On the Tragic Incidents of March 22 in Krasnogorsk and the Ensuing Response Statement from the CC RCYL(b)

The tragedy that occurred on the evening of March 22 has shaken the entire country. We all understand very well that the target of terror could have been not just in Moscow but anywhere in Russia, and any one of us could have been a victim of such a tragedy. As of now, the terrorists have been detained, and an investigation is underway. The perpetrators of this crime deserve severe punishment; there can be no justification for such inhumanity.

We will not delve into all the events of that evening or pose questions addressed to various departments - how could this have happened, and why was it allowed to happen. We will not ask whom the security structures are fighting against or what is the use of surveillance cameras installed at every step in Moscow. Anyway, these questions will hang in the air and remain unanswered. For us, it's clear that the spun-up and intimidating repressions against the opposition, left activists, could not scare the participants of the ultra-reactionary terrorist cell.

Let's look at the events after the tragedy. There are two crucial aspects that converge into a painful point for our society of defeated antifascism.

First. Immediately after the terrorist attack, representatives of the ruling class (the State Duma, the Security Council) raised the question of introducing the death penalty. It might seem that there is nothing unusual here - the terrorists did something for which life imprisonment seems insufficient. But it's essential to understand that this precedent, this tragedy, can take the repression machine to a new level. And these repressions will not only be against terrorists. It's easy to imagine how, in some time, political assassinations could be carried out in the form of a perfectly legal death penalty.

Second. Immediately after the reports of the attackers' detention, videos of their evidently brutal treatment appeared. We are in no way going to sympathize with the terrorists. But we want to talk about open violence and impunity. No wonder that blatant Nazis claiming they're involved in these actions showed up immediately. Now, before our eyes, the legitimization of lawlessness in the eyes of the public is essentially happening - the Overton window is widening. And, of course, it all starts with the abuse of outright scoundrels. First, a terrorist's ear was cut off, then they abused a murderer, and eventually, a trade union activist is beaten to death in pre-trial detention.

The security structures of the bourgeois state (or paramilitary forces) are ready to demonstrate their sadistic nature as soon as there is a fitting pretext that can justify them in the eyes of the public. In fact, this is the open moral degradation of such structures, naturally occurring against the backdrop of building an imperialist state.

The above can be described as signs of toughening an already reactionary regime. All this can be called Pandora's matryoshka. Every time it seems that it can't get worse/more lawless/more blatant, they surprise us again by disassembling this very matryoshka.

In conditions where the situation will gradually become even worse, we advise you to think for yourself and choose your position independently, not to be narrow-minded, and not allow yourself to be framed. Without active actions to organize the proletariat and form a powerful organization directly expressing the interests of our class, the situation will not change for the better, and the level of repression will increase.

We call on comrades to use all their strength to slow down the rapidly spinning wheel of repression and actively resist any reactionary changes in the country. Today, foreign terrorists are tortured under the delighted screams of the guards, and tomorrow it could be any of the country's residents.

The use of methods by the bourgeois state that are employed by the most frostbitten reactionaries does not contribute to the effectiveness of combating the causes of religious terrorism. At best, it distracts from questions about the role of security forces in preventing such events; at worst, it legalizes violence against everyone who has a voice.