Union of Communists of Ukraine

Union of Communists of Ukraine

Союз комуністів України
Union of Communists of Ukraine Союз комуністів України
Abbreviation	СКУ
Founded	December 1992
Newspaper	Marksizm i sovremennost
Ideology	Communism; Marxism–Leninism; Anti-revisionism
European affiliation	INITIATIVE (2013–2023); ECA (2023–)
International affiliation	IMCWP
Colors	Red
Verkhovna Rada	0 / 450
Website
	ucu-rg.org
	Politics of Ukraine; Political parties; Elections;

The Union of Communists of Ukraine (‹See Tfd›Russian: Союз коммунистов Украины, Ukrainian: Союз комуністів України abbreviated СКУ or SKU) is a Ukrainian anti-revisionist^[1] Marxist–Leninist Communist party.

In May 2015, a set of new Ukrainian decommunization laws came into effect, banning the Union of Communists of Ukraine from participating in electoral politics.^[3]

History

The founding conference of the Union of Communists was held in December 1992, and it was registered with Ukrainian authorities in March 1993.^[4]^[5] At the time of organization on 12 March 1993 it claimed to have 2,000 members in 13 oblasts.^[4]^[5] Yurii Solomati was registered as the leader of the organization.^[5] The main stronghold of the party has been Luhansk.^[5] Initially many party members were also affiliated to the Communist Party of Ukraine (KPU), although the KPU soon began purge dissident elements.^[5]^[6] Whilst the influence of the Union of Communists waned, it acted as a competitor of KPU in south-eastern Ukraine at an early stage.^[6]

At the 23rd congress of the Union of Communist Parties – Communist Party of the Soviet Union held in March 1993, the Union of Communists is included as an associative member.^[7] Considering itself as the legitimate heir of the CPSU, the Union of Communists demanded return of CPSU property seized by the Ukrainian state.^[6] The organization called for the reconstruction of the Soviet Union.^[6]

The Union of Communists began publishing the theoretical journal Marksizm i sovremennost' (Марксизм и современность, 'Marxism and Modernity') from Kyiv in 1995.^[8] Politically it is close to the Russian Communist Workers Party, with many people (including Yabrova) holding dual memberships.^[6]

As of the early 2000s, the group was led by Tamila Yabrova.^[6]

In 2013, the party took part in the founding of the Initiative of Communist and Workers' Parties.^[9]

In May 2015, laws that ban communist symbols came into effect in Ukraine.^[3] Despite that, the Union of Communists of Ukraine remained active.

In June 2022, the party released a statement outlining that the Russian invasion of Ukraine was a confrontation between "the international capitalist alliance of countries, led by the USA and NATO, and the international capitalist alliance of countries, led by Russian state-monopolistic capital."^[10]