- Local Name: Πυρήνες Άμεσης Δράσης
- Transliteration: Pyrínes Ámesis Drásis
- Alternatives: N/a
- Status: 2021 – Active
- Conflicts: Greek Anarchist Militancy
The Direct Action Cells [PAD; Pyrínes Ámesis Drásis] is a franchise that aims to improve the organization of Greek anarchist militants and provide a coherent framework for the revolutionary fight against the “flags of nationalism, racism, militarism, imperialism, exploitation and techno-totalitarianism”. The structure provides aligned cells with a thought-out political plan and a strategy for a sustained campaign of violent attrition against the state and “authoritarian elite”. It seeks to foster mutual assistance between allied cells and facilitate the organizational coupling of the various revolutionary forces in Greece.
The PAD was apparently formed somewhere in late 2020 or early 2021. On Jan. 23, the Core of Revolutionary Solidarity [PAD-PEA; Pyrínas Epanastatikís Allilengýis] launched the first operation under the name of the franchise when its members set off an incendiary bomb at an economic thinktank in Athens.1 The cell carried out two further attacks before asserting responsibility for the actions in a statement posted on a left-wing extremist website on Feb. 01.2 The message marked the first time that the name of the PAD appeared in public. A few days later, the Thessaloniki-based Anarchist Action Organization [OAD; Orgánosi Anarchikí Drási] which had been active in the northern Greek city since 2017 attacked the premises of a Greek-American association.3 The OAD claimed the action in the name of the PAD and carried out several others attacks on behalf of the franchise in the following weeks. Other cells followed suit. The Anarchist Anti-Violence Nucleus [PAD-PAA; Pyrínas Anarchikís Antivías] and Elisaveta Kovalskaya Core [PAD-PEK; Pyrínas Elisavet Kovalskaya] attacked the homes of police officers in Athens and Thessaloniki, while the Nucleus of Anti-Government Rage [PAD-PAO, Pyrínas Antikratikís Orgís] burnt a diplomatic vehicle.4 On Jun. 30, 2021, members of the Core of Rebellious Violence [PAD-PEV; Pyrínas Exergertikís Vías] were behind an incendiary bomb blast outside the residence of a well-known Greek political analyst in Athens.5
The PAD is not the first manifestation of anarchist cells operating as a franchise in Greece. Attacks have been claimed in the name of the Greek branch of the Informal Anarchist Federation [AAO; Átypi Anarchikí Omospondía] for years. The PAD is clearly a much tighter structure however and thus signals a strategic escalation by Greece’s anarchist militants. The franchise is present in both Athens and Thessaloniki, it centralizes communications and has openly stated to strive towards closer cooperation between its constituent cores.
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