The Odessa Solidarity Campaign was founded in the spring of 2016 to support the work of the Council of Mothers of May 2 in Odessa, Ukraine. At the council’s request, we sent a three-person U.S. delegation to Odessa to attend and monitor the May 2, 2016, memorial, which various fascist organizations were threatening to attack. We also organized an international campaign to support the memorial. (See “Solidarity” section.)
Our goals are (1) to support the Council of Mothers’ call for an international investigation into the massacre of 46 progressives by a fascist-led mob on May 2, 2014, at the House of Trade Unions in Odessa’s Kulikovo Square; (2) to act as a support committee for the Council of Mothers, which is coming under increasing pressure from the right-wing federal government as well as from fascist organizations; and (3) to educate the public about the developing political and economic crisis in Ukraine and the underlying reasons for it, especially the role of the U.S. government.
The Odessa Solidarity Campaign began as a project of the United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC), a U.S. network of justice and peace organizations. As of April 2019, the OSC is an independent campaign. UNAC leaders Margaret Kimberley and Joe Lombardo remain on the OSC Advisory Board.
OSC COORDINATOR
Phil Wilayto – Editor, The Virginia Defender
OSC STAFF
Kat McNeal – Organizer, Virginia Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality
Akiva Meeker – Russian Language Translator
Anna Rebrii – Russian Language Translator
OSC ADVISORY BOARD
Victoria Machulko – President, Council of Mothers of May 2, Odessa, Ukraine
Maria Zakharova – Activist & public lecturer based in Odessa, Ukraine, & supporter of the Council of Mothers of May 2
Ana Edwards – Chair, Sacred Ground Historical Reclamation Project of the Virginia Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality
Bruce Gagnon – Coordinator, Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space
Margaret Kimberley – Editor & Senior Columnist, Black Agenda Report
Joe Lombardo – Co-Coordinator, United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC)
Ray McGovern – Former CIA Analyst & now antiwar activist; Co-Founder, Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity
Dear Odessa Solidarity Campaign comrades, has your call for an International Day of Solidarity with the People of Odessa on April 10 been widely circulated in and outside the US? For example to Borotba (in Ukraine) the Donbass International News Agency, or Red Star Over Donbass? I’m just wondering how many organisations are likely to participate internationally. If not, I can provide you with some contacts. Theo Russell, London (member of the steering committee ot Solidarity with the Antifascist Resistance in Ukraine, and the New Communist Party).
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