Sergei "Banana" Ilchenko fought to the end

From Чорний Стяг (Black Flag) via Organise Magazine
June 11, 2023

Sergei “Banana” Ilchenko
Died: 11-06-23 Septic shock resulting from injuries sustained two months earlier in a Russian air strike.

Banana was a combatant with the anarchist group "Black Flag."

"This morning, on June 11, Sergei Ilchenko, our friend "Banana," died as a result of septic shock.

In his life, Sergei was the kind of person who always fought to the end, and in this situation as well. He fought for his life, he remained a true warrior until his last breath, and just yesterday he was supposed to be transported to Germany, but his injuries were too severe.

We thank all of you, everyone who joined us, everyone who tried to save him, it shows that Banana's sacrifice was not in vain, it shows that he died for the Ukraine he really fought for, it shows that we will forever keep this brave, smiling, honest, kind and steadfast man in our hearts, resistant to the very end.

Sergei "Banana" Ilchenko, forever in the fight!

There are 39 Comments

So sorry to read that some good dudes are still fighting and dying for a nation... or even just up against invading states. If this was Rojava this could make sense accordingly to some libcom ideas and sentiment, but what is the meaning of this, here?

We shouldn't put our lives on the line for their bloody feudal games, coz we're worth a lot more than the billionaires behind it.

The announcement of the death of this brave young anarchist, Sergei "Banana" Ilchenko, is very sad. But it is marred by the comment of an anonymous person, a fellow anarchist apparently, who says it was all for nothing. He died in "bloody feudal games," serving "billionaires," "dying for a nation... or even just up against invading states." Unlike the memorial comment that " he died for the Ukraine he really fought for."

Anon cannot imagine that "some good dudes" might be in solidarity with their oppressed people " against invading states." They might want to fight for freedom in this case, despite its limitations, and seek to spread the ideas and examples of revolutionary anarchism.

Sadly Sergei did not die for the furtherance of Anarchy, but his tragic loss is one more needless reminder of the tragic folly of inter-imperialist conflict, which now strengthens our resolve to combat the absolutely malignant and irresponsible campist rhetoric that you are spewing, Wayne.
A handful of Anarchists joining the ranks of the national military are not and never will be an important factor in the defense of the Ukrainian State. You can't even seriously believe it yourself. At most, they serve conveniently as a niche propaganda item for Leftist Thought Leaders such as yourself to put on display as a means deter western leftists from protesting massively against the decisive involvement of their own States, which opt to fan the flames of fratricidal carnage by shipping out trillions in weapons while cynically laughing at the unthinkable audacity of using such massive sums to guarantee even the most basic needs of the population they rule over. In gratitude, the right-wing ultranationalist Ukrainian State, which has banned even the most liberal of social democratic parties, will never even publicly acknowledge its anarchist defenders or make the most humble memorial for them. Zelenskyy will never attend a funeral for a heroic anarchist martyr for the Nation, flanked by anarchist symbols, like he does for proud fascists of Azov or Right Sector. They might try to recuperate him as a nationalist, but they will never make it a crime to deny that Nestor Makhno was a hero, as it is for the genocidal nazi collaborator Stepan Bandera.
You, Wayne, and other "anarchists" like you who try to paint this conflict as a noble fight for freedom, are partly to blame for every unfortunate person who is maimed or dies on the front line with the intentions of fighting to "spread the ideas and examples of revolutionary anarchism" while actually negating those ideas and lessons in practice. The fact is the majority of normal people in the conflict zones simply do not want to suffer through this war. Know that they would be sacrificed at the slightest whim, for the most trivial perceived benefit, they don't strongly support or trust either belligerent side and don't stand to benefit from the "victory" of either side in any meaningful way.
Thus, only fitting anarchist response to war, the only response that would make anarchists a meaningful factor as anarchists, is to boycott, evade, sabotage, and to encourage desertion, mutiny and co-fraternization among the recruits and civilians on both sides who overwhelmingly do not to want to be in this situation. If any cause is worth putting one's life on the line, it is that cause, the revolutionary cause, which you Wayne have dedicated yourself to opposing and slandering while you shamelessly encourage more young idealists to throw their lives senselessly into the meat grinder.

Well fucking said

That almost all Ukrainian anarchists have supported the Ukrainian side against Russian imperialism indicates that they do not agree with your interpretation of the war. Nor did Sergei, whose grave you spit on. Nor do most of the Ukrainian population, whose fight for national self-determination and independence has inspired the world.

Whether "A handful of Anarchists joining the ranks of the national military...never will be an important factor in the defense of the Ukrainian State," is not the issue. Anarchists can only hope to be an important factor in Ukraine if they are clearly on the side of defending the Ukrainian people against an imperialist aggressor--which you are not.

"That almost all "
What happened to "most"?

SNORE!

"Nor do most of the Ukrainian population, whose fight for national self-determination and independence has inspired the world."

Oh my bad... That's literally Biden right here.

Any suggestions about where to look? Have you already concisely defined it elsewhere? I typed in "wayne price definition of imperialism" in askjeeves.com and all that came up was info about some hockey player and the best choice for garage doors

Wow, that’s snarky. You are the one who keeps using it to justify your position, and I think it’s clear you are the one who doesn’t know what it means. evidently it’s a critical pet of your argument that Russia invading Ukraine is imperialism, and that the US fueling the war for almost decade in order to add Ukraine to its vassal state system is not.

You poison Sergei's grave and surrounding environs for generations to come with depleted uranium munitions provided by your believed US/NATO imperialism.

Your agenda to push US/NATO propaganda to anarchists is transparent as fuck and almost all anarchists see right through your bullshit.

For every case of depleted uranium derived cancer or birth defects Wayne Price will bless 1 US/NATO provided cluster bomb from his home in the US of A.

Amen!

And awoman.

From reading your other texts on this subject it seems that you consider unconditional support for National Self Determination to be the One And Only sacred commandment of anarchism which must never be crossed, trumping even anti-statism and class unity. So what about the National Self Determination citizens of Crimea, The People's Republic of Donetskt, and the People's Republic of Lugansk? Did they not vote in a democratic referendum to join the Russian Federation? Were they not oppressed by the Ukrainian State, which cut off all social services to "their people" there and has been bombing them and sending in nazi terrrorists to do kidnappings, assassinations and even rape since 2014? If you deny their right to freely break from the toke of Ukrainian oppression against their unique cultural sensibilities, you contradict even Bakunin's tenet of the free federation of "nations" (the territorial integrity of which which he did not hold to be sacred at all, defending the unconditional right of secession by every individual, association, and region) which you have opportunistically attempted to yield as your sword and shield against internationalist revolutionary defeatism. What sacred right does Ukraine have to attack and invade the oppressed people of Crimea and the DPR/LPR while claiming those lands as their own against the will of the population residing there? Did the children who were indiscriminately killed my mortar fire there deserve to die because they were "pro-russians"? Do you consider the events in Odessa on May 2, 2014 to be a justified defense by freedom fighters for the Ukrainian Nation?

Unlike some state socialists who oppose the Ukrainian struggle, few anarchists, if any, have illusions in the Russian state. But some repeat Russian propaganda against the Ukrainians. This is an example. The Russian-speaking eastern Ukrainians had voted for Ukrainian independence in 1991. The 2014 "rebellion" was organized by some politicians and oligarchs with ties to Russia. They quickly brought in Russian troops, without Russia admitting it. Far from a civil war, it was an example of Russian aggression. The recent "referendum" was held under the guns of Russian soldiers and is worthless. As to Crimea, they have a better case for separation, except that the Russian-speakers were brought in after WW II, to replace the Indigenous "Crimean Tarters" whom Stalin had driven out of their native land. None of which remotely justifies Russian invasion of Ukraine and attempting to dissolve its people into Greater Russia.

This very original revolutionary anarchist analysis of geopolitics doesn't sound like a verbatim U.S. State Department statement at all. No siree! Good to know it's A-okay for a Legitimate State to bomb civilians as long as they are civilians that are living under an Illegitimate State! That's called justice and defending your national identity! Can you tell me which other States are Revolutionary Anarchist certified wholesome? And who are the baddies? Besides Vladolf Putler of course!

Ukrainians are a spook, Waaayne. The Ukrainian populist republic is the faction that Makhno was fighting *against*. And eventually beaten, as they lost German/Habsburg support after WW1, for being a bunch of lapdogs for German imperialism.

"the Indigenous "Crimean Tarters"" (lol I'm hearing Brad Piitt in Inglorious Basterds here) were not indigenous in any sort of way, but Tatars who came with the late Mongol Empire. IN fact it is quite hard to find a "people" who isn't the byproduct of imperialism. Same for your White Western Oukrainians, who often are of Hungarian and German ancestry, when they are not just ethnic Russians speaking a regional dialect...

National constructs are tall tales.

A herd of the Homo Sapiens who refer to themselves as "Tartars" are nomadic and ride horses and follow the herds of goats. Both these servile 4 legged creatures willingly enslave themselves to the Tartars who frequently whip and confine them in exercise yards, tie them to trees, murder and eat them and occasionally rape their wives, husbands, sons and daughters.
They have been banned from British soil.

The 2014 "revolution" was organized by some politicians and oligarchs with ties to the US… what’s your point?

a soldier is a soldier

anarchists are not soldiers. (that's a hard period)

Durruti would disagree.

Durruti was killed by internal enemies loyal to interclassism almost immediately after openly threatening to revolt and reaffirm the revolution against the PF Government. He was killed once more by the forces of Stalinist recuperation, using false "interviews" which were totally invented to push the line of forced militarization which would lead to the imprisonment of tens of thousands of ungovernable revolutionaries by the "anti-fascist" State. What a shame that some anarchists of today still uphold this Stalinist distortion and defend the idea of a popular front.

Durruti was such a total badass that he could be killed TWICE and was also not afraid of ruins. I so totally wanna play this guy at the next libcom LARPing event in Chicago!

are you saying he wasn't a soldier? Do things like uniforms and ranks count as evidence?

He was a militiaman of the CNT-AIT opposed to integration in the national army:
"The militarization decree had been passionately discussed in the Durruti column, which had decided not to admit it, because it could not improve the struggle conditions of the volunteer militiamen of July 19, or resolve the chronic lack of weapons. Durruti signed, on behalf of the War Committee, a brief of rejection of the militarization that directed the "Council" of the Generalitat, dated significantly in the Osera front that same November 1st in which the hated monarchical military code was reinstated. The column denied the need for a barracks discipline to which they opposed the superiority of the revolutionary discipline: «Militiamen yes; never soldiers »"

Source: https://www.portaloaca.com/historia/iirepublicayguerracivil/habla-durruti/

Anarchism, as everyone knows, is the philosophy of the lesser evil. Far right capitalist nationalism is good sometimes actually.

I've never ever heard that anarchism is "the lesser evil" and that "far right capitalist nationalism is good." It one of the dumbest things I've read today. What kind anarchism are you speaking about? Anarchocapitalism?

I have read from you about ukraine warriors, you should definitely be over there fighting Russians. I mean obviously really bad things will probably happen to you, but you might finally get your name on a plaque.

Wayne doesn’t even pretend to know or care anything about that country- his entire project has been citing sources to construct anarchist justifications for aligning with (white) nationalism and US imperialism. What an interesting cause to focus on..! Good luck getting a straight answer or anything other than repetitious sound bites from him, as he argues that anarchists should give their lives protecting “western civilization”

Why is there such a focus on this Russia - Ukraine war on this site, but not the other 20ish conflicts going on in the world now? There are anarchists that are fighting in other conflicts like the one in Burma/Myanmar or in Ethiopia.

What's the deal with this Wayne Price jackass on here that keeps suggesting anarchist should go to Ukraine and join up with the Ukrainian nationalist & neo-nazis to defeat Russian imperialists? He sounds like George W. Bush or Joe Biden with his view that anarchists should join neo-nazis and nationalists to support their muh freedom and self-determination.

When CYNICAL anarchists are criticizing the right for a PEOPLE to national self-determination in the global consort of NATIONS, all I see is filthy indivisualists and tankies trying to undermine our great democracy n such n such. I'm calling the CIA and DoD right away on this site for allowing for RUSSIAN TROLLS to post comments in broad daylight and getting away with it! If it's NATO democracy it's fine to shut down websites and send people to jail. Coz democracy, the Nation and all that.

I'M A SUICIDAL ANARCHIST WHO WENT TO OUKRAINIA AND BECAME A CAPITALIST NATIONALIST AFTER BELIEVING IN PROPAGANDA OF THE DEATH WISH!

brave soldiers will be honoured, cluster bombs on the way

The following are some comments which have been raised about my views on this thread:

"the absolutely malignant and irresponsible campist rhetoric that you are spewing, Wayne."
"Your agenda [is] to push US/NATO propaganda to anarchists"
" you consider unconditional support for National Self Determination to be the One And Only sacred commandment of anarchism which must never be crossed, trumping even anti-statism and class unity. "
"some anarchists of today still uphold this Stalinist distortion and defend the idea of a popular front."
"[Wayne's] entire project has been citing sources to construct anarchist justifications for aligning with (white) nationalism and US imperialism. ... he argues that anarchists should give their lives protecting “western civilization” "
"this Wayne Price jackass ... keeps suggesting anarchists should go to Ukraine and join up with the Ukrainian nationalist & neo-nazis to defeat Russian imperialists? He sounds like George W. Bush or Joe Biden with his view that anarchists should join neo-nazis and nationalists."

Not one of these statements of my views is remotely accurate. I don't know if they are deliberate lies or just an inability to understand revolutionary anarchism. It doesn't matter. Perhaps they are just meant as mindless insults. Some of the writers do not seem able to distinguish political disagreement from personal conflict. That is their problem, not mine. (But it must make political life difficult, since very few people agree with anarchists of any variety.)

Revolutionary anarchism is when you have a US-backed far-right coup, apparently ?

You are the one who does not seem “able to distinguish political disagreement from personal conflict”, since people have spelled out their issues with your reasoning very clearly, some of us for over a year, and you still have to refuse to engage by dismissing it all as “mindless insults”. It’s you who’s using mindless insults instead of reasoning. I guess what else do you have, when your only point of view is to prefer one reactionary regime over another.

Wayne is the perfect dogma war dog, charging in without a clue, firing blindly in the direction his commanders (right-wing militia) tell him to fire, screaming at his naive followers to join him in his insane masculine last stand for glory,,,,,,pitiful homo sapien fool.

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