Listing articles about the existence of far-right groups does not prove that Ukraine is “run by neo-Nazis”. They are two distinct claims.
Far-right parties in Ukraine have never held power and have polled 1–3% nationally since 2014. Zelensky is Jewish, ran on an anti-nationalist platform, and defeated the nationalist vote overwhelmingly.
Every country has radical groups. Russia has openly fascist and ultranationalist movements (e.g., Rusich, Wagner’s ideological core, Imperial Legion) that are far closer to the state than anything comparable in Ukraine.
Azov began as a volunteer unit in 2014 and was restructured, depoliticized, and made subordinate to the National Guard, and its original political wing collapsed electorally. Its membership was always a mixed group, not an ideological army.
There would have been no Azov, no mass mobilization, and no expanded Ukrainian military at all without Russia’s invasion. Russia did not respond to extremism … it created the conditions for militarization.
Bandera is a contested historical symbol and not state ideology. Modern Ukrainian law, elections and governance are civic and not ethno-nationalist.
Listing articles about the existence of far-right groups does not prove that Ukraine is “run by neo-Nazis”. They are two distinct claims.
Far-right parties in Ukraine have never held power and have polled 1–3% nationally since 2014. Zelensky is Jewish, ran on an anti-nationalist platform, and defeated the nationalist vote overwhelmingly.
Every country has radical groups. Russia has openly fascist and ultranationalist movements (e.g., Rusich, Wagner’s ideological core, Imperial Legion) that are far closer to the state than anything comparable in Ukraine.
Azov began as a volunteer unit in 2014 and was restructured, depoliticized, and made subordinate to the National Guard, and its original political wing collapsed electorally. Its membership was always a mixed group, not an ideological army.
There would have been no Azov, no mass mobilization, and no expanded Ukrainian military at all without Russia’s invasion. Russia did not respond to extremism … it created the conditions for militarization.
Bandera is a contested historical symbol and not state ideology. Modern Ukrainian law, elections and governance are civic and not ethno-nationalist.