IndyMedia - Vrij Media Centrum Nederland

Wanneer: 28/12/2023 - 20:56

The war continues, bringing new tragedies. Taking the lives of our loved ones. Today we will tell you about another of our brother-in-arms, a friend and a brave fighter, known in Ukraine as Marci.

He was one of the first Western anarchists to join the anarchist resistance to the invaders. At the beginning of the war, he joined an anti-authoritarian platoon. There he became a comrade-in-arms and a friend to many of us.
After his participation in the platoon, Marci, together with an international group of anarchist paramedics, saved lives in Kharkiv and Donetsk regions. You may have seen him in a video from our comrades at Solidarity Collectives, where he talks about his experiences during that period.

Solidarity Collectives:
We want to tell you about our comrade, Marsy, who was killed in action on 11 November, near Avdiivka.  (The family has asked for no media coverage, so we will not disclose his real name)
Marsy came to Ukraine in March 2022, shortly after the beginning of the full-scale invasion, and he joined the anti-authoritarian platoon in the Kyiv region. He continued to help as a volunteer with other comrades in the summer 2022, in different regions in the east from Kharkiv, then around Bakhmut in last winter and spring, supporting different units to cover the lack of medics and evacuation personnel. He was taking care of his training and fitness. He wanted to get better at what he did. He understood that his life and that of others depended on good preparation. Even when he became an infantryman, he tried to take care of his and his colleagues' medical preparation. He went on his last mission voluntarily.
Before coming to Ukraine, as we have learned, he graduated from Oxford in history, helped in the struggles of refugees in Calais, had participated in the squatting movement, and took part in the struggle of the Kurdish liberation movement in Rojava in the SDF forces. He built communities everywhere he went, practiced mutual aid and was always questioning and challenging hierarchies. He was known by many other names and was loved by an astonishing number of people from many countries and struggles. You can learn or share about him at this site.
He was an internationalist fighter, moving and acting in solidarity with people he thought needed his help around the world, and always kept his humor and talent in taking care of others, selflessly defending people he was meeting at the same time and seeking to understand critically any context.  
Marcy was quiet and modest, he always tried to listen and understand his surroundings. Many loved him and everybody had a respect for his clear understanding of what he wanted and could do, even in the most tragic and dangerous of situations. 

A from ABC Dresden:
Every time a freedom fighter dies in Ukraine today, different political forces from the right to the state try to claim their life. According to some, anarchists and anti-authoritarians are suddenly fighting for the Ukrainian state or Zelensky. But no matter how loudly these voices shout on the day of our comrade's death, we will not allow him to be "taken" from us.
Marsy's actions in recent years have shown the importance of solidarity in the struggle against the violence of the Russian state. Our comrade, who during his work in the country saved hundreds of lives and gave his life for the freedom of the people of Ukraine by action, not words, set an example to tens of thousands of others around the world, of how one could and should live.
Marsy was not a Western cowboy who came for adrenaline to this terrible war. Instead, for many months, he calmly and modestly evacuated the wounded from various war zones, working in the hottest areas of the front. And although here and now it may seem that he is no more, Marsy continues to live because of all those who he saved and those who were lucky enough to know him.
Those who die in the struggle will not be forgotten!
He knew how to make hard choices and joked about risks to hims

December 17, 2023 by Resistance Committee/Solidarity Collectives/Radical Aid Force