UPDATE: Russian Federation Invades Crimea, Plans For Separation Evident
2:45AM EST:
Russian-aligned forces have occupied the two key airports in the Crimea region of Ukraine, AP reports. A separate group of gunmen seized the Crimean parliament, hoisting a Russian flag on its roof. It is unknown whether these are Ukrainian sympathizers, or special/advance forces of the Russian Federation. Both airports are reportedly still operating, and locals are assisting the occupiers. Given the coordination of the capture of strategic objectives, it is unlikely that these are the spontaneous actions of local self-defense units sympathetic to Russia. The occupiers also reportedly arrived in Russian military model KAMAZ trucks, further suggesting Moscow intervention.
Anti-Imperialism.com will be following the events of the Imperialist division of Ukraine closely. The capture of airports by Russian forces were the first shots in the imperialist Soviet invasions of Czechoslovakia and Afghanistan. This is an alarming development, as massive troop movements within Russia, including the mobilization of the Black Sea fleet, were just yesterday shrugged off as war-games by the Putin government. Russia retains a naval base in the Crimea, as well as a largely sympathetic civilian and commercial community, which it will most likely seek to defend from the NATO alliance which the new Ukrainian government has made clear it wishes to join.
Given the intense split in Ukrainian society witnessed in the last few weeks [for background, see here] it is possible, however unlikely, that the Russian Federation will seek to secure the separation of the Crimea by imperialist invasion.
4:00PM EST:
At least 2,000 Russian occupation-troops have landed by aircraft in the Crimea region of Ukraine, AP is reporting. The bulk of the troops landed Friday evening even at Simferopol, one of the two military bases captured by Russian advance troops early this morning. Helicopters and armored vehicles have been sited by eyewitnesses, and Ukraine’s largest telecom has announced that it cannot connect the Crimea to any network in Ukraine at large, suggesting Russian interference. As predicted by anti-Imperialism, the Russian Federation seems to be moving forward with plans to dissever the Crimea from Ukraine, securing its commercial interests in the guise of ethnic solidarity with Ukraine’s minority Russian population. For the first time since the fall of the Soviet Union, inter-imperialist rivalry in Europe threatens to balloon into imperialist war.
Anti-Imperialism.org 
Although it is a capitalist country, Russia is not imperialist; unlike the United States which is the most rabidly capitalist and imperialist country in the world. Also, I know the Chinese used to claim that the Soviet Union was “social-imperialist”, but it just wasn’t true.
Nonsense. Our Chinese comrades were quite correct in calling the “Soviet” Union of the Khrushchevite-Brezhnevite reactionaries “social-imperialist”. They explained, with abundant evidence, that the “Soviet” Union soon after Comrade Stalin’s death became a capitalist country dressed up in socialist trappings. The “imperialist” part of “social-imperialist” reflects the fact that the Khrushchevite “Soviet” Union had established a neo-colonial empire that subjugated and exploited other countries.
We Maoist-Third Worldists uphold the glorious experience of the true Soviet Union from its foundation until Comrade Stalin’s death or perhaps two or three years later. We reject as capitalist the fake “Soviet” Union from the rise of Khrushchevite-Brezhnevite social-imperialism until the outright restoration of unabashed “free-market” capitalism that resulted in the disintegration of the state.
I recommend “Is the Red Flag Flying?” by Albert Szymanski where he refutes the Chinese claims of social-imperialism point by point using primarily US and United Nations data.
Also, the Chinese should have heeded the advice that those who live in glass houses should not throw stones; their return to capitalism began in the 70’s.
Obviously we Maoist-Third Worldists do not support the restoration of capitalism in China. Those Chinese (and other) comrades who have denounced Khrushchevite-Brezhnevite social-imperialism since its inception in the late 1950s do not “live in a glass house”.
Of course Russia is an imperialist state. Like Germany, like Sweden where I’m from and many other countries.
What has Russia done to dominate and exploit other countries? Which countries? Give me an example. I’m not an expert on Russia; maybe there’s something I don’t know about, but I seriously doubt anyone can make a credible case that Russia comes anywhere close to matching the wanton imperialism of the US.
While I slightly disagree with this article, I think it’s a good contribution to the discussion.
I dont think we can necessarily classify the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan as “imperialist”: for one, the socialist government of Afghanistan asked the Soviets for help. In addition, the Soviets fought reactionary, mujahideen forces financed by American imperialism, which later morphed into what is now called the Taliban. The socialist government of Afghanistan was making great strives in the areas of women’s rights (especially in terms of education), and the overall progressive nature of society, but this was all destroyed by U.S. imperialism.
“in calling upon the Soviet Union for help,we acted in full accordance with Article 51 of the UN charter,which guarantees us-and any nation which has become the object of aggression-the right to collective self defence.”Resolute Condemnation-A protest by the govt.of the DRA “
The Chinese also assisted the Mujahideen.
Crimean autonomy will probably occur by a referendum by the people that will take place March 30th. Crimea has an Russian ethnic majority of about 60%. While Russian imperialism is a factor in the situation at Crimea, it is not mainly a situation of inter-imperialist rivalry, but ethnic and cultural friction to the rest of Ukraine and the new government that has blossomed up with the recent coup d’etat. Russia will of course aid the cause of Crimean separation or integration to the Russian Federation, but the main factor will be the ethnic, cultural and political closeness that they feel with Russia rather than the newly installed US-puppet government.
Comrade, please do not post identifying information such as names, addresses, and telephone numbers. Communists must be mindful of our security and that of other people. Publishing information that identifies you or others only aids the pigs (the enemy’s police) in oppressing the international proletariat and the international communist movement.