Today, our first stop is Melitopol. There are many checkpoints along the way and both sides of the road are excavated with trenches. First we are going to a cathedral. The vicar meets us as there is a ritual taking place at the Orthodox cathedral which was created thirty years ago. There are also aid materials in the room where we meet the assistant. There are materials especially for children and babies. One side of the room is full of drugs. The cathedral has undertaken the task of distributing the materials that came with their volunteers to the people affected by attacks and conflicts. He spoke of how the deputy priest Kiev tried to politicise religion. After 2004, the churches in Kiev decided not to share the same religion with the decision to leave the Archbishop of the Russian Orthodox Church. Even in religion, Russiaphobia has developed. A religion that believes in one god has decided to live its own beliefs separately because it hates the other people. This is another example of how the war separates people.
We go to a school in Melitopol, this is the school with special needs. At the entrance, the boards prepared by the children for 8 March International Working Women’s Day welcome us. One hundred and fifty seven children on weekdays stay in this school and return to their families at the weekend. We couldn’t see the kids because we went on the weekend. AFC (Anti-Fascist Caravan) is going to this school for the first time. Aid materials brought and cash are handed over to the school administrators. We see a Ukrainian branded piano, but Soviet quality stamped piano in the hall.
We went to the Soviet monument and cemetery in the center of Melitopol, part of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Government, and we commemorated the partisans who fought against fascism and put our flowers. The victory torch at the entrance of the monument has never extinguished since it was founded. The gains of socialism will never be erased. This fire, which was burned by the peoples who resisted fascism, will burn exploitation and persecution one day. Historically, this region was determined as a line of homeland against the Nazis in the Second World War and after the Soviet forces liberated the region, this area was dedicated to the heroes. 87 heroes lie here.
We shared the developments about the anarchist and revolutionary Alfredo Cospito, who has been on a hunger strike since October 20, 2022 against the 41 bis regime in Italy, and made a solidarity video in this historical region. And again, in the square dedicated to this important victory, we say Ciao Bella and Katyuşa, one of our anti-fascist anthems. After having interviews with members of the press visiting us, we ended our day here because we will set out early the next day.
