5 An Interview With A Member of the KPRF

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9/16/2025 An Interview With A Member of the KPRF By: Nicholas Reed 1 COMMENT Picture Greetings, please tell us about yourself! My name is Peter Alekseevich Kovalsky, I graduated from the Moscow Aviation Institute. I’m a party Secretary for the Lyublino Branch of the KPRF, Moscow City Branch. I have been a member of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF) since 2017. I do not consider myself left, but I consider myself red. An interesting distinction! What is your political orientation, and could you tell us in more detail about the experience and events that influenced the formation of your current political views and worldview in modern Russia? My political orientation is Marxism-Leninism, or, as we like to joke, orthodox Stalinism. My views were undoubtedly formed in the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. When I joined it back in 2017, I was not a communist - rather a spontaneous leftist. Having become a member of the party, I began to get to know the teachings of Marxism-Leninism, other ideologies, as well as the various parties and movements of the modern Russian Federation. And, of course, I was significantly influenced by our Russian existence itself. After all, it is precisely this, as we know, that determines consciousness. How do you evaluate the Soviet period of history, and how does its legacy influence your views on the past and present of Russia? The Soviet period is hugely important, although it did not last that long by historical standards. If we take the history of the USSR before Gorbachev came to power, then in general I evaluate it extremely positively. I like the 1930s the most, and the era of recovery after the Great Patriotic War. In the 30s, people had great enthusiasm and creative impulse. This was the time of great construction projects of communism and faith in a bright future. And there was an absolutely correct policy of the party: an alliance of communists and non-party members. I have no doubt that, if not for the war, communism would have been built in a single country. The grandiose battle with fascism that conquered all of Europe physically knocked out of the ranks of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) most of the most ardent communists and Komsomol members, because they were the first to go on the attack. Picture Peter Kovalsky with Jackson Hinkle, Christopher Helali, Nicholas Reed ​The catchphrase that circulated among non-party fighters during the Great Patriotic War is also famous in Russia: "If I die, consider me a communist." The post-war years were no less stormy and full of bright achievements: the restoration of the country, large-scale stances, new challenges. It is especially important to pay attention to Stalin's plan for the transformation of nature. This plan included combating desertification, forest shelterbelts around agricultural fields and arable lands, and the creation of new rivers and lakes. It was the implementation of this plan, although not complete, that allowed the USSR to be reliably protected from the threat of crop failure and famine, similar to those the country faced in the 1930s and in 1946. Now China is implementing a similar plan in the Gobi Desert, and in the 2000s, Muammar Gaddafi tried to implement it in the Libyan Jamahiriya. Of course, it is also worth noting the conquest of space. This was a grandiose achievement, to which my family has a direct relation. My great-grandfather was one of those who led the USSR's space launch program until 1976, and my grandfather designed and assembled life support systems for astronauts. The era of space exploration was also a special period. New horizons were opening up for humanity. People dreamed, believed and worked fruitfully. The Soviet Union was once again seized by a special creative impulse. The spirit of that era is well reflected in the song: "And on Mars apple trees will bloom". The great achievements of the USSR inspire us, modern Russian communists, to new achievements. It is necessary to use all the experience accumulated in the Soviet years in the modern Russian Federation. And on its basis to create a new and beautiful Soviet Socialist Russia of the future! How did the turbulent and chaotic 1990s in Russia influence your personal experience, upbringing, and worldview? How did this period affect you or your family, their life circumstances, values, or prospects? I was born in 1996 and was too young to talk about the full experience of the 90s. All I can do is study it from a historical point of view, learn information from the stories of older comrades. However, my relatives do not talk much about that era. One way or another, what I know is enough to understand: it was a monstrous catastrophe, arranged not without the help of the West, which had a heavy impact on all former citizens of the USSR and their descendants. Rampant crime, hyperinflation, delayed wages, the war in Chechnya, the lack of basic goods and even food in stores. They survived only thanks to the dachas that the Soviet government once generously handed out to the population. The collapse of the USSR was a terrible disaster for the entire country. I think that in many ways this happened because of servility towards the West. The older generation had and partly still has a special piety towards Western culture, life, and everyday life. Internal and external enemies of socialism took advantage of this, and the Soviet Union fell. Most modern Russian youth do not have such idolatry. Do socialism and Marxism occupy an important place in shaping the future of Russia and how do you imagine their role in the political and social life of the country? Yes, they do. In the 34 years that have passed since the disappearance of the USSR, the world has become a much more unstable and dangerous place. Terrorism, wars, the absolute inability of individual heads of state to negotiate on issues of global security. It has simply become very scary to live. You don't know what awaits you tonight. The USSR was the guardian of peace and stability on our planet floating in outer space. Fidel Castro's slogan: "Socialism or death!" is more relevant than ever. Either humanity will build communism, or perish from capitalism and imperialism. For Russia, there is no other choice but socialism. Rosa Luxemburg's phrase "Socialism or barbarism" has become a fulfilled forecast for our Motherland. Degradation is occurring in almost all spheres of life: education, medicine, housing and communal services, industry. Even in those industries that we used to be especially proud of, for example, space exploration. If my memory serves me right, until 2020, the USSR and Russia held the record as the country that launched the largest number of satellites and automatic ground stations to Mars. Now this record has been broken by the United States. In the Soviet years, we launched stations that landed successfully and transmitted a panorama of the surface of Venus. Now it seems like something fantastic. Unfortunately, there is no point in even talking about the Moon program. Of course, there are exceptions. In modern Russia, the nuclear industry is still developed, and agriculture is progressing. However, we will be able to achieve truly great heights and return to the vanguard of world progress only by radically rebuilding the existing system of social relations. In order to correct all the mistakes and shortcomings of both the USSR and modern Russia, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation must come to power. To what extent do the current generation of Russian youth share your ideological views and how do their views reflect your views or differ from them? This is a very difficult question. Young people are disoriented and disorganized. Most of them are not interested in politics in principle. Everyone is primarily concerned with work, career, relationships, the pace of life is very high, especially in mega cities. Young people simply do not have time to think about their political preferences. This is even more understandable given the huge number of dummies and simulacra. People do not want to be deceived, and deep immersion in political issues takes a lot of time and effort. Those who are still interested in politics can be driven crazy by the variety of different parties, movements and groups. As I mentioned earlier, there are a great many Marxist circles in the country alone. Officially, there are as many as 28 parties in Russia whose names contain the word "communist" or "communism"! The Communist Party of the Russian Federation has a youth organization - the Leninist Young Communist League of the Russian Federation (LKSM RF). You can join it from the age of 14. Currently, there are about 70 thousand people there. On an all-Russian scale, this is, of course, not enough. But even within the LKSM, views on politics differ. There are different ideological currents: Stalinists, Trotskyists, Bukharinists, Zinovievists, Maoists, Jucheists and others... Not all of them are close to my personal ideological preferences. But I have to work with these people too. Of course, there is an important problem of why young people do not participate in politics, and not only young people, but also older people. Political parties and movements do not have a vision of the future that these young people will follow. As soon as a more or less clear vision of the future appears, then progressive humanity will follow it. Picture Peter Kovalsky with Nicholas Reed, Christopher Helali, Viktor Tsarikhin, Ivan Udaltsov ​What specific actions or initiatives are you taking to promote your ideological ideals within the Russian social and political landscape? The party activists are constantly working - it's simply impossible to remember everything here. And it would be wrong to overemphasize my own merits. I'll try to list the most important ones. For example, I wrote bills: to study the experience of waste recycling in Western countries and the USSR and the possibility of using this experience now. I wrote a bill against private sobriety centers, which they even wanted to adopt, but in the end they cancelled. I also proposed amendments to the constitution, and 9 out of 10 of my proposals were included in the final program of the KPRF to change it. I also actively participate in the party's election campaigns as an agitator and observer at elections. I regularly attend meetings with the Communist Party of the Russian Federation deputies and round tables organized by the Communist Party of the Russian Federation faction in the State Duma and the Moscow City Duma on numerous topical issues. I participate in rallies and mass street actions. The action "Two Carnations for Comrade Stalin" is also worth mentioning. It takes place twice a year: on December 21, the birthday of Joseph Vissarionovich, and on March 5, the day of his death. An informal initiative group, which includes a variety of people, including even Stalin's great-grandson Yakov Dzhugashvili, collects funds and purchases bouquets of flowers to lay on the grave of the late Leader of the Peoples. Money for carnations is sent by a variety of people from all over Russia and the globe. On Stalin's 140th birthday, 14,000 red carnations were laid on his grave... I take part in meetings of the Zinoviev Club (the club of philosopher Alexander Alexandrovich Zinoviev), in the Efremov Readings (science fiction writer Ivan Antonovich Efremov). I regularly visit the Palestinian embassy and express my support for the long-suffering Palestinian people in their fight against Israeli aggression. I take an active part in the formation of convoys with humanitarian aid sent by the Communist Party of the Russian Federation to help Donbass. I believe that this is very important work. I began participating in it in 2018, that is, even before the SVO, and the Communist Party of the Russian Federation as a whole began sending humanitarian aid to residents of the DPR and LPR in 2014. I also take an active part in the Union of Organic Farming, where we discuss important agricultural issues, initiatives, and bills. My comrades and I do not forget about cultural life and education. I regularly go to art exhibitions, museums, and galleries, and visit book fairs. The people at all these events are completely different, with different political views. In conversations, discussions, and even at feasts, there is lively, direct agitation for communism and the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. How do you assess the role of patriotism in the formation of the national identity of modern Russia, and what influenced your understanding of this?