The danger of extreme nationalists in Ukraine has gradually been getting more serious attention in the western press, with words like “extreme right,” “neo-Nazi” and “skinhead” belatedly replacing euphemistic labels for the most radical political and paramilitary organizations. But it took the brutal killing of three unquestionably patriotic Ukrainian National Guardsmen during protests outside of the Verkhovna Rada to create some kind of consensus about the scale of their threat.

Activists from the radical nationalist party Svoboda clash with police and National Guardsmen outside the Verkhovna Rada on August 31. In the center, in black embroidered shirt and sunglasses is party leader Oleg Tyagnibok. From censor.net.ua

Many news outlets have doubtless been reluctant to give any credence to one of Moscow’s key justifications for launching its separatist project in eastern Ukraine. The presence of extreme Ukrainian nationalists and neo-Nazis in the revolutionary vanguard of Maidan was cited by Putin as reason to annex Crimea (“Sevastopol will never be Banderovsky”), and tacitly for arming and reinforcing the Donbas rebels as well.

For too long too many western observers have played a logic game: if we can find demonstrable exaggeration by the Russian press of the fascist threat in Ukraine, then everything the Russians (or anybody else) says about that threat must be false.

This works very well, because the Russian press is prone to fakes, spin and hysteria. And so the fact that are not actually bands of Ukrainian neo-Nazis hunting down Russian speakers on the street has allowed many observers to disregard the unconcealed role of radical nationalists in politics and national security.

And so it is especially important to hear Ukrainian perspectives about the far right, especially from pro-unity, anti-separatist commentators. Such sources have no interest in exaggerating the role of the radicals, and much motivation to downplay it. So reading their honest, alarming words was a wakeup call for us.

Several mainstream Ukrainian media deserve credit for reporting on the radicals from the very start, especially the popular daily Vesti. For this the paper became a target of masked “activists” who trashed its offices and publicly destroyed large quantities of the paper. But Vesti’s (mostly unfair) reputation among many Ukrainians as “mouthpiece of the Kremlin” meant that its warnings often fell on deaf ears. But today more and more Ukrainian media are covering this topic, especially the hip news website Bukvy.com, which has impeccable anti-separatist credentials.

In this post we present excerpts from two Bukvy articles. The first is a searing critique of the site’s own liberal readership for having legitimized the radical political party Svoboda during the Maidan protests. The second lays out in detail how Russian neo-Nazis have found a place in Ukrainian volunteer battalions and even national politics by positioning themselves as uncompromising enemies of Putin’s regime.

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Hostages of Svoboda

Lelik Krakowsky

Original: http://bykvu.com/home/mysli/7531.html

Today it’s easy to talk about the political death of Oleg Tyagnibok [head of the radical nationalist party Svoboda, accused of inciting the killings of National Guardsmen outside the parliament on August 31], but somehow forget that not all that long ago Svoboda had 40 seats in parliament. That’s just slightly more than the most radical of today’s radicals, Lyashko [head of the Radical Party], holds right now.

Police and National Guardsmen wounded after a grenade was thrown during protests outside the Verkhovna Rada on August 31, 2015. From vesti-ua.net

The fact that Svoboda is composed of Nazi activists or those who are ready to work in solidarity with them, sponsor them and position them in municipal politics was known by absolutely everyone. Nonetheless, Svoboda’s electorate was wider than those who hold these far-right views. Amongst its voters were office plankton [Russian term for cubicle dwellers] who had little understanding of politics but who gobbled up the memes put out by our media.

It was understood that the Svobodovtsi were neo-Nazis, but society handed them responsibility for the struggle for our civil rights. Even though, a priori, neo-Nazis have no concept of civil rights. But that didn’t worry anyone.

This all shows that our society isn’t capable of thinking adequately, and reacts only to media propaganda. And the media, in turn, can tell the electorate anything: “Yanukovich is a thief,” “Yuschenko is the president,” “Putin is a crab,” “Everbody to Maidan!” And it works.

It is popularly thought that Maidan was a people’s protest. The people came to the Veche [popular assembly] and threw Yanukovich out. But in truth Yanukovich wasn’t overthrown by the people, but by the corpses of dozens of dead activists.

The participants of those violent days think that society supports them. But imagine what would have happened if the media had oriented itself on journalistic standards and the Criminal Code when it reported on the bloody events of Maidan, which assumes punishment for both sides of the conflict, the Berkut [riot police] and titushki [anti-Maidan hired thugs] along with the activists. Then Yanukovich wouldn’t have had to flee.

We understand that these deaths were profitable and played into the hands of the opposition, including “Svoboda”. Maidan without press propaganda would have ended exactly as the demonstrations ended by Svoboda and Lyashko’s Radicals outside the Verkhovna Rada on August 31 [arrest and opprobrium for the radical perpetrators].

Let me say something that won’t be popular. Despite my loathing for the far right I never really wanted to see any of them get seriously punished, let alone get sent to jail…The guilt for the tragedy outside the Rada is with propaganda and the attempts by some media and political consultants to justify criminality.

Igor Gumeniuk, volunteer in the Sich battalion and Svoboda activist accused of throwing the deadly grenade outside the Verkhovna Rada. From bykvu.com

People like Gumeniuk [the Svoboda protestor who allegedly threw the grenade], don‘t understand that…those representatives of the media who established the positive image of Maidan are today in power, and they aren’t inclined to share it with anyone: if Gumeniuk had been a hero on Maidan, today in the eyes of Ukrainska Pravda or Gromadske TV [media outlets popular amongst Maidan protestors] he’s a criminal.

Neither Tyaginbok, Lyashko nor Mosiychuk [a notorious radical MP and battalion leader] will face criminal charges for the grenade thrown outside the Verkhovna Rada. They didn’t even organize it’s throwing. [According to the authorities] the grenade was Gumeniuk’s personal initiative. He returned from the warzone where, possibly, he lost friends and possibly he was plagued by a comprehensible sense of the injustice of it. Maidan was not finished for him.

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The adventures of Russian neo-Nazis in Ukraine

Boris Gonta

Original: http://bykvu.com/home/mysli/8311/priklyucheniya-rossijskikh-natsistov-v-ukraine.html

The reason Russian nationalists came to Ukraine

It’s not a secret that the Nazi movement in Ukraine is less radical than that of Russia. The level of xenophobic crimes didn’t even approach that of our eastern neighbor. Although that didn’t stop Ukrainian neo-Nazis from concealing their Russian compatriots who were fleeing arrest. The Ukrainian security services chose to ignore the problem and did nothing to neutralize the situation. In general, feeling themselves more comfortable in Ukraine these Russian neo-Nazis connected their political future with her.

Despite the propaganda of Ukrainian patriotism, bordering on banal Russophobia and radical Ukrainian nationalism, for a long time there was no particular contradiction between the Nazi movements in Ukraine and Russia. They are all united by racism, Nazism and the fashionable radical subculture. In the political arena, Russian nationalists have long been trying to enter via legal nationalist organizations – the Movement Against Illegal Immigration, “Slavic Union” et al., However, the radicalism of their rank and file activists, participating in numerous murders and attacks on foreigners, made such a scenario impossible.

The Russian authorities have opened real criminal cases against some radicals, which were interpreted by nationalists as political persecution, hindering them from establishing “Russian order on Russian soil…”

The possibility of realizing their political ambitions came to fruition on Maidan when, due in no small part thanks to the Ukrainian authorities and intelligence agencies an image was created of the patriot ready to do anything to fight the “dictatorship Yanukovych.” The fact that the views of the neo-Nazis taking an active part in Maidan had nothing to do with its declared values of liberalism, freedom and democracy, was generally not acknowledged. By the time of Maidan almost all of the neo-Nazi movement had settled in “Praviy Sektor.”

Praviy Sektor activists on Maidan. The amorphous movement attracted radicals of many stripes who saw force as the only means to achieve the revolution’s victory. From 112.ua

There is a stereotype that Russian neo-Nazis supported Putin’s “Novorossiya” project and are enthusiastically fighting in the Donbass against the Ukrainian armed forces. However, this is not entirely true. Russia nationalists supported Maidan from the very start and propagandized it within Russia.

Many Russian nationalists saw in Maidan what they couldn’t find in Russia: the opposition was open to dialogue with neo-Nazis, and in society a sympathy towards representatives of the far right took root. In the eyes of ordinary inhabitants, sympathizing with democratic Maidan, no one but the radical nationalists was prepared to face down “Berkut” and really fight with the “Yanukovich regime.”

In Maidan Russian nationalists saw not the striving of Ukraine to membership in the European Union or to norms of liberal governance, but the chaos of revolution, opening opportunities for radical right forces. In the opinion of Russian nationalists, Maidan should have spread to Russia and accomplished the overthrow of Putin.

The nationalists saw how much these goals would be advanced by global communications, weapons and military experience – all of which they receive in the Anti-Terror Operation [Ukraine’s military campaign], fighting on a par with Ukrainian nationalists against the separatists and regular troops of the Russian Federation.

In December 2014 the creation of the so-called “Russian Insurgent Army” (RPA) was announced. In fact the project was late, because the neo-Nazis had already found the opportunity to fight in the ranks of the Donbass “Azov” and “Right Sector” battalions. The creation of the RPA is symbolic in that it included members of the organization “Black Committee”, which is accused of organizing and implementing the terrorist attack by the Verkhovna Rada of August 31.

Still from the Youtube video announcing the founding of the “Russian Insurgent Army,” (RPA) under the aegis of the Chorniy Komitet (“Black Committee”). Both organizations are associated with the neo-Nazi movement. From atoua.com

In Ukraine, the Russian nationalists received full support and solidarity, since they were perceived as fighters against the Putin regime. In turn, they viewed Ukraine as a fertile ground for the spread of their influence. In particular, in January 2014 the odious representative of “intellectual Russian nationalist” Egor Prosvirnin arrived in Ukraine and tried to establish working relations with his Ukrainian “colleagues”.

After the annexation of Crimea Prosvirnin defended the policy of the Kremlin and officially severed ties with Ukrainian right forces. However, the network of Russian nationalists associated with him continues to be involved in political and public life in Ukraine.

The “provocation” beneath the walls of the Russian Embassy and its members

On July 25 beneath the walls of the Russian embassy in Kiev a rally was organized in support of so-called Russian “political prisoners”. Despite the fact that the organizers and active participants of the demonstrations were Russian nationalists from the “Azov” battalion, the Ukrainian media did not report that amongst the protestors were followers of far right movements. The demonstration gained prominence only because of a supposed “provocation”: unknown persons tried to compromise the organizers, hinting that they were Nazi sympathizers. However, it later became clear that their participation in the rally was directly connected to the fact the “political prisoners” in question were members of the neo-Nazi movement in Russia.

Among the organizers of the protest was a well known figure, Russian nationalist Roman Zheleznov, known by the nickname of “Zyukhel”.

Roman “Zyukhel” Zheleznov at a demonstration in support of “Russian political prisoners” in Kyiv. From bykvu.com

According to some Ukrainian journalists Zyukhel is a political refugee. Officially he fled Russia because he supported Praviy Sektor from the start of Maidan. Namely in connection to his sympathy for PS he was excluded from the Russian organization “Restruct” which carries out pro-Kremlin social projects connected with fighting illegal immigration, pedophilia and narcotics.

Zyuhel was part of the Nazi movement WotanJugend, and also was involved in the movement NSWP. NSWP initiated another neo-Nazi project: Misanthropic Division (MD). Roman “Zyuhel” Zheleznov is a member of MD.

The Misanthrophic Division project is directly related to Maidan and became a reason for the schism within the Russian nationalist movement in February 2014. Russian nationalists divided into those who positively regarded the revolutionary events in Ukraine and those who categorically rejected them, taking off to fight for a Russian Crimea or Donbass. However, all those who that that the ideas of MD could be brought to realization later fought in the ranks of Azov in the Donbass.

But even after the schism Russian radical nationalists did not change their views or swear off Nazism, racism and xenophobia, regardless of which side they were fighting for in the Donbass.

Russian nationalists see opportunities in this war, and their conflicts between themselves focus only on who made the more correct decision in the name of the future of Russia and the Russian people. They don’t discuss Ukraine and its particular civilizational choice, they are supporting Ukraine opportunistically. Those who ended up in Ukraine and supported Maidan saw in it an extension of the struggle with the Putin regime and today cannot express their religious or imperial ambitions. Those who supported the “Novorossiya” project are freed of that necessity to conceal their views.

Ilya Bogdanov, the Misanthropic Division and the Petro Poroshenko Bloc

In Facebook there is a user named Ilya Bogdanov. He is just the sort of Russian nationalist described above, who settled in Ukraine due to this ideological view: total hatred of the “Putin regime” that is destroying the Russian people.

Hatred for Putin inspired him to head off to fight for Ukraine in the ranks of Praviy Sektor. Judging by his page on Facebook, Bogdanov managed to fight in Pesky and the Donetsk Airport, where we received internet fame. Interestingly, he had earlier sought to destroy the Russophobic systems “from within” by joining the FSB, and even took part in the Counterterrorism Operation against Chechen Mujahidin fighting for independence of the Caucasus.

Bogdanov is also a member of the Misanthropic Division. However, despite the fact that all of its members who came to fight for Ukraine are (or were) soldiers in Azov, Bogdanov was not accepted by that batallion. In his words, Azov regarded him with suspicion as a member of the enemy security agency. Thus, Bogdanov was forced to join Praviy Sektor instead.

Despite his active participation in the ATO, Ilya Bogdanov had difficulty receiving Ukrainian citizenship. He frequently wrote about this on his Facebook page. But this spring those problems suddenly ceased. “Unknown persons” helped Bogdanov receive citizenship. At first it was not known who helped this Russian neo-Nazi and FSB veteran, but soon it became clear – Bogdanov announced that he was committed to take part in upcoming municipal elections in the Petro Poroshenko Bloc.

Facebook post by Russian “political emigrant” and neo-Nazi ideologue Ilya Bogdanov, announcing his candidacy for the district council of Kyivo-Svyatoschinsky district in Kyiv in Petro Poroshenko’s “Solidarnist” bloc. The image at left shows his candidate’s mandate. From bykvu.com

Poroshenko does not hold authority amongst radical nationalist youth, especially amongst those who took active part in the war. Poroshenko is guilty for Ilovaisk, Debaltsevo and other military disasters. Namely he, in the opinion of nationalists, bears the full weight of responsibility for all problems in the ATO. And so the agreement of Bogdanov to participate in elections in the Petro Poroshenko Bloc looks, at the very least, strange.

In the beginning of October, 2015 in Kyiv a convention is planned for the “Russian Center,” an organization of “Russian political emigrants.” It should not surprise that beneath this attractive phrase are hiding typical Nazis, members of various Russian neo-Nazi organizations. We will only add that amongst the organizers we note Ilya Bogdanov, who is running for office in the Petro Poroshenko Bloc… and Roman Zheleznov, former member of Restruct, the Misanthropic Division and WotanJugend.

Russian nationalists in Ukraine are trying to establish structures for their political influence, which should function on the political situation in Russia. Exiled nationalist try to find a place in the volunteer battalions, liberal political parties and NGOs. But in order not to lose their originality and to enhance their influence, maintaining themselves as a monolithic political force, they continue to stick together. Despite their organizational divisions. For instance, despite the obvious political competition between the Azov Battalion and Praviy Sektor, the Russian nationalists fighting for these two groups remain close, because in truth nothing divides them. They have their common interest – the realization of the Russian nationalist project.