Shortly after the outbreak of violence at the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, on August 13, Kremlin-funded media outlets began comparing the incident to the Maidan protests in Ukraine and accusing U.S. commentators of hypocrisy in their response. This narrative was picked up and amplified by leading far-right and nationalist activists in the U.S.

Background: The Kremlin, Ukraine, and Nazis

The Kremlin and its amplifiers have long pushed the narrative that the 2013–2014 Ukrainian Maidan revolution was dominated by neo-Nazis, using this notion as partial justification for Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea. On March 18, 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin himself claimed that “nationalists, neo-Nazis, Russophobes and anti-Semites executed this coup [and] continue to set the tone in Ukraine to this day”; he also claimed that Russia annexed Crimea to “defend the rights and lives” of Crimea’s inhabitants.

This narrative has continued into the present, with Kremlin officials and pro-Kremlin trolls alike using the argument to discredit Ukraine and the Western countries that support it.

In Western press outlets much has been written about genuine neo-Nazi manifestations in Ukraine. Most notably, outlets like The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, The Financial Times, and Foreign Policy have all published pieces describing the notorious Azov battalion. Kremlin officials and amplifiers have consistently pointed to the existence of this force to portray the Ukrainian government and its supporters as Nazi apologists:

Weaponizing the narrative: Ferguson 2014 and #Afromaidan

Ever since the 2013–2014 Maidan peaceful protest movement, pro-Kremlin commentators have used the narrative of “Nazi Ukraine” to undermine the U.S. and its support for the movement and the government which emerged from it. In November 2014, when race riots broke out in Ferguson, Missouri, Russian media and internet users pointed to the riots as an example of U.S. hypocrisy: the U.S. had supported the Maidan protests in Ukraine, and yet now denounced all violence in Ferguson.

Translation: “Obama urged residents of Ferguson not to to commit disorder. Why didn’t he urge the residents of Kiev to do the same a year ago?”

Social media users coined the hashtag #Afromaidan and the term “Chernorossiya” (“Black Russia,” a play on the separatist term “Novorossiya” or “New Russia”) to sharpen the parallel:

“Chernorossiya, our choice! Give Ferguson a referendum!”

The narrative of “Nazi Ukraine” thus served a double purpose: it allowed the Kremlin’s apologists to justify the illegal annexation of Crimea and ongoing Russian military operations in eastern Ukraine while simultaneously deflecting Western — especially U.S. — criticism of those operations. This is a classic distraction technique, long part of the Russian (and Soviet) repertoire, referred to as “whataboutism.”

Pro-Kremlin trolls were still using the “Nazi Ukraine” narrative in early August 2017 to discredit Western support for Ukraine:

2017: Recycling the narrative

Russian efforts to use the violence in Charlottesville as a way of attacking U.S. foreign policy began almost immediately. On August 13, the Kremlin -funded outlet Sputnik ran the following comment from a Russian parliamentarian:

Instead of lecturing the whole world regarding the way of organizing life in this or that part of the planet, the United States should learn how to peacefully solve own internal problems and conflicts.

The same day, Alexander Gontar, a Facebook user in Donetsk, Ukraine, posted a long denunciation of the events in Charlottesville, including this comment:

The American comrades’ desperate fight against “Nazis” is comical. They are shocked by a torchlit procession in Charlottesville, while regular torch processions in the capital of Ukraine, which they so desperately support in its “fight for democracy,” do not shock them.

Gontar is an outspoken supporter of the Kremlin’s annexation of Crimea and an opponent of Ukraine. His comment shows how rapidly the “Nazi Ukraine” narrative resurfaced both in the Kremlin media and on pro-Kremlin social media.

On August 14, Sputnik host Lee Stranahan, who was previously instrumental in spreading the #FireMcMaster campaign against United States National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster, published several Periscope and YouTube videos linking the riots to the “Nazi Ukraine” narrative:

In the videos, Stranahan argued that the United States had backed the Ukrainian Maidan revolution — which he termed “Nazi-led” — but was now condemning neo-Nazi violence in Charlottesville, thus revealing its hypocrisy. He went on to suggest that the events in Charlottesville were a set-up for a violent coup backed by billionaire George Soros to take out U.S. President Donald Trump.

At the end of each video, Stranahan called on his viewers to spread the story and explicitly asked them to tag the controversial leaks website WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange (a former host on Kremlin broadcaster RT).

In fact, Assange had already drawn an implicit comparison by tweeting images of two torchlit marches, one in Charlottesville, the other in Ukraine, although he did not specify the source of either picture.

Pro-Kremlin media outlet Russia-Insider.com filled in the gaps and wrote an article on Assange’s tweets, saying that they were “exposing the disconnect between U.S. domestic and foreign policy.”

Shortly after Stranahan’s videos, RT published an article titled, “Far-right in U.S. & Ukraine — same problem, different approach among politicians and media,” and a video report titled, “McCain condemns far-right violence in Charlottesville while supporting Ukrainian nationalists.”

All these pieces from overtly pro-Kremlin or Kremlin-run media and commentators should be seen in the context of the long-standing narrative of “Nazi Ukraine” and its use to undermine the Ukrainian government, defend Russia’s illegal actions, and discredit Western critics.

Finally, on August 15, U.S.-based alt-right conspiracy site InfoWars released a 49-minute video interviewing Stranahan, exposing the story to an additional 2 million potential viewers:

The channel summarized the story:

Soros-funded NGO’s have been able to achieve regime change in other countries by quite literally teaming up with Neo-nazis and “moderate” terrorists. Now, investigative reporter Lee Stranahan reveals the same players involved in the Ukraine overthrow are working behind the scenes to oust President Trump.

Stranahan thus emerges as a pivotal figure in the transmission, via InfoWars, of the “Nazi Ukraine” narrative from Russia to the U.S. alt-right and nationalist scene.

Into the U.S. fringe

Over the same period, a very similar narrative developed on the fringes of the U.S. media, especially the far right. On August 13, the conspiracy forum MoonofAlabama.org ran a piece headlined, “Charlottesville: What You Wish Upon Others, You Wish Upon Yourself.” Its argument was similar to that of the Kremlin, but more geographically diverse, referring to Libya, Syria, Ukraine, and Venezuela, in that order.