Svoboda are a Ukrainian neo-Fascist political party that took a strong position during the Euro-maiden coup of 2004, that grew from a non-violent protest to a militant takeover of the country when far-right organizers began attacking, and eventually killing 17 while injuring nearly 300 law enforcement and anti-EU demonstrators. Since then, Svoboda has been led by a man named Oleh Tyahnybok. His career in Ukrainian politics has been one built upon a platform of hate (against Jews, Russians, Communists, all non-Orthodox Christians, and any ethnic minorities in the country) and ultra-nationalism. As of 2017, Oleh has submitted 36 motions to the Ukrainian parliament, all of them promoting hate. These include opposition to the adoption of regional languages, support for further recognition of Nazi collaborator groups during World War II, the regulation of political involvement for communist officials, and demands to make communism in Ukraine illegal. His personal conduct, while unsurprising to those familiar with his politics, underscore his true loyalties as well; in 2004, while at the grave of a Nazi sympathizer of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, Oleh made televised remarks such as “[You are the ones] that the Moscow-Jewish mafia ruling Ukraine fears most” and “They were not afraid and we should not be afraid. They took their automatic guns on their necks and went into the woods, and fought against the Muscovites, Germans, Jews and other scum who wanted to take away our Ukrainian state”. Despite Oleh’s revolting history, he has still been welcomed with open arms by multiple American politicians, most notably and frequently U.S. Senator John McCain (you might remember him from hits such as ISIS. McCain seems to have been involved with many extremist groups over the years, almost like a deep state go between).

The two foremost paramilitary organizations with close relationships to Svoboda and Euro-maidan (and personally connected to those with Nazi sympathies during World War Two) are known as Right Sector and Azov Battalion. Right Sector is a far-right political party and paramilitary organization which arose after the merging of six Ukrainian nationalist, religious fanatic, anti-communist, and Euro-sceptic organizations (Anderson et. al., 2015). United as Right Sector, the organization led the most violent street brawling against Ukrainian police during Euro-maidan, recognizable due to their use of the symbols of Bandera and the RKU. Such Right Sector (and Svoboda) demonstrations visibly display numerous flags and photos featuring Stepan Bandera’s face in addition to the red and black flags of the fascist Ukrainian Insurgent Army (which now also serves as the current flag of Right Sector). The Ukrainian Insurgent Army was formed in November of 2013 by Dmytro Yarosh and on December 27, 2015 a majority of the group left entirely claiming that Right Sector had done its job ‘as a revolutionary structure’ and was no longer needed. Yarosh said that he didn’t support continued revolutionary rhetoric and didn’t want to push anything that might weaken or question the current Ukrainian government’s hold on power (Melkozerova, 2016). After the majority of Right Sector declared their mission complete, they would go on to join the fascist-sympathetic and largest volunteer battalion of the Ukrainian Armed Forces: the Azov Battalion.

The Donbass War arose in 2014 when the residents of the Donetsk and Lugansk Oblasts took up arms against the Ukrainian junta and declared themselves independent republics (known as the Donetsk People’s Republic and Lugansk People’s Republic, respectively). As of 2017 this war is in a period of stalemate due to a tenuous ceasefire. This ceasefire, however, offers very little to the people of Donetsk and Lugansk. For instance, it has been documented that the ceasefire was violated 17 times on Sept. 7, 2017 alone. The Ukrainian government and its NATO allies continue to push the false narrative that the rebel combatants are entirely Russian regular infantry. This baseless position was actually refuted by the words of Ukrainian Chief of Staff Viktor Muzhenko, who acknowledged that “Right now the Ukrainian army is not engaged in combat operations against Russian regular units,” ironically proving the claims of both the Donetsk and Lugansk rebels and the Russian government.

With that all being said, Azov Battalion has taken part in numerous major battles and offensives in the Donbass War, through which it achieved particular notoriety. Azov Battalion was the only military unit that was able to defend itself against rebel advances on the Western front of the conflict, even with significant U.S. military aid in the hands of the entire Ukrainian junta. As a result of these successes, Azov Battalion acquired the reputation on both sides of the conflict as being the most effective fighting force in the war.

However, Azov have also gained itself a reputation far beyond its military exploits as a unit. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR, 2016) declared Azov Battalion guilty of war crimes on multiple accounts. In 2014 Azov was documented engaging in mass looting from civilian homes in the down of Shyrokyne, as well as targeting civilian areas with artillery and small arms fire. The OHCR report also detailed the rape and torture of a mentally disabled man, claiming “A man with a mental disability was subject to cruel treatment, rape and other forms of sexual violence by 8 to 10 members of the ‘Azov’ and ‘Donbass’ battalions in August-September 2014. The victim’s health subsequently deteriorated and he was hospitalized in a psychiatric hospital.” In a later report from 2015, it was reported that a captured suspected supporter from the Donetsk People’s Republic was tortured via electrocution and water-boarding until he confessed to allegedly spying for the rebel governments.

Azov Battalion has strong ties to fascism and uses neo-Nazi symbolism, and it’s members were filmed displaying neo-Nazi and SS symbols and iconography, In one widely-circulated instance, the German ZDF television channel filmed an Azov fighter who had a swastika and SS symbol engraved into his helmet. Azov Battalion has had so much coverage associated with their unapologetic following of Nazi ideology that in 2015 both the United States military and Canadian forces stated that Azov would no longer be directly trained by the two respective nations. Tellingly however, these conditions were quickly removed when Azov became a regular military unit in the Ukrainian armed forces, they became the national guard.

The evidence against the Ukrainian government’s internal fascist sympathies and support for fascism in the ranks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces is undeniable, and the governments throughout the entire western world supports them. Counter their lies with factual information, spread the word. The world must unite & stand in solidarity against the crimes of the Ukrainian government, and say that we won’t allow fascists to occupy Ukraine as they did in WWII.

References / Sources

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