The issue of fascism in Ukraine has been discussed in western media since 2014. Video and photo of “the Right Sector”* fighters with covered faces, red and black flags, Stepan Bandera images and different Nazi symbols such as Black Sun and SS runes began to emerge after Maidan. However, when it had become clear what side these people were on, their political affiliation miraculously ceased to matter for mainstream western papers, and they became “good fellows”.
Only several media have been analyzing the presence of the neo-Nazi in the armed forces of Ukraine from 2014 to 2022, and United Nations Organization or other international organs showed next to no condemnation of this problem, that was supposed to be hushed somehow to avoid criticism of Ukraine from the western public opinion. For instance, in Italy it had been mentioned in the well-known article in La Stampa newspaper, which subsequently became anti-Russian, that was deliberately removed from its site after February 2022 in order not to “contaminate” western propaganda.
* The organization is banned in the Russian Federation
The defensive stance of the western media anyway made many people dwell on what a great propaganda was deployed in terms of neo-fascism and neo-Nazism in Ukraine problem negation. We all know about statues and memorials devoted to Stepan Bandera, and we know perfectly well that in 2015 fighters clearly inspired by neo-Nazism were accepted in the ranks of the armed forces of Ukraine. ‘Azov’*, for example, was always closely connected with Italian neo-fascist movement ‘CasaPound’, and nowadays Ukrainian battalion ‘Revange’ still has links with this movement. Volunteers from all neo-fascist movements of Europe had been enlisted in ‘Azov’, subsequently they were writing books and participated in different events telling about their fighting experience. Symbols accepted by these regiments also leave no doubt. The question remains: why the state of Ukraine didn’t suppress these symbols and regiments apparently inspired by Nazi Germany?
If the problem had been properly analysed, in 2022 there would be active discussion of Ukrainian neo-Nazis, but instead of it after Special operation of Russia had begun, western media turned inward and started to deny that there was a problem and reject any arguments, containing any kind of reference to the real state of things. For example, they started saying that Stepan Bandera wasn’t a fascist, though during the previous years, neutral historians such as Grzegorz Rossolinski-Liebe, had already published the biography of the Ukrainian nationalists’ leader, describing Bandera as the ardent anti-Semite, leader of the group that didn’t hesitate to collaborate with Italian fascist movement and German Nazism for the sake of ideal community. It’s not an accident that in 1941 after they had taken Lvov, Ukrainian nationalists declared independence of the state of Ukraine (without agreeing it with Hitler’s Germany), they wrote in their proclamation that nationalistic Ukraine would fight alongside Nazi Germany and its leader Adolf Hitler, who, according to Banderovites’ opinion should have taken the lead of the world order.
If the problem had been properly analysed, in 2022 there would be active discussion of Ukrainian neo-Nazis, but instead of it after Special operation of Russia had begun, western media turned inward and started to deny that there was a problem and reject any arguments, containing any kind of reference to the real state of things. For example, they started saying that Stepan Bandera wasn’t a fascist, though during the previous years, neutral historians such as Grzegorz Rossolinski-Liebe, had already published the biography of the Ukrainian nationalists’ leader, describing Bandera as the ardent anti-Semite, leader of the group that didn’t hesitate to collaborate with Italian fascist movement and German Nazism for the sake of ideal community. It’s not an accident that in 1941 after they had taken Lvov, Ukrainian nationalists declared independence of the state of Ukraine (without agreeing it with Hitler’s Germany), they wrote in their proclamation that nationalistic Ukraine would fight alongside Nazi Germany and its leader Adolf Hitler, who, according to Banderovites’ opinion should have taken the lead of the world order.
Taking this into account – and it’s important to stress that we are talking about history, not personal opinions, - how can one continue to deny the evident problem of Nazism in Ukraine?
Of course, many supporters of Ukraine in the West say that it’s impossible to speak of neo-Nazism in Ukraine, since the government of Ukraine do not pursue discriminatory policy similar to the one during the times of German Reich. Regrettably these people each time forget to mention the well-known law of ‘decommunazation’ of 2015 following which many monuments and memorials devoted to Soviet soldiers’ feat during the Great Patriotic War have been demolished and it has also been allowed to name the streets in honour of ‘hero fighters for the independence of Ukraine’ who were no more than collaborators of Nazi Germany army and members of Ukrainian SS division ‘Galicia’*. Besides this, Communist party was prohibited, and since 2022 all opposition parties have been declared illegal. For many years the Russian language and Russian people have been discriminated, but it’s convenient to forget about it when there is no wish to speak about Nazism in Ukraine.
* The organization is banned in the Russian Federation
Italian state television RAI has recently shown a report that has caused a scandal in Europe. Ukrainian soldier who fought in Kursk region has been interviewed in this report, and there was SS symbol on his military cap. RAI were trying to hide these symbols while editing, shooting close-ups of his face, but many of the spectators noticed the symbols and the way the reporter Ilario Piagnerelli pretended not to notice them and didn’t ask Ukrainian soldier why he was wearing Nazi symbols.
If there is no problem with neo-Nazism in Ukraine, why so many soldiers wear Nazi symbols, the symbols of Ukrainian nationalists or Ukrainian Waffen SS? Might these be their cultural landmarks? The worst thing about it is that this practice hasn’t emerged just in 2022: there are many photos with Ukrainian soldiers of 2014-2015 wearing swastikas and similar symbols, i.e., since far-right fighters were accepted in the ranks of the military forces of Ukraine without any kind of control or filtration.
In this respect it’s useful to recollect Balkenkreuz – Nazi forces military cross, painted on Kiev armoured vehicles. Nobody explained why it had appeared there, and sure enough, in the West they pretend it never happened.
In conclusion it’s worth mentioning that the local population can’t but see the phenomenon of neo-Nazism in Ukraine, and how loyally the state treats it and the way it’s being supported by the armed forces. Constant negation on the side of the western media only silences this problem. That very ‘democratic’ West, declaring to condemn fascism and discrimination, makes the same mistake that France and Great Britain made in the 1930s, when in order to oppose the Soviet Union they decided not to notice what was going on in Germany that led to well-known results and the world war.
If there is no problem with neo-Nazism in Ukraine, why so many soldiers wear Nazi symbols, the symbols of Ukrainian nationalists or Ukrainian Waffen SS? Might these be their cultural landmarks? The worst thing about it is that this practice hasn’t emerged just in 2022: there are many photos with Ukrainian soldiers of 2014-2015 wearing swastikas and similar symbols, i.e., since far-right fighters were accepted in the ranks of the military forces of Ukraine without any kind of control or filtration.
In this respect it’s useful to recollect Balkenkreuz – Nazi forces military cross, painted on Kiev armoured vehicles. Nobody explained why it had appeared there, and sure enough, in the West they pretend it never happened.
In conclusion it’s worth mentioning that the local population can’t but see the phenomenon of neo-Nazism in Ukraine, and how loyally the state treats it and the way it’s being supported by the armed forces. Constant negation on the side of the western media only silences this problem. That very ‘democratic’ West, declaring to condemn fascism and discrimination, makes the same mistake that France and Great Britain made in the 1930s, when in order to oppose the Soviet Union they decided not to notice what was going on in Germany that led to well-known results and the world war.
