Throughout the video, the “SBU” officers tell the men in the nearby building to lay down their arms and call them “Banderites”, which is a derogatory term for Ukrainian ultra-nationalists.

The action depicted in the video is plausible when compared to similar, verified actions taken by the SBU over the last year. However, one item distinguishes this video: the Ukrainian Security Services vehemently declared this video a fake.

Suspicious Footage Comes Amidst Tensions

This video’s emergence coincides with recent remarks from Ukraine’s Joint Operational Headquarters (formerly known as the Anti-Terrorist Operation) commander Serhiy Nayev noting that all fighters on the frontlines should be part of the structures commanded by the Ukrainian Armed Forces or the Ukrainian Ministry of Interior Affairs. These remarks were aimed at fighters from independent volunteer groups fighting against Russian-led separatists in eastern Ukraine, specifically the Right Sector’s Volunteer Ukrainian Corps and Ukrainian Volunteer Army.

After the outbreak of war in 2014, volunteer battalions, which were often organized by far-right and ultra-nationalist groups, proved vital in key battles and provided the Ukrainian government with enthusiastic fighters while the Ukrainian Armed Forces rebuilt its ranks. By 2015, most of these groups were integrated into the Ukrainian military and security forces, including the National Guard organized within the Ministry of Interior Affairs. Some of the more well-known far-right groups that have been integrated into the Ukrainian government’s security forces include the Azov Battalion members forming military unit 3057 of the National Guard based in Mariupol, and Right Sector members joining Ukraine’s 54th Motorized Infantry Brigade.

However, tensions between the Ukrainian government and its security forces and these far-right groups have steadily risen. In particular, in July 2015, a shootout between Right Sector members and Ukrainian security forces led to at least three deaths in western Ukraine. More recently, far-right activist groups — some of which have military formations that have fought in the Donbas — have taken to the streets to “patrol”, carried out pogroms on Roma camps, disrupted conferences aimed at assisting the LGBT community, and other illegal actions. In particular, there has been intense international criticism of Ukraine’s handling of these groups following a lethal attack on a Roma camp outside of L’viv, including a recent report from the New York Times.

With these recent developments from the Ukrainian Joint Operational Headquarters and the far-right community, it’s easy to be skeptical of a video showing a clash between the SBU and far-right fighters near the frontline.

Video Analysis

Few details were visible in the brief video, but there a handful of clues allowed us to carry out verification.

Firstly, we looked at the uniforms of the “SBU officers” carrying out the raid. On some of the uniforms, a white-on-black SBU patch is visible, though not everyone had this on their gear. One person in particular wore it on the back of his helmet, but not his back, along with yellow armbands on some of the men.