The Ex-Worker

On April 19, 2023, a Russian anarchist named Dmitry Petrov was killed in battle near Bakhmut, Ukraine. In this episode, we offer a eulogy remembering Dmitry as an uncompromising anarchist fighter who participated in an unbelievable amount of radical activity around the region. His extraordinary life spanned anarchist organizing as a teenager in Moscow; environmental defense, radical unionism, and refugee solidarity activism; years of underground direct action against police, military, and profiteers from gentrification; participating in the Maidan protests in Ukraine, uprising against dictatorship in Belarus, and the struggle against the Islamic State in Rojava; co-founding the Anarcho-Communist Combat Organization; and finally taking up arms against Russian imperialism in Ukraine. This episode combines an incomplete biography of his life in combat against all forms of hierarchy and domination, along with a translation of his text “The Mission of Anarchism in the Modern World,” a remembrance published by the Anarcho-Communist Combat Organization titled “Dima Ecolog’s Partisan Path”, and a song inspired by his direct action. Join us in commemorating the life of a powerful anarchist comrade who will be dearly missed. {November 7, 2023}

-------SHOW NOTES------

• Table of Contents:
  • Introduction {0:36}
  • A Life in Combat {5:26}
  • Appendix I: The Mission of Anarchism in the Modern World {38:28}
  • Appendix II: “Dima Ecolog’s Partisan Path” {57:15}
  • Appendix III: “Black Blog Fighter” by Electric Partisans {1:09:55}
  • Outro {1:14:23}

• This episode offers an audio version of In Memory of Dmitry Petrov: An Incomplete Biography and Translation of His Work, published on May 3rd, 2023. It includes an account of his life and anarchist activity assembled by CrimethInc. operatives (be sure to check out the original article for all the links to the source material), along with Dmitry’s text, “The Mission of Anarchism in the Modern World,” a tribute from his fellow fighters from the Anarcho-Communist Combat Organization titled “Dima Ecolog’s Partisan Path” (here in the original Russian), and a song based in part on his activities called “Black Blog Fighter” by the Russian punk band Electric Partisans.

• A print version of this text in the form of a small book is available from Active Distribution in Europe. We hope to announce soon that copies will be available for purchase in the US via PM Press; we’ll update this link when that comes to pass.

• Here is a partial archive of Dmitry’s writings, public statements, and publishing projects:
  • A Collection of Dmitry’s Writings in English—courtesy of the Anarchist Library
  • Dmitry speaking at May Day 2009 in Moscow (starting at 5:23)
  • Dmitry speaking at the Ukrainian House (UkrDom) during the Maidan, in February 2014. (At this meeting, Dima spoke about the experiences of Russian protesters, drew parallels between the liberation struggle in both countries, and proposed the idea of ​​people’s power as an alternative to vertically organized power represented by professional politicians.)
  • You can read Dmitry’s reports from the 2014 uprising in Ukraine in full here: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI, Part VII, Part VIII, Part IX, Part X
  • “Social revolution in Kurdistan”—A lecture with N.L. Gadaeva on March 30, 2017
  • Red and Black Devils—A news article about anarchist arsons in Ukraine
  • Life without a State: Revolution in Rojava—A book Dmitry participated in, published in 2017
  • Kurdistan: Real Democracy in Conditions of War and Blockade—Another book Dmitry participated in
  • Sarah: My Whole Life Has Been a Struggle—Another book Dmitry helped with

• For a discussion of the complexities of formulating an anarchist anti-war strategy that does not effectively cede the field to state militarism, you could begin with this article from the Russian-language anarchist website Autonomous Action, “In the Spirit of Sholem Schwarzbard - Addressing Confusion about the War in Ukraine”

• Dmitry Petrov was killed alongside two other anarchist fighters, Cooper Andrews and Finbar Cafferkey. You can read about Cooper’s motivations in his own words here and consult a eulogy from his comrades here. You can learn about Finbar’s lifelong activism here, read an interview with him here, and listen to a song of his here.