‘No war but class war!’ How a group of communists in Novosibirsk has leveraged Soviet nostalgia to speak out publicly against the invasion of Ukraine
For the past three years, the Russian authorities have worked to purge the country’s political arena of anyone who opposes the full-scale war against Ukraine. Nonetheless, a small but determined group of leftist activists in Novosibirsk continues to speak out against the invasion and the system that enabled it. Breaking with Russia’s mainstream communist parties, which have largely sided with the Kremlin, these activists organize street protests, run a YouTube channel, and challenge Moscow’s official narrative. Journalists from the independent outlet 7x7 recently profiled Novosibirsk’s anti-war communists. Meduza shares a translation of their report.
Against the bourgeoisie and against the war
On November 7, 2024, communists in Novosibirsk marked the anniversary of Russia’s October Revolution with two very different messages. Some railed against the West, accusing it of wanting to seize Russia’s “natural resources.” Others spoke out against the war in Ukraine and the system that started it.
The first group, members of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF) led by former Novosibirsk Mayor Anatoly Lokot, marched down the city’s main street, Krasny Prospekt. They gathered near the opera house, behind the 20-foot statue of Lenin — a popular site for both opposition and pro-government rallies alike.
“The imperialist West has united, baring its fangs to take our fields and our natural resources,” Lokot declared at the rally. “And we have three steadfast allies: Belarus, socialist China, and socialist Korea!”
Meanwhile, 800 meters away near the Globus Theater, another leftist group was gathering. Organizers Oleg Metzler and Sergey Krupenko only secured official approval for the location on their second attempt. The theater site is known as a spot for political outsiders; officials often assign it for opposition events, as it draws less attention than the Lenin monument.
No more than 30 people attended the Globus Theater rally. Organizer Sergey Krupenko spoke about the legacy of the USSR — its celebrated films, its purported racial equality, and the Novosibirsk metro. He also criticized the nearby KPRF rally, accusing the party of aligning with United Russia and sacrificing lives for the interests of the ruling class. Krupenko condemned the current government’s actions as a “bloody scheme” and rejected the “bourgeois Russian authorities” and their policies. For him and his supporters, the capitalist system has become synonymous with war.
The rally lasted about an hour. Though neither Krupenko nor his fellow speakers explicitly called the war in Ukraine a war, their speeches were unmistakably anti-war.
Sergey Krupenko and Oleg Metzler have long been known in Novosibirsk’s communist circles, but they gained broader recognition among like-minded activists from other regions in 2022.
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“I first heard about Metzler and Krupenko in the spring of 2022,” recalled Dmitry Cherny, a representative of the Moscow branch of the United Communist Party — Internationalists (OKP-Internationalists). “Of course, I was thrilled to realize we weren’t alone in our views — that the process of communists breaking away from the chauvinistic central committees had gained momentum across the country. And the incredibly brave Krupenko, amid all this wartime censorship, really blew up the Internet, as they say — at least within the leftist community.”
Krupenko and Metzler used to be members of the Russian Communist Workers’ Party (RKRP). In 2019, they launched a YouTube channel called “Red Turn,” which became the main media platform of their political movement.
In 2022, the central committee of the RKRP supported Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Metzler, Krupenko, and several of their comrades took the opposite stance, left the RKRP, and formed a new group — the Russian Communist Party (Internationalists). As of this article’s publication, their Telegram channel had 4,500 subscribers. Metzler and Krupenko retained control of the “Red Turn” YouTube channel.
Who are Metsler and Krupenko?
At the November 7, 2024 rally, Oleg Metzler accused the KPRF — which he described as “social-chauvinists” — and other establishment parties of “parasitizing on Stalin.” According to him, they portray Stalin as a statesman and patriot, much like Vladimir Putin. Ironically, Metzler himself was part of a group of people advocating for a Stalin monument in Novosibirsk in 2017. Using donated funds, sculptor Pavel Markov created a bust of Stalin, which remained in Metzler’s home for several years. In 2019, an initiative group handed the bust over to the KPRF, and they installed it outside the regional committee’s building.
Metzler, now 35, graduated from the Novosibirsk State Academy of Geodesy in 2014. He’s been politically active since the age of 19, working with the Russian Communist Youth League (RKSM) and the Vanguard of Red Youth (AKM). He’s helped organize numerous protests in Novosibirsk, including demonstrations against rising utility rates in 2017 and against raising the country’s pension age in 2018. In December 2019, Metzler co-organized at least two protests against public transportation fare hikes as part of the “Stop the Tariff!” coalition. In 2020, he ran for Novosibirsk City Council but was unsuccessful.
Metzler’s ally Sergey Krupenko is 63. In 2005, he ran as an independent candidate for the City Council, and from 2013, he served as the secretary of the Novosibirsk regional committee of the leftist political party “Red Front” (dissolved by court order in 2020). He was also the chairman of the “Sober City” center in Novosibirsk, which was disbanded on July 31, 2024. Through “Sober City,” Krupenko promoted a healthy lifestyle — organizing themed lessons in schools, protests at the zoo calling for alcohol sales bans, and advocating for the return of 1980s anti-alcohol laws.
Like Metzler, Krupenko opposed raising the pension age and criticized the government’s inaction during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2011, Krupenko was among the activists who rallied in support of Libya’s independence and Muammar Gaddafi. Explaining his participation, he said: “Russia took the wrong position by severing ties with Libya, essentially siding with NATO and the U.S.”
How much influence do they have?
One of Metzler and Krupenko’s main tools is their YouTube channel, which they use to unite and mobilize their supporters. Their videos cover a wide range of topics, from analyzing Russia’s political regime to debating whether communists and liberals can find common ground. They also focus on international protests, like those in France, and often livestream their own rallies.
Beyond politics, “Red Turn” addresses social issues. In July 2024, Metzler reported on residents of a private-sector neighborhood in central Novosibirsk whose homes were damaged by the construction of a nearby residential complex. The construction company, VerbaKapital, offered financial compensation, but the amount was insufficient for purchasing equivalent housing.
As of this article’s publication, “Red Turn” had 21,000 subscribers, with most videos gathering around 1,000 views. Their most popular videos reached between 40,000 and 60,000 views.
Metzler and Krupenko aren’t the only left-wing figures in Russia who opposed the war in Ukraine and left their party over it. After the central committee of the United Communist Party (OKP) supported the war, some members broke away and formed a new group: the OKP-Internationalists.
Dmitry Cherny, a publicist and representative of the OKP-Internationalists, noted that while ideological disagreements had long existed within communist parties, members often remained united despite those differences:
The party splits weren’t purely ideological. There were disputes about elections. Many believed that participating was pointless — if you’re a real opposition candidate aiming to defeat capitalism, you have no chance of winning. So, many of us chose a different path — raising awareness, reaching like-minded people who hadn’t heard of us yet, and explaining why capitalism isn’t the best path. This is exactly what Metzler and Krupenko are doing: building horizontal connections and helping people make sense of what’s happening because our ultimate goal is to move away from capitalism in Russia.
After the war in Ukraine began, Metzler and Krupenko continued their activism. Metzler staged a series of picket protests in support of emergency medical workers and joined a rally against YouTube restrictions. The Novosibirsk mayor’s office twice refused to approve the demonstration, so the activists held an unofficial gathering in a public park. This was one of the few public protests in Russia against YouTube slowdowns.
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The two also held a rally against war and capitalism with the lengthy slogan: “Peace to the peoples! Yes to workers’ solidarity! No to fascism! No to capitalism! No war but class war!” The rally took place near the building of the former city airport — a remote location chosen to avoid the need for mayoral approval.
At a May Day rally in 2022, police detained Metzler and Krupenko, though they were not fined. A year later, however, Krupenko was fined 40,000 rubles for “discrediting the army” after police found a video in which he challenged the propagandist claim that Ukraine was committing genocide against Donbas residents.
Despite their activism, Metzler and Krupenko often avoid overt anti-war messaging, framing their rallies around significant dates for the leftist movement. Anti-war slogans had appeared at leftist events even before the full-scale war in Ukraine began, and according to Dmitry Loboyko, a political scientist and head of the Center for Regional Studies, this strategy helps them avoid political repression.
“Paradoxically, their status as communists — even those not endorsed by the presidential administration — still offers them some degree of immunity in the public sphere,” Loboyko said. “This is likely why Metzler and Krupenko have managed to get approval for events that effectively became anti-war protests, thanks to their ‘camouflage’ as traditional communist rhetoric.”
Metzler and Krupenko’s activism demonstrates how classic leftist rhetoric can adapt to current events and stand in contrast to the official line of the KPRF, Russia’s largest communist party, which has failed to challenge Putin’s government. The presence of politicians who continue to speak out against the war helps spread anti-war views among audiences that liberal politicians and activists often fail to reach.
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“The concept of an ‘imperialist war’ fits naturally into leftist discourse, allowing them to articulate protest in a language distinct from Western-centric liberal criticism,” Loboyko explained. “Moreover, their use of Soviet symbols and appeals to ‘authentic Leninism’ challenge the state’s monopoly on the Soviet legacy. In a country where the government heavily exploits Soviet nostalgia, this kind of ‘reclaiming’ of the symbolic field has real potential.”
However, the influence of this group remains limited by its small numbers — rallies organized by the Russian Communist Party (Internationalists) typically draw no more than 30 people. While this is significant for Novosibirsk, it remains insufficient to establish a meaningful political force even at the regional level.
Moreover, leftist ideas have limited appeal among young people. Loboyko noted that while elements of leftist critique, particularly those focused on socioeconomic issues, resonate with younger audiences, they often reject communist ideology as a whole. Many in the younger generation remain indifferent to political ideologies, viewing them as outdated constructs.
“Small groups like the Russian Communist Party (Internationalists) in Novosibirsk are unlikely to become major political players,” Loboyko concluded. “But they play an important role in maintaining an alternative discourse. Their potential lies not so much in their ability to mobilize the masses but in preserving an ideological and discursive alternative — which, in the context of Russia’s increasingly monopolized public space, is a political act in itself.”
