International CO Day: May 15th
Editorial
Russia is not an easy country for radical activists. The tragic events
from last weekend, when fascists attacked a protest camp at the nuclear
enrichment plant in Angarsk, Siberia, attacking protesters with iron
bars, knives, and pneumatic pistols, was only the last in a long series
of fascist violence in Russia - and not the first in which an activist
died.
During a visit of War Resisters' International to Russia in February
and March, we could ourselves experience the permanent threat of
fascist attacks for any kind of radical activity - be they a public
talk or a punk concert.
While we do not agree with all aspects of the politics of some of the
radical activists in Russia - many of them don't subscribe to our
nonviolent world view - we need to support them in their opposition to
fascist violence.
After the attack of Angarsk, we mourn with the relatives and friends of
Ilya Bodoraenko, 21 years old, from Nachodka and member of Autonomous
Action. He died in hospital from the wounds sustained during the
attack. Others are still in hospital, although not in life-threatening
conditions.
The camp asks for donations to transport Ilya's body to Nachodka, for
his funeral, for medical expenses of other activists, and for the
support of the reestablishment of the camp.
Andreas Speck, WRI Office
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On 21 July, at 5am in the morning, fascists
attacked an anti-nuclear action camp against Angarsk nuclear enrichment
plant in the Siberian city of Angarsk. Although the protesters had some
prior knowledge of the possibility of an attack, and therefore had
three night guards in place, the strength of the attack came as a
surprise. More than 15 fascists attacked the 21 campers with iron bars,
knives, and pneumatic pistols, attacking people sleeping in their
tents. All tents of the camp were burned down. Several activists were
seriously injured. One person, Ilya Bodoraenko, a 21 years old activist
of Autonomous Action from Nachodka, died in hospital as a result of
skull fractures and other injuries from the attack. Two activists were
still in hospital at the time of writing.
Police response
According to reports from Sibera, police arrested
two of the attackers soon afterwards, and a further 13 had been
identified by police. More arrests had been made later. Sources from
the protest camp confirmed at least 10 arrests.
However, the police is denying that the attacks had a political motive.
Police spokesman Valery Gribakin was quoted by ITAR-Tass news agency as
suggesting that theft had appeared to be a motive for the attacks:
Police had confiscated a rucksack and telephone from the detained that
had belonged to the protesters, he said. "Investigators are inclined
to believe that the attack was motivated by hooliganism with the aim
stealing property", he said.
Interior Ministry spokesman Valery Grigakin denied
the attack was from right wing extremists saying "All of those
detained are young people. Some of them are unemployed, some are
students. As they explained ... they wanted to run amok and get some
money out of the tourists and the people at the camp," he said in
televised remarks according to the International Herald Tribune.
However, "they were well prepared, wearing masks," said Andrei
Kravchuk, one of the environmental protesters at the camp at the time. "They
shouted nationalist slogans," he said according to the NTV channel
as quoted in an International Herald Tribune report.
The
Moscow Times reported today: The suspects will be charged with
hooliganism and intentional grievous bodily harm resulting in death,
Gribakin said. A hooliganism conviction carries a maximum punishment of
seven years in prison, while the second, more serious charge has a
maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. Gribakin promised to bring all
the attackers to justice. "Work will not stop even for one minute," he
said, Interfax reported.
Irkutsk regional police, however, are reluctant to classify the attack
as a nationalist-related crime, the activists said. "The local police
want to present the attack as ordinary hooliganism. They very
grudgingly wrote down that we told them the attackers shouted slogans
against anti-fascists," said Igor Kozlov, a member of Autonomous
Action, Ekho Moskvy radio reported.
Mikhail Kreindlin, head of Greenpeace in Russia,
and Alexander Brod, director of the Moscow Bureau for Human Rights,
said it was too early to start pointing fingers in Saturday's attack.
But Brod said authorities in the past have hired local criminal groups
to silence dissent and write it off as hooliganism.
Despite the attack, the activists were hoping to renew their protest
with a new camp Thursday. They accuse authorities of illegally making
money at the Angarsk Electrolysis Chemical Complex by allowing foreign
companies to send spent fuel there for reprocessing. In addition to
reprocessing, the plant has been enriching uranium for the past 50
years for use in nuclear power plants.
It is presently difficult to know who has been behind the attacks
in Angarsk. However, War Resisters' International is concerned that
there won't be a proper police investigation - the first statements
from police sources are not promising.
Help needed
The activists from the protest camp now need help urgently. Money is
being collected to pay for the transfer of the body of Ilya Bodoraenko
and his funeral, for the medical treatment of the other injured
activists, and the set-up of the camp. War Resisters' International
asks for donations to its own accounts, clearly stating "help for
Angarsk protest camp" in the transfer slip:
Eurozone: by giro transfer to War Resisters’ International,
in Euros to Bank of Ireland, IBAN IE91 BOFI 9000 9240 413547, SWIFT/BIC
BOFIIE2D
Britain: by giro transfer to War Resisters’ International, in £
sterling to Unity Trust Bank, Account number 5072 7388 Sort code:
08-60-01 (IBAN GB11 CPBK 0800 5150 07 32 10, SWIFT
CPBKGB22), or by sending a cheque payable to War Resisters'
International to War Resisters' International, 5 Caledonian Road,
London N1 9DX
USA: Send a cheque made out to War Resisters' International to:
Ralph di Gia, c/o War Resisters League (WRL) 339 Lafayette Street, New
York NY 10012
In any case, please send an email to info@wri-irg.org,
with "help for
Angarsk protest camp" in the subject line, stating the amount and where
you sent the money to.
War Resisters' International will forward all donations to the
Russian activists.
In several cities, activists are organising vigils at Russian embassies
or elsewhere. Plans are being made for a vigil in London on Thursday,
but these are not yet confirmed.
The Angarsk Electrolysis Chemical Complex
The Angarsk Electrolysis Chemical complex (AEKhK)
consists of four major facilities: the Enrichment Plant, Uranium
Hexafluoride Conversion Plant, Instrumentation Plant, and Central
Laboratory, plus a repair and machine shop and a number of other
subdivisions, including a thermal power plant. Founded in 1954, the
AEKhK produces and enriches UF6 for nuclear fuel. On 21 October 1957,
308 gas diffusion machines were put into operation and started the
process of continuous uranium enrichment. The first lot of enriched
uranium was produced on 28 October 1957. In 1963, construction was
completed and the combine started operation in full. The prime
objective was to "expand the arsenal" of the Soviet military. During a
period of reconstruction from 1962-1985, new equipment was installed,
which increased the productivity of the gas diffusion plant two to
three times, and increased the productivity of the chemical plant by
almost five times. In the 1980s, the production of highly-enriched
uranium was stopped and AEKhK switched to uranium enrichment for the
nuclear power industry (enriched up to 5% U-235). Several sources
indicate that the Angarsk Combine, being a uranium enrichment facility,
has never been involved in the production of weapons-grade uranium.
In 1990, the combine began operating its first two gas centrifuges, and
in 1992 the last gas diffusion machine was stopped. NEI's World Nuclear
Industry Handbook 1995 lists AEKhK's annual conversion capacity as
18,700 MT of uranium. AEKhK produces LEU using centrifuge technology,
with an annual capacity of two million SWU. Trade relations with
foreign partners (established in the 1980s thanks to close cooperation
with the Department of nuclear-chemical production and Tekhsnabeksport)
expanded to new markets in the 1990s. Exports have been important in
promoting growth and stability at AEKhK. Overall, 50% of the Combine's
output is produced for export. AEKhK exports enriched uranium to the
United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Finland, France, China, the
Republic of Korea, and other countries.
At the G8 summit in St. Petersburg in July 2006, Sergey Kiriyenko, head
of the Federal Atomic Energy Agency, announced that Angarsk would
become the site of the first international uranium enrichment center.
The establishment of this center is part of the US-Russian led
initiative to ensure "non-discriminatory access" to nuclear energy for
countries without sensitive fuel cycle technology, as an incentive for
these countries not to build domestic capacities.
