29 - Resistance in Ukraine Ft. Dmytro Mrachnik

It’s great to be back with everyone on the Tiger Bloc Podcast! On this episode, John Chinaman interviews Ukrainian antifascist and anti-authoritarian Dmytro Mrachnik. Dmytro has been fighting in Ukraine since the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022. Please bear with us on the sound quality. With power and internet failures in Ukraine, this podcast had to be a recorded phone call.

Dmytro takes us back to 2014 and the Maidan Revolution, when he was hanging in the Kyiv punk rock scene. Dmytro gives us his perspective as a dual Russian and Ukrainian speaker and dispels myths about supposed discrimination against Russian speakers.

Dmytro describes how the left reacted to the Maidan and Russian invasion in 2014, and what changed in 2022 with an increased left wing response and militancy. As is depressingly common, Dmytro also relates the lack of an international left-wing response to assist the Ukrainian left, even two years after the full-scale invasion. 

Dmytro also talks a bit about what army life is like. Dmytro fought in both the Kharkiv and Bakhmut fronts. Since joining the military, he’s actually risen in the ranks to first lieutenant. Listen to the podcast to learn about the experience of an antifascist in the military.

Dmytro is a prolific writer about politics and Ukrainian culture. You can find his writings on nihilist.li and Anarchist Library.

Find Dima on Instagram at @mrachnik, on Twitter at @dmrachnik, or email at dmrachnik@gmail.com. For more writings on Nihilist, check out the editor Romeo Kokriatski on Twitter at @VagrantJourno.

Music: Outbreak of Evil by Sodom