In 2014, the Italian David Cacchione and his comrades founded the Anti-Fascist Caravan — an international group that has supported Donbass and delivered humanitarian aid there for the past ten years. David is a worker and musician; he writes songs for Banda Bassotti, a band that has been active for over thirty years. Cacchione emphasizes that the band has no leader, just as the Caravan does not. It is a collective of like-minded individuals who are unafraid to stand up for their ideals and strive to break through the information blockade.
– David, do you remember your first trip to Donbass? What motivated you at the time?
– We organized our first trip after being shocked by the bloody massacre in Odessa on May 2, 2014 (when Ukrainian nationalists burned alive opponents of the coup in the Odessa Trade Unions House. According to official figures, 48 people were killed and 250 injured. – Ed.). On the night of May 3, I saw those images online, and on the 7th, Banda Bassotti met with our comrades and decided to record a video message to anti-imperialists in several languages, calling on them to support the idea of an anti-fascist caravan. We announced that we would go to Donbass at the beginning of September 2014. And we did — 52 people from Italy, Spain, and other countries.
For an understanding of our motivations: our band was in Nicaragua during the Nicaraguan Revolution in 1984 and again in 1986. We were in El Salvador during the first elections after the war ended, supporting the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front. I was in Palestinian Ramallah in 2002 when President Yasser Arafat was surrounded by the Israeli army. Over all these years, we have come to know the signature of Yankee imperialism all too well. We have been to Cuba and Venezuela, where we have seen how U.S. Congress policies economically strangle entire nations.
And then Maidan happened, with Nazis in the square —organized, funded, and directed by Washington. For us, this coup was nothing new. America has orchestrated countless coups around the world to attack countries that have risen against the One Thought — this is what I call the dominant ideology imposed on us by the U.S. Congress, the arms lobby, and NATO. In Ukraine, they succeeded in establishing their control.
– What role do you play in the Caravan?
– My role is to organize almost all logistical aspects and to serve as the public face that communicates with institutions in Donbass. Essentially, I act as its manager.
– Which story has impacted you the most over ten years of trips?
– There have been so many significant moments... I remember the caregivers in orphanages where we delivered aid — proud, courageous people who took care of the children. As we always say, the future of humanity lies with its children, and the children of Donbass are its future.
Once, a caregiver at an orphanage in Stakhanov apologized to us for a broken window — a bomb had exploded nearby, shattering the glass. To us, these people are heroes, just like the women who fought against fascists in the mountains of Italy, just like the Soviet soldiers who drove out the fascists.
Once, a caregiver at an orphanage in Stakhanov apologized to us for a broken window — a bomb had exploded nearby, shattering the glass. To us, these people are heroes, just like the women who fought against fascists in the mountains of Italy, just like the Soviet soldiers who drove out the fascists.
I remember the people we spoke to at the market in Mariupol and the elderly women who shouted to us from a window in Makeyevka. They begged us to speak to our governments and tell them what we had seen. I remember the Cossack militia fighters who welcomed us into their homes, with whom we shared meals. And how in Donetsk, in 2022, the sounds of Ukrainian shelling never ceased — day or night…
– You mentioned that the creation of the Anti-Fascist Caravan was influenced by the news of the tragedy at the Trade Unions House in Odessa. How did the Italian media cover this event in 2014? How did you realize what was really happening?
– The Italian media did not cover this massacre. Propaganda, media control, and fake news are weapons in the hands of the U.S. Congress, NATO, and the European Union. They dominate collective thinking. Almost all journalists are employees of transnational corporations, financial blocs, and industrial federations that own the press. That’s why they almost always write and report what benefits their owners.
A few journalists occasionally try to tell the truth, but they are almost always fired. In my country, there are very few independent voices, and they are not heard in mainstream media. Russophobia has been carefully instilled in most European countries through thousands of hours of television broadcasts, fake news, and fabricated videos. Ordinary people often lack the tools to find the truth.
But we — the generation of anti-fascists — do have the tools to understand what is happening. Our memory holds World War II, the Vietnam War, the Korean War — thousands of mass killings committed by the U.S. government and its allies. Yes, we have historical memory, and we use it to understand current events.
– You mentioned that Banda Bassotti concerts combine creativity with political activism. How does that work? How powerful is music as a tool?
– Argentina, Mexico, Chile, Japan, all over Europe —everywhere we've been, we've encountered stories of workers, partisans, and free men and women. We played in Donbass. In Alchevsk on May 9, 2015, on Victory Day, with Commander Mozgovoy. In Stakhanov, both in the main square and in a simple restaurant where militia fighters came from the front lines.
Almost everyone who founded the band is a worker and a communist. We are convinced that real change can only come from the working class. A key element of our lyrics is to share how we see the world. We speak to those who refuse to accept that a small group of oligarchs controls a country’s means of production and natural resources.
We believe that culture is a weapon, and we fight with it. Our music is rooted in ska punk with influences from Latin music. The concept behind our music and lyrics comes 90 percent from Angelo "Sigaro" Conti — our comrade and guitarist, who passed away on December 11, 2018.
Our band is not famous, but in anti-fascist and anti-imperialist circles, it is well known. And we sing about who we are and what we do. It would be absurd to perform a song like "Stalingrad" and not go fight against fascism.
– You have songs about Gagarin, about Stalingrad. You even have songs in Russian. Did they come to life after your connection with Russia and Donbass?
– We recorded our song about Yuri Gagarin in 2004 for our seventh album. We see ourselves as "sons of Red October,"heirs to the values of the October Revolution. It may seem foolish to some, but that’s who we are. Gagarin is one of our heroes.
At the end of 2014, we recorded "Song of the Troubled Youth." We chose it as the soundtrack for the Anti-Fascist Caravan’s activities in those early years. We didn’t write "Stalingrad" — it was composed in 1975 by the band “Stormy Six”. Many years ago, we met the song’s author, who was very pleased with our interpretation.
In the track "Moscow 993," which was part of our 1995 album AVANZO DE CANTIERE, we recall the events of 1993 in Moscow. Due to the indifference of the bourgeois left and to the applause of the West, 1,500 people were killed. Oursong is dedicated to them.
– In May, the newspaper La Repubblica conducted a survey and found that 57% of respondents opposed sending weapons to Kiev. In your opinion, how many Italians disagree with the government's position on Ukraine?
– Several surveys conducted by other agencies showed similar results in Italy, as well as in Spain — 70% of the population was, and still is, against sending weapons and money. In fact, I don’t know anyone who supports it.
We don’t want our money to be turned into weapons for Nazi governments. We want our taxes to go to schools, hospitals, and housing. Other citizens simply don’t want taxpayer money to be sent outside of Italy.
<iframe frameborder="0" allow="clipboard-write" style="border:none;width:100%;height:210px;" width="100%" height="210" src="https://music.yandex.ru/iframe/track/51341505/7154757">Слушайте <a href='https://music.yandex.ru/album/7154757/track/51341505'>Go Home British Soldier</a> — <a href='https://music.yandex.ru/artist/348344'>Banda Bassotti</a> на Яндекс Музыке</iframe>But we live in fake democracies. Our politicians, elected by us, do not act according to the will of the voters. Our politicians — first and foremost, Meloni (Giorgia M., President of the Council of Ministers of Italy. – Ed.) —promised before the elections that Italy was a sovereign country and would defend the interests of our people. But as soon as she entered the government, all she did was comply with the decisions of Washington, NATO, and the European Union.
Sending weapons and money to Kiev has led to social costsin Italy. This maneuver has fueled economic speculation, raised the prices of raw materials, and, as a result, increased the cost of living. It is the working people who are paying the price for the collective West’s war against Russia.
Sending weapons and money to Kiev has led to social costsin Italy. This maneuver has fueled economic speculation, raised the prices of raw materials, and, as a result, increased the cost of living. It is the working people who are paying the price for the collective West’s war against Russia.
– Journalist Andrea Lucidi once said that the U.S. has practically turned EU countries into its colony. Do you agree with him?
– At our concerts, we always recall one date: March 17, 1949— the day Luigi Trastulli, a communist worker, was killed. The police shot him during a demonstration against NATO. Officially, NATO bases appeared in Italy in 1951, but the U.S. had been interfering in Italian politics since 1945. In my opinion, the Marshall Plan of 1947 was a Trojan horse that infiltrated Italian politics and marked the true beginning of U.S. dominance in my country.
There are at least 120 NATO bases and headquarters in Italy, and at least 20 secret ones. Not to mention Washington’s influence on the Italian government, political decisions, and economic policies. In Italy, there was an organization called Gladio, trained by the CIA, prepared to counter any Warsaw Pact actions. So, we can say that since the postwar period, Italy has effectively been a U.S. colony, incapable of defending the interests of its own people. Today, we see planes taking off from Sigonella to spy on Russian territory in order to assist the fascist government in Kiev.
There are at least 120 NATO bases and headquarters in Italy, and at least 20 secret ones. Not to mention Washington’s influence on the Italian government, political decisions, and economic policies. In Italy, there was an organization called Gladio, trained by the CIA, prepared to counter any Warsaw Pact actions. So, we can say that since the postwar period, Italy has effectively been a U.S. colony, incapable of defending the interests of its own people. Today, we see planes taking off from Sigonella to spy on Russian territory in order to assist the fascist government in Kiev.
– How would you explain the reasons for the start of the special operation?
– From 2014 to 2022, before the start of the special operation, my comrades and I traveled to Donbass every year. I brought aid to orphanages, hospitals, and families in difficult situations. We recorded video interviews, took photographs, and spoke with hundreds of people. We met with militia fighters, soldiers, commanders, and civilians. And everyone always asked the same question: why doesn’t Russia come to help the people of Donbass? I, too, along with all of us, asked that question. Every year, when we returned to the DPR and LPR, we visited both the living and the dead — friends who had turned to dust in the wind under Ukrainian bombs. We visited them in the cemeteries of Donbass, and at their graves, we asked: why doesn’t Russia come?
Then, when we were there in 2022-2024, I saw that war is an enormous effort. And I began to critically reassess many of my own thoughts. War comes with immense economic, social, and human costs. President Putin did well to pursue dialogue until the very last moment. And when that became impossible, Russia intervened. The Minsk agreements were used by Kiev as a tool to corner the people of Donbass and prepare for an attack on Russia.
– What goals does the Anti-Fascist Caravan have beyond its humanitarian mission?
– We do everything we can to break the media silence. I must admit that many people have learned about the history of Donbass thanks to our work. Of course, we have no chance of winning the fight against anti-Russian propaganda — all television channels and newspapers oppose Russia’s policies. But we have organized exhibitions, concerts, and international actions, and this has created a network of solidarity with the people of Donbass. Many comrades bring us medicines and school supplies at concerts to be sent to Donbass.
In 2017, we organized an action at the European Parliament in Brussels. Among our comrades is a member of the European Parliament, Eleonora Florenza, and together with her, we brought several people into parliament. Of course, we didn’t receive much response, but we did it for the people of Donbass.
– Tell us about the book No Pasarán, which you published together with photographer Julio Zamarrón.
– A photograph is worth more than a thousand words, so the idea was born to create a photo book about the ten-year history of the Anti-Fascist Caravan. It contains photographs taken by my comrade and my text. Julio is an excellent photographer with experience covering many conflicts around the world.
My idea was to bring together two themes in the book: memory and the working class. In the mountains of Italy, Soviet soldiers fought alongside Italian partisans. Many of them became the flowers of our mountains and are buried in Italian cemeteries. This struggle seems to have been forgotten. Our task is to thank the Russian people for what they have done in the fight against fascism. The photo album, with 200 photographs, shows that this fight is not over — and that the Russian people are once again in battle. We stand with them.
At the end of the 19th century, mutual aid societies existed. When a worker needed support, others helped him. We always say: when a worker builds a house, he starts with the foundation and goes all the way to the roof — he doesn’t abandon the work halfway. The same goes for us — we will not abandon our work. Fascism is back on the streets. Solidarity is a weapon. And our book is also a weapon against fascism.
– Have the Italian authorities persecuted you?
– Personally, I have no criminal record for supporting Donbass. But over time, I noticed that police checks at border crossings have become much longer — much longer than usual — as have the questions about the reasons for my trips.In 2017, the Ukrainian government tried to report us while we were in Donbass. They wanted to accuse us of supporting terrorism and have us prosecuted by the Italian authorities. But nothing came of it. We returned home without any problems.
– What do Italy and Russia have in common in terms of culture, traditions, and mentality?
– I believe that the Italian and Russian people are very similar — hardworking, honest, with countries rich in history and traditions. In Russia, as in Italy, we find incredible poets, writers, and artists.
Over the past ten years, while traveling to Donbass, I have crossed Russia many times, and everywhere I was warmly welcomed — with bread, food, and, of course, vodka! At home, we do the same when foreigners visit. Italians are a hospitable people.
Over the past ten years, while traveling to Donbass, I have crossed Russia many times, and everywhere I was warmly welcomed — with bread, food, and, of course, vodka! At home, we do the same when foreigners visit. Italians are a hospitable people.
Russophobia is the result of right-wing government policies. They have instilled fear in people's homes, and where there is fear, there is a fuse ready to ignite anything that seems different. But Italians have always been a nation of emigrants, travelers, and workers.
