The Armies of the Right -- Inside Ukraine's extremist militias | Harpers Weekly - Dec. 2020 |

Outside the city-council offices in Kyiv's Obolon district, Andriy Biletsky was about to give a speech. It was a spring day in 2019, and volunteers from Biletsky's far-right group, the Azov movement, were idling in the sunshine next to the gloomy Soviet-era building, while others milled about in the shade of the birch and linden trees of a nearby park, almost outnumbering the audience members. The volunteers wore tight-fitting T-shirts and heavy military boots, and were ready to record the proceedings with cell phones and camcorders. The spectators, mostly pensioners, clutched plastic shopping bags and gossiped among themselves.

Azov was established in 2014 as a volunteer militia, and was lauded for its heroic intervention in Ukraine's grueling campaign against Russian-backed separatists in the east. Since those early victories, however, Azov has expanded its scope, managing to integrate itself into the military, the police, and other structures of the Ukrainian state. It established its own political party, the National Corps. Biletsky, who commanded Azov's military forces against Russia, is the party's leader.

One respectably dressed middle-aged man carrying groceries asked Biletsky why he hadn't deployed his regiment to deal with the crooks in parliament. Biletsky sidestepped the question, reminding the crowd instead of the importance of voting.

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Ukraine is among the poorest countries in Europe and the closest thing the continent has to a failing state. It is mired in a smoldering conflict with Russian-backed separatists in its eastern provinces, and its state institutions have been almost entirely captured by competing oligarchs. Corruption pervades almost every level of government. Outside Kyiv's metro stations, elderly women in head scarves and bedraggled war veterans beg for change, while nearby the streets are lined with luxury shops and petty gangsters run red lights in black SUVs without fear of rebuke. Millions have emigrated to Poland or Russia for work. The capital has the uncanny feel, at times, of a postmodern Weimar, where Instagram influencers brunch in cafés tricked out in the international hipster style opposite billboards adorned with the faces of Ukraine's martyrs in the war against Russia.

The Al Jazeera news report from the trenches were hard-core neo-Nazis in the trenches on the front fighting Russian separatists.

'Sapere aude'

Examining the Threat of the Azov Movement in Ukraine | Geohistory |

The Azov movement has gained in reputation and power, not only in their home country of Ukraine, but across the world. The group, which began as a volunteer paramilitary organization, has evolved and expanded since its conception. Now an integrated part of Ukraine's formal military forces, its leaders are currently active in local and national politics. Although they have been only marginally successful at the polls, they have been very visible in the national discussion of how to form a new, post-Maidan Ukrainian identity through physical protests, online discussion, and active recruiting to their nationalist organizations. Comparing facets of Azov to 20th-century fascism reveals concerning similarities that should not be overlooked, as modern-day fascism and its violence could pose a threat to the current Ukrainian government's efforts to establish itself as a democratic, European state.

The Azov Battalion began after the separatist conflict broke out in eastern Ukraine in 2014 (OpenDemocracy, 2016). The group was created by members of two closely related ultra-nationalist and neo-Nazi organizations: the Social-National Assembly and the Patriot of Ukraine (Miller, 2018), and it quickly gained a reputation for helping the underequipped Ukrainian military forces. Azov eventually became an official regiment in Ukraine's National Guard.

Far-Right ideology has cemented itself in Ukraine under Zelensky

However, as recently as August 5, the Ukrainian president demonstrated that he has not deviated from the reactionary and extremist ideology of his predecessor. Zelensky said on the Dom TV channel that "for the sake of your children and grandchildren," those who identify as Russian in Donbass should "go find a place for yourself in the Russian Federation." Effectively, he called for the ethnic cleansing of Russians in Donbass, irrespective of the fact that Donbass has been an integral part of the Russian homeland since the 1600's. It cannot be overlooked that Zelensky's call for Russians to be ethnically cleansed from Donbass is in violation of the European Convention on Human Rights and the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. He received no condemnation from the EU or the UN.

Source for verification ...

Зеленський порадив виїжджати в Росію українцям із Донбасу, які вважають себе росіянами | Radio Svoboda - Aug. 5, 2021 |

Headline: Zelensky advised Ukrainians from Donbass who consider themselves Russians to leave for Russia.

Additional reading ...

Strategy and tactics of deoccupation: how can Ukraine regain its territories? | Radio Svoboda - March 2, 2021 |

'Sapere aude'