience. MDB have indeed assisted various initiatives and in varying amounts throughout their career (e.g., SeaWatch.org and Women in Exile). Evidence of this can be found on their social media and website. There are many questions to those of their initiatives that are labeled with general words and have no direct recipients (e.g., "collected 1200 euros for Russian World War II veterans"). However, we would like to focus on their aid specifically for Ukrainian refugees.
MDB provided it in two ways: to those who ended up in Europe through Taxi for Solidarity. And those "refugees from Donbass" who ended up in Russia. Apparently, they are referring to people who were forcibly removed or had been living in an occupied area all along and began mass migration at the beginning of the invasion. The MDB didn't specify exactly who were these people.
In addition to the obvious political and ethical aspect, it's also important to say that the actions of the Russian soldiers are a violation of the Geneva Convention and abduction under Ukrainian law. More than 200,000 children were kidnapped by the aggressor state to its territory. People from Kherson, Mykolaiv, Zaporizhia, Donetsk, and Luhansk regions were unable to travel to other, safer regions of Ukraine, so they were forced to risk their lives to get out through the Russian Federation territory. Several thousand people died along this way, went through concentration camps and torture by the Russian army/FSB. All this is the responsibility of the RF which started the invasion. If not their actions, thousands of people would still be alive and no one would have had to move.
The responsibility for the grief, repression and civilian deaths MDB shares with the Russian government. The 4,000 euros donated last year to a little-known German initiative is neither atonement nor a convincing argument in defense of the band.
We asked Taxi for Solidarity about MDB directly, but they didn't even read our messages. The German volunteers from Radical Aid Force said that they were aware of the initiative and are working with it. But according to Ukrainian volunteers from Belgium, there are doubts about them. Unfortunately, we can neither verify nor refute it.
MDB are against the invasion and support refugees only from the stage on the show, but when faced with real people from Ukraine - their sympathy, words of support and solidarity disappear. At the European festival in 2022, MDB performed together with a Ukrainian band Bezlad. Their members are themselves refugees and volunteers. MDB didn't come up to talk or express their sympathy in person, although they had the opportunity to do so and knew each other before. On the contrary, they put all the effort to avoid any talks. Every show MDB begins with the sound of sirens, which in Ukraine we hear almost every day and which means one thing - the deaths of people. From the stage, they voiced their standard, populist and sleek slogans like "fuck war," "fuck militarist shit," and "support refugees" - which is what Europeans want to hear. Not that their words of sympathy are much needed by the band or all of us, but it would just be consistent and good. And that's just one of the stories that express the direct Ukrainians' experience of interacting with MDB. It's telling that a year later the Brigade is no longer focusing on Ukraine and Ukrainian refugees - their attention is fully on the different issues.
Conclusions
Destiny tourbooking has ignored our request.
Fire & Flames communicated, were absolutely friendly and respectful, showed interest in the problem and willingness to solve it.
MDB responded in their usual arrogant way: refused to communicate and listen, dismissed all claims and accused us of chauvinism. They avoid direct contact with Ukrainians, don't support antifascists and anarchists from Ukraine, avoid clear statements about the war they oppose and who started it, because back in 2014 they fully accepted and supported the imperialist policy of the Russian authorities against Ukraine.
MDB are hypocrites, populists and parasites who use the left-radical scene to make money and promote anti-leftist, i.e. right-wing views, despite all attempts to be politically correct, ostensible pro-feminism, words of solidarity, mutual aid and the struggle against fascism.
On this basis, we oppose the subjectivity and existence of the MDB and their patrons within the international leftist/anarchist/antifascist movement and music scene. This is our call, and we ask all conscious comrades to support it.
The Call
We, antifascists and anarchists of Ukraine call on all conscious people to refuse the bands Moscow Death Brigade and Siberian Meat Grinder in any cooperation because of their actions, political views and actual clandestine support of the war started by Russia.
We call labels, booking companies, initiatives and other subjects of the political music scene in Europe and of the world to refuse any further cooperation with MDB/SMG.
Until MDB meet all of the requirements listed below:
- Contact with us via uantifa[at]riseup[dot]net or Telegram.
- Post this article on the MDB's social media accounts.
- Publicly acknowledge their support for RF, apologize for it, deny it, and condemn.
- Begin public support of Ukraine via social media and during the shows. Publicly and directly condemn the actions of Russian Federation and Putin.
- Organize ongoing support for fellow anarchists and antifascists from Ukraine through one or more organizations by choice: non-military initiatives - Helping to Leave, Help War Victims, Kharkiv Hardcore, Radical Aid Force (DE); military initiatives - Resistance Committee; BOAK's Revolutionary Fund. Helping any other initiatives and organizations that are not coordinated with us, Ukrainian antifascists, won't be seen as the real attempt to make amends.
* Helping to Leave is the only non-political, but effective and reputable organisation that actually helps Ukrainian people. That is why it's on this list. - Publicly condemn and refuse from any connections, contacts or support for "Z-Antifa" & tankies represented by Karlos Animal (Non Servium) and others until they give up their pro-Russian, imperialist views and join in real support of Ukrainian antifascists and anarchists.
MDB, Non Servium, Banda Bassotti and other pro-Russian groups, initiatives, collectives and organizations - you are a disgrace to the international left (antifascist/anarchist) movement. Because you are responsible for supporting the war started by Russia in Ukraine, for its participation in the war in Syria; for the hundreds of thousands of deaths, for the houses destroyed by Russian missiles and the people buried alive under them; for the millions of refugees and internally displaced persons. For the deaths of our comrades in this war.
You must either admit your mistakes and atone them, or give up the name leftist/anarchists/antifascists. Until you do so, your MDB and SMG projects, Destiny tourbooking, and other people and initiatives friendly to you, become legitimate targets for any attacks and actions by the international antifascist/anarchist/leftist movement.
We promise to give all efforts to boycott you and your activities that are related to the antifascist and anarchist/leftist movement. We will make everything you no longer feel safe anywhere, neither in Russia, nor in Europe, nor on other continents. We’ll make you responsible.
We urge other comrades to do the same.
UANTIFA collective