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Ukraine and the issue of far right

After watching a documentary on Ukrainian kids going on to Azov camps during holidays or weekends where they thought to hate Russians, I started thinking on the political situation in Ukraine and the relation to the far right.

After the Maidan revolution in 2014 Azov gained traction when they as a paramilitary faction became involved in the civil war in the Donbass. They were also controversial because they were far right, leaning heavily into fascism. Due to the involvement in the Donbass fighting, they became popular. Not because of their ideology but because of what they did for Ukraine. Because of that, they seemed to have become somewhat mainstream where they created children camps (Youth Corps). The ideology of fascism wasn’t present there. They knew that Ukrainians werent fond of their ideology and they wouldn’t get away with it. I doubt that many Ukrainians even know what crimes Azov commited during and after Maidan?

where is the left opposition?

the left side of the political spectrum seems crippled. At first glace it seems that the leftist parties were banned especially communist parties as other left wing parties who seem pro-Russian. These parties were either disbanded or banned after the invasion. The mainstream political parties are mostly centrist, liberal and nationalist. This seems like to justify what Putin has been saying but the thing is, if you look further you will find out why that happened. Most parties were banned or disbanded after the invasion of Russia into Ukraine, so that doesn’t support the claim of Putin. The party to which Zelenskyi belongs to is a liberal party. After the fall of the USSR and the independence day of Ukraine in august that year, most former USSR countries started to decommunisation of their countries. Which made sense. After the second world war, everything that had to do with nazi’s and fascism was outlawed and banned. Even so, neonazi’s and fascism wasn’t popular either. Which made sense seeing what atrocities the Nazi’s commited during the occupation.

Why did Ukraine ban or dismantle the leftist parties? The reason lies that after the invasion of Russia into Ukraine, many stated that they were pro Putin. That even communists sided with the invading forces is something that I don’t understand. Even communists in Russia sided with Putin and were openly pro-war. The original Communist party was banned so later communists had to come up with a different name. In 2015 Ukraine passed laws to ban nazi and communist ideology and symbols used in public domain. So they made it clear that they wanted to walk a different path. Its not really clear as to why leftist parties became pro Russian and sided with Russians against Ukraine. The main issue seem that the left in Ukraine had trouble getting from under the shadow of the USSR shadow of the past. A new left wing democratic socialist movement exist but mostly outside parliament. Any party or movement that seems to have ties or associations with soviet past or anything resembling soviet nostalgia or pro-Russian are viewed politically toxic. Another reason is that the focus lies now on war time and survival, not economic left/right issues.

Azov movement

After Maidan, Azov became popular but not because of their ideology but through their actions in the Donbass region. As usually it goes, oligarchs started funding far right groups like свобода, a far right political party. Before that, before 2014 far right parties rarely got above the political thresshold to be allowed into parlement. At first the far right were linked to skinheads, neonazi’s but also pro Russian and Ukrainian ultra nationalists. Maidan changed everything. A civilian movement was created so that they would become more mainstream and they started to tone down their rhetoric in a effort to become more accepted. Its a tactic that other far right groups started using to gain more acceptance among the masses. It works. We see it everywhere in the world. In Flanders with Vlaams Belang we see that they put on a social mask to mask their far right ideology and rhetoric with every now and than they show their true colours when it comes to certain topics like immigration, anything related to “woke”. Azov maintained ties with other groups like Golden Dawn but after the acceptance they toned down their symbols and rhetoric but its always there, even if it is beneath the surface. A couple of years ago, Zelensky was on a video call with the Greek parlement where he allowed a service member speak for the parlement, but one member of parlement was awake during this and spotted the fascist symbols and stated that Zelensky allowed a fascist speak for a foreign parlement. PR wise, it was a disaster. It does show that Ukraine like many European countries are struggling with their far right groups and parties within their borders.

Since 2018 they were absorbed in the national guard and on the surface far right elements were purged from the group. So there are no open ties anymore with far right or fascist groups. That said, there is still some concern that there are those who still have ties to these movements.so on the surface there are no far right elements in the group.

During economic crisis or hardship the oligarchs, capitalists invest in far right groups and parties to try to maintain their power over society, knowing full well that they will do their bidding. Right now, for the last decade or more, we are seeing the general acceptance of certain far right elements who appear civillised to the masses. As we can see, the far right is far more organised than the left is.

Even so, even if we view what Azov is doing the last decade and more, its in no way of saying that I support the war in Ukraine, which I don’t and never will. All the reasoning that Putin gave is BS. If Putin really feared that Kyiv was becoming a fascist regime, he needed to bring evidence, which he does not have. The existence of movements like Azov does not mean that a country is fascist. If that was the case, Belgium(VB), France (FN) the Netherlands (PVV, FVD) and even Germany (ADF) would be deemed far right countries which they aren’t of course. As i have stated before, this war is about resources and spheres of influence than anything else. Even the NATO argument is not a strong argument for it.

I have stated it before and i will say it again. This war needs to end preferably yesterday than tomorrow. Russia needs to witdraw from Ukrainian regions. It got stuck in a war of attrition and i doubt that they will win this war. All because a moron called Putin connected his political fate and legacy with this war.

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8 responses to “Ukraine and the issue of far right”

  1. Tove Avatar
    Tove

    Ukrainian kids hate Russians because Russians invaded their country, bombed their hospitals, schools and maternity wards.  My uncle, who lives in Eastern Ukraine, had to hide pregnant women in his children’s clothing store because Russia specifically targeted maternity wards and schools, trying to crush the morale of the Ukrainian people.  Russian planes would wait until rescue workers came to rescue the people inside and come back to kill those too.  Last time I checked, Russia crossed 200,000 Geneva convention violations in Ukraine.  One of them is building 23 concentration camps across Russia for the children Russia kidnapped from Ukrainian Russia controlled territories where they are trying to re-educate Ukrainian children that they are really Russian after forcibly removing them from their parents.

    It’s illegal in Ukraine to be a member of the Nazi party and work in any part of the Ukrainian government including the military. This is because 90% of Ukraine was occupied during WW2, when actual Nazis were invading Europe.  The Azov battalion no longer exists, in any way but its name. It was absorbed into the Ukrainian military around 2018, at which point all far right elements were expunged out of it as per the above mentioned Nazi law. After that, the battalion became a branch of the Ukrainian military, essentially the equivalent of US Green Berets or our special ops. 

    It wasn’t leftist parties that were banned in Ukraine at the onset of the war.  The parties that were banned were double agent parties created by Russian double agents that have always been prevalent in Ukraine.  Yabukovich was thrown out of Ukraine during the Maidan revolution and where did he go?  He is still in Russia.  Ukraine held multiple popular elections since his escape after he used his personal guard to shoot at students protesting his attempts to curtail Ukrainian democracy, but despite that he maintains that he is the rightful president of Ukraine.  Then why didn’t he come back to stand trial for his actions?  Are you telling me that Russia could get a president in, but the party he was in couldn’t possibly be infiltrated?  

    They didn’t side with Putin because there were ideological reasons.  They sided with Putin because they were FSB members or on his payroll.  Even members of the clergy were.  Ukrainian military raided the head church in Kyiv and found Russian money, Pro-Russian literature and even a 5th column, armed, hiding in the catacombs of the church waiting to invade the government buildings.  

    I think Ukraine is struggling with far bigger problems than far right groups.  Like millions of Ukrainian citizens, kidnapped and tortured by Russia.  Russia is an opportunist.  They don’t have an ideology except imperialism.  Ukraine to them is a colony they want back.  If they need to be right or left to do it – then so be it.  

    This war is about the destruction of Ukrainian culture, language and cultural identity.  Russia built their 23 camps across its territory to program Ukrainian children to believe they are Russian.  To make them forget their language, culture and traditions, so that when they turn 18 they can be inducted into the Russian military to kill Ukrainian people.  

    Please stop it with the Azov battalion already, the subject has been studied to death and European Council already removed that Nazi stamp from them after studying the situation extensively and essentially coming out of it with information I posted above.  Yes, some of the people who were in it in 2014 were all sorts of nasty, but it was a volunteer group back then, it was just a bunch of guys who got together to kick out the first Russian invasion.  But today, it was the Azov battalion that stood ground in Mariupol in 2022 as Russia bombed a theater that was marked with the words “children here” .  Today, saying “Azov” in Ukraine is like saying “Delta Force” in US.  Why not change the name? Because of all those who weren’t Nazis who died defending Ukraine. Ukrainians will not besmirch their contributions snd sacrifices, not for a PR campaign.

    Russia has been working very hard to keep the old stories about Azov battalion alive, their propaganda machine is state sponsored and has the largest budget of all the other departments.  They don’t care about left or right, they just want their colony back (that would be Ukraine).  They will never stop coming until Ukraine is theirs or until the rest of the world pushes back on their BS.  Hating Russians?  Do you know what regular Russians are saying about this war in Russia?  “We will win, Ukraine is just a borderland of Russia”.  Indignation that Ukraine hasn’t bent the knee to them.  Pride in their expansionism.  The older the people are, the more likely they take this view.  This is why what Ukraine is teaching their children is, Russia is an invader.  Because they are.  The Baltic states have a manual they created in case Russia invades them, for the citizens.  Why?  Because they did invade, Georgia, Moldavia, and now Ukraine, and they are going to go to the Baltics next, to make their way to Kaliningrad.  So you tell me, what would you teach your children about Russians if you were in Ukraine? People keep asking me, what it would take for Ukraine to forgive. Well, you have to ask for forgiveness first. Has Russia even asked?

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    1. aidonian82 Avatar
      aidonian82

      Thank you for your response. It was interesting to read it. If this war stops and Russia asks for for forgiveness, should the question not be if does Russia deserve it to be forgiven for the atrocities that their military has committed against the Ukrainian people? At this moment I would say no. They don’t deserve it.
      So it’s understandable that they teach people to hate Russians but it isn’t correct to do so. Russian soldiers? Sure. Ordinary citizens? No. It’s perfectly ok for Ukrainians have a different view on this. I did check it out and you were right about Azov but it’s also a bit nuanced. The extremists in the top are gone. There is still fear that there are people there who still have ties with far right and fascists groups.

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      1. ganglerisgrove Avatar
        ganglerisgrove

        Why is it wrong to hate your oppressor? I thought you leftists talked about that all the time. The people are afraid … of Russia, not of imaginary fascist groups. Mighty white of you to allow Ukrainians to have opinions thoughts.

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      2. aidonian82 Avatar
        aidonian82

        Because teaching to hate people only leads to more violence and hatred and the cycle of violence doesn’t end. It’s more nuanced. It’s ok to hate the soldiers and Putin afterall , it was Putin who ordered the failed special military operation that didn’t accomplish what he intended to with scores of people dead and wounded on both sides, more on Russian side. It does show the courage and bravery of Ukrainian soldiers who defended their country against the invaders. The Russian population are mostly brainwashed by propaganda. Opposition against the war isn’t tolerated there. I wouldn’t say imaginary fascist groups because during crisis they spring up and can take power if the war ends badly for Ukraine. And I do hope that is not the case. I have the luxury to think about that while Ukraine is busy trying to survive this war.

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      3. ganglerisgrove Avatar
        ganglerisgrove

        My ideal ending to this would be seeing Russia parceled out, much like Germany was after WWII, with only the 16th century territory of Muskovy remaining intact. most of it was, after all stolen from indigenous peoples. I’m half Lithuanian and my family is well aware that the Baltics are next if Putin isn’t stopped. I actually don’t hate the soldiers. They’re doing a job, often under fear of torture. I read a book recently about the tactics Russia used in the Winter war with Finland, and it was pretty much what they’re doing now, making their own army a meat grinder. I don’t hate them; I actually feel sorry for them up to a point.

        Also, I don’t think every Russian is at fault, by any means. Hating an entire people for what their government does is foolish, and Putin is cannibalizing his own people brutally. At the same time, where is their resistance? I would hold a regular bureaucrat in Nazi Germany culpable — the machine wouldn’t have run but for those manning it at the smallest stations right on up … so too, I look at the Russians who refuse to educate themselves, who accept Putin’s brutality as bearing some responsibility. If there is peace, forgiveness is simply not enough. It is not our right to forgive for the dead. At the very least, financial reparation to Ukraine, completely removal of all troops from the Crimea and Dombas, and return of every single child taken. That’s without taking into account their warcrimes — and I’ve lost count there.

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      4. Tove Avatar
        Tove

        I think it will be hundreds of years before any kind of decent relationship could be established between the people living in either side of the border. Once you, a normal everyday citizen, spend your time digging out dead bodies of your friends out of burned out cars and buildings because Russia purposely bombed the streets of your town, those acts and those graves remain. And I think it’s a mistake to separate the Russian military from Russian civilians in this case. When this war started, Eastern Ukraine had a very close relationship with Russia, they are on the border with Russia after all. People from Kharkiv went on vacation to St. Petersburg all the time. But when Russia started to bomb the cities, regular population, and people had relatives in Russia (think how many Americans probably have relatives in Canada or Belgians have in France) the things that regular Russian citizens said back are just not something that anyone could forget. We have a family friend who was a nurse in Kharkiv and who has an aunt who lives in Russia. She would call her aunt and say “your people are bombing the hospital I work in” and the aunt would respond with “don’t worry, as soon as we get rid of the Nazis and take over your country, everything will be ok”. She was hiding on a staircase from the bombs and this is what her aunt was telling her. She stopped speaking to her aunt eventually because she got tired of how her aunt kept rewriting what was going on in every conversation. When you and your family are under direct attack from missiles and this is what your aunt says, she just couldn’t continue speaking to her.

        This is a common story. In the beginning, there were a lot of Ukrainian people calling people in Russia, relatives and friends, and the common response was “well, you are all Nazis, so you deserve it”. There are now sons and fathers who will never ever speak to each other again, brothers and sisters. This is a very common theme.

        Think on it this way: the Ukrainian territories that Russia occupied have been managed by Russian civilians, not Russian military. They shipped in Russian teachers that burned Ukrainian books because they are in Ukrainian, some original works out of churches that go back over 2,000 years, and then told the parents that there is a new pro Russian curriculum and if their kids don’t attend, they will take their children. Russia kidnapped over a million children from Ukraine, and most of that was done by Russian civilians. People who knocked on the doors of Ukrainian homes and told them they were taking them to camps for kids in Crimea to give them a brake from the war, civilian bus drivers who bused them directly into Russia, civilian teachers and managers who held meetings and organized a move of Ukrainian children. Those 23 camps are run by Russian civilians. Did Germany during WW2, regular citizens, believe the Hitler propaganda? Absolutely! Should they be responsible that their town had a ghetto right outside complete with the stove for burning people? Yes. Because doing nothing and saying that this is ok is why it worked.

        The woman who is responsible for kidnapping and moving of those children, Maria Lvova-Belova, is a civilian, and there is an order for her arrest at the international Criminal court, just like there is for Putin, for exactly this – basically kidnapping over a million children. There is even a video of her asking Putin publicly if they should all be granted citizenship and he approves of it.

        Do you have any idea how many civilians actively support this war in Russia? Millions. They are against any negotiation because they believe Ukraine should be theirs. They actively went to Mariupol, and took over people’s homes because they are Russian so it’s theirs now. Ordinary citizens seem fine on the surface – until you actually have a conversation them. Then eventually they will tell you how Ukraine isn’t really a country, or how it’s ok to bomb a kindergarten because there are Nazis there. What personally killed me was when Buchi, Irpen and Borodianka were liberated and the scale of Russian war crimes became known across the world. They made a movie about it. There was satellite imagery of it – tanks driving over Ukrainian citizens protesting against Russian military in their town, dead bicyclist on the street of Buchi. What killed me was when we called our Russian “friends” they said it was all photoshop, or that the people who died were actors. They are still exhuming graves in Izium, and they say it’s propaganda. At some point, you just accept them as they are. Ukraine is full of dead citizens, dead children, destroyed cities. I’m sorry if Russian people’s feelings are hurt that Ukrainians can’t tolerate them anymore. Maybe it’s good parenting to tell your children to stay away from those who condone and encourage the destruction of your country?

        Every country has fears that there are extremist groups operating somewhere. If you have a country that has free speech, there is always a chance some idiots will shave their heads and have meetings in the basement of their mother’s home. You don’t even need free speech for that. Russia has booming pro Nazi organizations, and they openly march on their holidays there. Several of the Russian military units bear Nazi insignia and proclaim themselves as either openly neo- Nazi or similar movements.

        Just look at the unit called “Rusich”. For example. The leader has been in Ukraine since the invasion started, and has an open interview where he frankly says:

        “I’m a Nazi. I’m a Nazi. I’m not going to go deep and say, I’m a nationalist, a patriot, an imperialist, and so forth. I’ll say it outright: I’m a Nazi.”

        Aleksei Milchakov isn’t just some guy in the military, this is someone who shakes hands with all the top governors and politicians, who gets invited into the Kremlin and who heads an actual unit within the Russian military proper:

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rusich_Group

        I don’t want to post here what their leader proposed, it’s in the Wikipedia link, concerning what they called “the Ukrainian question”. I remember those words used in 1944 by the original Nazis.

        This is the man who leads/commands this unit, which IS a part Russian military:

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexey_Milchakov

        https://www.rferl.org/amp/russian-neo-nazis-fighting-ukraine/31871760.html

        Then there is the Russian Imperial Legion and Russian Imperial Movement – all military units care of the Russian federation. So, if Nazis is the top concern, I think it’s Russia that this kind of research needs to start at. Obviously they have no laws against it and have no issues with Nazis as long as they are Russian Nazis.

        One of the reasons why neo-Nazi organizations disappeared from Ukraine wasn’t just because Azov was integrated into the Ukrainian military. When the pro Nazi elements were ousted out of the Azov, they tried running in the parliamentary elections as politicians. They didn’t even win one seat – out of 450 in 2019, and that was before the full scale war.

        Do I think it’s a problem? Of course it’s a problem, it’s a problem every country should be concerned with. But I am more concerned with countries who sponsor it on the governmental level and allow these individuals to participate gun in hand in their military activities if that makes sense. As for Azov, those boys stayed in that iron factory in 2022 in Mariupol for weeks protecting what remained of the citizens of that city, they are heroes. So many of them are missing body parts and spent years being tortured by Russia. It’s important who they are so much more then who they were.

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      5. ganglerisgrove Avatar
        ganglerisgrove

        Well said, Tove!.

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      6. aidonian82 Avatar
        aidonian82

        Apologies that I can’t respond to the whole comment since I’m at work. I will say that I agree with you that it will take a long time before any decent relationship between Ukraine and Russia is established because of this conflict and I have heard similar stories. Those saying that all Ukrainians are nazis are usually those who fully believe the propaganda. Some might already believe it before the war. The rest of your comment is interessant to read, But will be for another time. Thanks for sharing your input guys! I appreciate it.

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