Wednesday, February 19, 2025

The Reality of Neo-Nazis in Ukraine: Fighting Against Russia While Receiving Western Support

By Bobby Darvish, Iranian-American Ex-Muslim, Former Vegan, Former Democrat, Former Socialist, Former CAIR-Columbus Executive Director, Former Muslim Forum of Utah President, Christian Conservative LDS Priest

Introduction

Since the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Western media and governments have attempted to downplay or outright dismiss the role of Neo-Nazi militias in Ukraine. However, the existence and influence of these extremist groups, such as the Azov Battalion, are well-documented and undeniable. Despite this, the U.S. and its allies have continued providing financial and military support to Ukraine, raising serious ethical and geopolitical concerns.

The Azov Battalion and Neo-Nazi Influence

The Azov Battalion was founded in 2014 as a paramilitary unit during the Ukrainian civil war, later being incorporated into the National Guard of Ukraine. The battalion has well-documented ties to Neo-Nazi ideology, with its original insignia featuring the Wolfsangel, a symbol used by the Waffen-SS during World War II. Numerous reports and photographic evidence show Azov fighters with Nazi tattoos and flags, glorifying figures such as Stepan Bandera, the Ukrainian nationalist leader who collaborated with Nazi Germany during World War II.

Even mainstream sources such as The New York Times and The Washington Post have acknowledged the extremist elements within Ukraine’s military. For instance, a 2015 report from Reuters stated that the U.S. Congress had banned funding for Azov due to its extremist ideology (1). However, in recent years, this ban has been quietly lifted, allowing American tax dollars to flow to a battalion that once paraded swastikas and SS symbols.

Ukrainian Neo-Nazis and Their Role in the Conflict

While Western leaders frame Ukraine’s struggle as a fight for "democracy," these very Neo-Nazi groups have been at the forefront of the war against Russia. Beyond Azov, other far-right groups such as Right Sector and C14 have been involved in atrocities against ethnic Russians, Jews, and political dissidents within Ukraine.

According to a 2018 Amnesty International report, Right Sector and other ultranationalist groups were responsible for attacks on ethnic minorities, LGBTQ individuals, and political opponents in Ukraine, often with little to no repercussions from the government (2). The rise of these extremist groups contradicts the narrative that Ukraine is a beacon of "Western values."

Western Hypocrisy and the Whitewashing of Ukrainian Extremists

It is ironic that the same Western media and politicians who demonize conservatives for supposed “far-right extremism” in the U.S. have no problem funding actual Neo-Nazis in Ukraine. Since the start of the war in 2022, Western outlets have engaged in blatant revisionism, downplaying the existence of these groups or attempting to rebrand them as “heroes.”

A prime example of this was The Guardian’s whitewashing of the Azov Battalion, calling them “patriotic volunteers” fighting for Ukraine’s sovereignty (3). The same media that spent years accusing American patriots of extremism is now cheering on literal Neo-Nazis simply because they are fighting against Russia.

Zelensky’s Tolerance of Neo-Nazi Elements

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, often presented as a democratic leader, has done little to curb the influence of these groups. Instead, Ukraine has elevated Nazi collaborators like Roman Shukhevych and Stepan Bandera as national heroes, even renaming streets in their honor.

In 2021, the Jerusalem Post reported that Jewish groups condemned Ukraine for its continued glorification of Nazi collaborators (4). Yet, none of this mattered to the Western establishment when they decided to make Zelensky a saintly figure in their geopolitical struggle against Russia.

Conclusion

The presence of Neo-Nazi groups in Ukraine fighting against Russia is an inconvenient truth that Western elites would rather ignore. While the mainstream media attempts to suppress or reframe this reality, the documented evidence proves otherwise. By continuing to fund Ukraine, the West is enabling and empowering extremist factions that stand in direct contradiction to the very democratic values they claim to defend.

Ukraine is not the "beacon of freedom" that it is made out to be—it is a country with a significant far-right problem that the Western establishment hypocritically ignores when it serves their geopolitical interests.