On 24 February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine and a few days later adopted a law establishing criminal liability for spreading information about the use of Russian Federation Armed Forces or their discrediting. In fact, the law is used to suppress the freedom of speech and press, to terminate the activities of many media, to block the access to social media and to oppress anti-war protests in Russia. As a reaction to this, Russian anti-fascists published a joint statement:

Russian anti-fascists oppose the war in Ukraine, which is officially labelled as a “special operation”. The use of anti-fascist rhetoric to justify nationalist imperialist aggression is an insult to the victims of World War II. By their actions, the Russian authorities are definitively destroying the people’s memory of the struggle against fascism and the sacrifices made by all people, who fought against Fascism. Russian anti-fascists express their solidarity with the people of Ukraine. Russian anti-fascists against the war!