Far-right Politics In Ukraine
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During
Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inva ...
's post-Soviet history, the
far-right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...
has remained on the political periphery and been largely excluded from national politics since independence in 1991.Melanie Mierzejewski-Voznyak: ''The Radical Right in Post-Soviet Ukraine''. In: ''The Oxford Handbook of the Radical Right'' (Ed. Jens Rydgren). Oxford University Press, 2018, p
861
doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190274559.013.30.
Unlike most
Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whi ...
an countries which saw far-right groups become permanent fixtures in their countries' politics during the decline and fall of the
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
in 1991, the national electoral support for far-right parties in Ukraine only rarely exceeded 3% of the popular vote.Melanie Mierzejewski-Voznyak: ''The Radical Right in Post-Soviet Ukraine''. In: ''The Oxford Handbook of the Radical Right'' (Ed. Jens Rydgren). Oxford University Press, 2018, p. 862, doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190274559.013.30. Far-right parties usually enjoyed just a few wins in single-mandate districts, and no far right candidate for president has ever secured more than 5 percent of the popular vote in an election. Only once in the 1994–2014 period was a radical right-wing party elected to the parliament as an independent organization within the proportional part of the voting: Svoboda in 2012. Since then even at the height of nationalist sentiment during and after
Russia's annexation of Crimea In February and March 2014, Russia invaded and subsequently annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine. This event took place in the aftermath of the Revolution of Dignity and is part of the wider Russo-Ukrainian War. The events in Kyiv ...
and the
Russo-Ukrainian War The Russo-Ukrainian War; uk, російсько-українська війна, rosiisko-ukrainska viina. has been ongoing between Russia (alongside Russian separatists in Ukraine) and Ukraine since February 2014. Following Ukraine's Rev ...
far-right parties have failed to gain enough votes to attain political representation. The far-right was heavily represented among the pro-Russian separatists with several past or current leaders of the republics of Donetsk and Luhansk linked to various
neo-Nazi Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and racial supremacy (often white supremacy), attack ...
,
white supremacists White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White s ...
and ultra nationalists groups. The importance of the far-right on both sides of the conflict declined over time. In the
2019 Ukrainian parliamentary election Snap elections to the Ukrainian parliament were held on 21 July 2019. Originally scheduled to be held at the end of October, these elections were brought forward after newly inaugurated President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dissolved parliament on 21 ...
the coalition of Svoboda and the other extreme-right political parties in Ukraine―
National Corps The National Corps ( uk, Національний корпус, Natsionalnyi korpus), also known as the National Corps Party, and previously called the Patriots of Ukraine, is a far-right political party in Ukraine founded in 2016 and then led by ...
, the Governmental Initiative of Yarosh, and the
Right Sector Right Sector ( uk, Пра́вий се́ктор, ''Pravyi sektor'') is a right-wing to far-right, Ukrainian nationalist organization. It originated in November 2013 as a right-wing, paramilitary confederation of several radical nationalist orga ...
―won only 2.15% of the vote combined and failed to pass the 5% threshold. No far-right parties gained seats in the
Verkhovna Rada The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine ( uk, Верхо́вна Ра́да Украї́ни, translit=, Verkhovna Rada Ukrainy, translation=Supreme Council of Ukraine, Ukrainian abbreviation ''ВРУ''), often simply Verkhovna Rada or just Rada, is the ...
(Ukraine's parliament), as they all failed to win any single-mandate constituency seat.CEC counts 100 percent of vote in Ukraine's parliamentary elections
Ukrinform The National News Agency of Ukraine ( uk, Українське національне інформаційне агентство), or Ukrinform ( uk, Укрінформ), is a state information and news agency, and international broadcaster of ...
(26 July 2019)Results of the extraordinary elections of the People's Deputies of Ukraine 2019
Ukrayinska Pravda ''Ukrainska Pravda'' ( uk, Українська правда, lit=Ukrainian Truth) is a Ukrainian online newspaper founded by Georgiy Gongadze on 16 April 2000 (the day of the Ukrainian constitutional referendum). Published mainly in Ukrai ...
(21 July 2019)


Background

The far-right in Ukraine is not identical with
Ukrainian nationalism Ukrainian nationalism refers to the promotion of the unity of Ukrainians as a people and it also refers to the promotion of the identity of Ukraine as a nation state. The nation building that arose as nationalism grew following the French ...
which resulted in part from Ukraine being historically divided between various imperial powers. Post-Soviet Ukraine is home to competing nationalisms and cultural orientations. The nationalist organizations during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
remain controversial.Melanie Mierzejewski-Voznyak: ''The Radical Right in Post-Soviet Ukraine''. In: ''The Oxford Handbook of the Radical Right'' (Ed. Jens Rydgren). Oxford University Press, 2018, p. 876, doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190274559.013.30. National attitudes about the far-right are impacted by the ambivalent role Ukraine played during
Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
occupation, with Ukrainians volunteering in SS troops and as
concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...
guards.


Far-right violent extremism

Hate crime A hate crime (also known as a bias-motivated crime or bias crime) is a prejudice-motivated crime which occurs when a perpetrator targets a victim because of their membership (or perceived membership) of a certain social group or racial demograph ...
s were relatively uncommon in Ukraine compared to other Eastern European countries until 2005, but became more common between 2005 and 2008, mostly due to informal youth groups, in particular
skinhead A skinhead is a member of a subculture which originated among working class youths in London, England, in the 1960s and soon spread to other parts of the United Kingdom, with a second working class skinhead movement emerging worldwide in th ...
s. For example, in 2008, Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group, issued an open letter complaining about the open neo-Nazi activities of one such group, called Patriot of Ukraine, comparing their activities in Kyiv and Kharkiv to what was seen in Russia in 2000–2001. Since 2008, there has been a more explicit response to such crimes by law enforcement and the justice system, which has led to a decrease of vio­lent right-wing offences. Ukraine has seen a decrease in both the frequency and the severity of hate crimes since their high in the mid-2000s. Between 2006 and 2012, there were 295 reported violent hate crimes and 13 hate-crime-related deaths.Melanie Mierzejewski-Voznyak: ''The Radical Right in Post-Soviet Ukraine''. In: ''The Oxford Handbook of the Radical Right'' (Ed. Jens Rydgren). Oxford University Press, 2018, p. 878, doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190274559.013.30. 2007 was the most violent year in terms of racially motivated crimes with 88 registered assaults with 6 fatalities. By comparison, in Russia during the same year there were a reported 625 casualties with 94 deaths attributed to far-right violence. The significant difference results in part the from the different sizes of the racist youth and skinhead scene in Ukraine and Russia. According to estimates, in 2008 Ukraine had a maximum of 2,000 organized skinheads whereas in Russia the estimates range between 20,000 and 70,000 members of skinhead groups. The last reported death due to a hate crime occurred in 2010. Regular torchlight marches by members of the Ukrainian far-right have drawn comparisons to those in Germany after
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
and Ukrainian authorities have faced widespread criticism for their perceived inaction in the face of far-right crime. Repeated attempts by authorities to memorialize Ukrainian nationalist leaders who collaborated with
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
have also drawn criticism.Lev Golinki
Neo-Nazis and the Far Right Are On the March in Ukraine
, ''
The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper t ...
'', February 2019
Stephen F. Cohen Stephen Frand Cohen (November 25, 1938September 18, 2020) was an American scholar of Russian studies. His academic work concentrated on modern Russian history since the Bolshevik Revolution and Russia's relationship with the United States. C ...
br>America’s Collusion With Neo-Nazis. Neo-fascists play an important official or tolerated role in US-backed Ukraine
The Nation, 2018
In 2017
Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human ...
reported that there have been numerous incidents of violence by far-right organisations against LGBT people, Roma people, feminists and civil rights activists. These violent incidents were not prosecuted by the Ukrainian authorities, although the perpetrators even claimed them on social media. Tanya Cooper, Ukraine researcher at Human Rights Watch, stated that: "Members of radical groups that attack and intimidate people to promote hate and discrimination are breaking Ukraine's law and should be held accountable. ..Ukrainian law enforcement authorities should protect Ukrainians' right to peaceful assembly without fear of obstruction and attacks". In 2019, a
Bellingcat Bellingcat (stylised as bellngcat) is a Netherlands-based investigative journalism group that specialises in fact-checking and open-source intelligence (OSINT). It was founded by British journalist and former blogger Eliot Higgins in July 20 ...
investigation revealed that the Ukrainian government gave over 8 million hryvnias (over $300,000 USD)) for "national-patriotic education projects” targeting Ukrainian youth. A proportion of this (845,000 hryvnias — over $30,000) went to several far-right nationalist groups, including
National Corps The National Corps ( uk, Національний корпус, Natsionalnyi korpus), also known as the National Corps Party, and previously called the Patriots of Ukraine, is a far-right political party in Ukraine founded in 2016 and then led by ...
and possible fronts for C14.


Violence against Jews

A survey by the
Pew Research Center The Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan American think tank (referring to itself as a "fact tank") based in Washington, D.C. It provides information on social issues, public opinion, and demographic trends shaping the United States and th ...
in 2018 found that antisemitic sentiments were less prevalent in Ukraine than other Eastern and Central European countries. While 5% of Ukrainians stated that they would not like to have Jews as their fellow citizens, the figure was 14% in Russia and
Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Cr ...
, 16% in
Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...
and 32% in
Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''O ...
. In contrast, an
Anti-Defamation League The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), formerly known as the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, is an international Jewish non-governmental organization based in the United States specializing in civil rights law. It was founded in late Septe ...
survey in 2019 showed 46% index score (answering 'probably true' to a majority of the antisemitic stereotypes tested) for Ukraine (up from 32% in 2015), compared to 48% for Poland or 31% for Russia. Antisemitic rhetoric used by far-right activists relatively rarely translates into violent actions. Between 2004 and 2014, there were 112 anti-Semitic violent attacks, with a decrease over time, in Ukraine. According to statistics on antisemitic vandalism collected by the Association of Jewish Organizations and Communities of Ukraine in the first three months of 2018, extremists tried to disrupt twelve public events and attacked a variety of targets. While direct physical violence was not deployed in all twelve cases, extremist groups sought to restrict the rights and freedoms of Ukraine's citizens.


Support for Nazi collaborators and Ukrainian nationalists

In April 2015, Ukraine passed a series of controversial "decommunization laws" regulating official memory of the Holocaust period. Law no. 2538-1 "On the Legal Status and Honoring of the Memory of the Fighters for the Independence of Ukraine in the 20th Century" elevating several historical organizations, including the Ukrainian Insurgent Army and the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, to official status. The laws have been widely criticised as ignoring and whitewashing these organisations. In the subsequent period, a number of memorials have been dedicated to collaborators. In 2019, the mayor of the Ukrainian city of Ivano-Frankisvsk had a monument built in honour of the
Roman Shukhevych Roman-Taras Yosypovych Shukhevych ( uk, Рома́н-Тарас Йо́сипович Шухе́вич, also known by his pseudonym, Tur and Taras Chuprynka; 30 June 1907 – 5 March 1950), was a Ukrainian nationalist, one of the commanders of N ...
, one of the commanders of
Nachtigall Battalion The Nachtigall Battalion ( en, Nightingale Battalion), also known as the Ukrainian Nightingale Battalion Group (german: Bataillon Ukrainische Gruppe Nachtigall), or officially as Special Group NachtigallAbbot, Peter. ''Ukrainian Armies 1914-55'', ...
, receiving official protest from the state of Israel and Poland. In
Ternopil Ternópil ( uk, Тернопіль, Ternopil' ; pl, Tarnopol; yi, טאַרנאָפּל, Tarnopl, or ; he, טארנופול (טַרְנוֹפּוֹל), Tarnopol; german: Tarnopol) is a city in the west of Ukraine. Administratively, Terno ...
,
Stryi Stryi ( uk, Стрий, ; pl, Stryj) is a city located on the left bank of the river Stryi in Lviv Oblast (region) of western Ukraine 65 km to the south of Lviv (in the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains). It serves as the administrative cen ...
and thirteen other localities, busts and memorials were erected dedicated to the
Yaroslav Stetsko Yaroslav Semenovich Stetsko (; 19 January 1912 – 5 July 1986) was a Ukrainian politician, writer and Nazi collaborator, who served as the leader of Stepan Bandera's Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), from 1968 until his death. Du ...
. In 2019, during a clash between law enforcement officers and the neo-Nazi group S14 at a campaign event in Kyiv for presidential candidate Yulia Tymoshenko, a Ukrainian riot police officer was caught on video shouting "On the ground, banderist!", which is a derogatory term for a
Stepan Bandera Stepan Andriyovych Bandera ( uk, Степа́н Андрі́йович Банде́ра, Stepán Andríyovych Bandéra, ; pl, Stepan Andrijowycz Bandera; 1 January 1909 – 15 October 1959) was a Ukrainian far-right leader of the radical, terr ...
supporter. The next day, a social media campaign was organised with the hashtag '#ЯБандерівець' (#IAmABanderist) against the officer, where several public figures claimed to be Bandera supporters as well. These included the head of the National Police Serhiy Knyazev, Interior Ministry and National Police spokesman Artem Shevchenko and Interior Ministry advisor Zoryan Shkyryak.


Pro-Russian separatism

According to a 2016 report by
French Institute of International Relations French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Fran ...
(IFRI), far-right
Russian nationalism Russian nationalism is a form of nationalism that promotes Russian cultural identity and unity. Russian nationalism first rose to prominence in the early 19th century, and from its origin in the Russian Empire, to its repression during early B ...
,
neo-imperialism In historical contexts, New Imperialism characterizes a period of colonial expansion by European powers, the United States, and Japan during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Com The period featured an unprecedented pursuit of over ...
and Orthodox fundamentalism has shaped the official ideology of the
Donetsk Donetsk ( , ; uk, Донецьк, translit=Donets'k ; russian: Донецк ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin and Stalino (see also: cities' alternative names), is an industrial city in eastern Ukraine loc ...
and
Luhansk Luhansk (, ; uk, Луганськ, ), also known as Lugansk (, ; russian: Луганск, ), is a city in what is internationally recognised as Ukraine, although it is administered by Russia as capital of the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR). A ...
People's Republics, the two self-proclaimed states controlled by pro-Russian separatists but internationally recognized as part of Ukraine. During the
Russo-Ukrainian War The Russo-Ukrainian War; uk, російсько-українська війна, rosiisko-ukrainska viina. has been ongoing between Russia (alongside Russian separatists in Ukraine) and Ukraine since February 2014. Following Ukraine's Rev ...
, especially at the beginning, far-right groups played an important role on the pro-Russian side, arguably more so than on the Ukrainian side. Members and former members of Russian National Unity (RNU), the
National Bolshevik Party The National Bolshevik Party (NBP; russian: Национал-большевистская партия), also known as the Nazbols (russian: нацболы), operated from 1993 to 2007 as a Russian political party with a political program of N ...
, the
Eurasian Youth Union The Eurasian Youth Union (ESM; russian: Евразийский союз молодёжи; ЕСМ; ''Yevraziyskiy soyuz molodozhi'', ''YeSM'') is a Russian traditionalist political organization, the youth wing of the Eurasia Party headed by Ale ...
, and Cossack groups formed branches to recruit volunteers to join the separatists. A former RNU member, Pavel Gubarev, was founder of the Donbas People's Militia and first "governor" of the Donetsk People's Republic. RNU is particularly linked to the
Russian Orthodox Army The Russian Orthodox Army, ROA (russian: Русская православная армия, ''Russkaya pravoslavnaya armiya'') was a Russian separatist paramilitary group in Ukraine that has been fighting Ukrainian forces in the Donbas War. ...
, one of a number of separatist units described as "pro-Tsarist" and "extremist" Orthodox nationalists. Neo-Nazi units such as the ' Rusich', 'Svarozhich' and 'Ratibor' battalions, use Slavic swastikas on their badges. 'Rusich' is part of the
Wagner Group The Wagner Group (russian: Группа Вагнера, Gruppa Vagnera), also known as PMC Wagner ( «Вагнер», ChVK «Vagner»; ), is a Russian paramilitary organization. It is variously described as a private military company (PMC), a ...
, a Russian mercenary group in Ukraine which has been linked to far-right extremism. Some of the most influential far-right nationalists among the Russian separatists are neo-imperialists, who seek to revive the
Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War ...
. These included Igor 'Strelkov' Girkin, first "minister of defence" of the Donetsk People's Republic, who espouses Russian neo-imperialism and ethno-nationalism. The
Russian Imperial Movement The Russian Imperial Movement (RIM; russian: Русское Имперское Движениe, translit=Russkoe imperskoe dvizhenie, RID)Marlene Laruelle, ''Russian Nationalism: Imaginaries, Doctrines, and Political Battlefields'' (Routledge, 2 ...
, a
white supremacist White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White s ...
militant group, has recruited thousands of volunteers to join the separatists. Some separatists have flown the black-yellow-white Russian imperial flag, such as the Sparta Battalion. In 2014, volunteers from the National Liberation Movement joined the DPR People's Militia bearing portraits of
Tsar Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East and South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" in the European medieval sense of the ter ...
Nicholas II Nicholas II or Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov; spelled in pre-revolutionary script. ( 186817 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer,. was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Pol ...
. Other Russian volunteers involved in separatist militias included members of the
Eurasian Youth Union The Eurasian Youth Union (ESM; russian: Евразийский союз молодёжи; ЕСМ; ''Yevraziyskiy soyuz molodozhi'', ''YeSM'') is a Russian traditionalist political organization, the youth wing of the Eurasia Party headed by Ale ...
, and of banned groups such as the Slavic Union and the
Movement Against Illegal Immigration The Movement Against Illegal Immigration (DPNI; russian: Движение против нелегальной иммиграции; ДПНИ; ''Dvizheniye protiv nelegalnoy immigratsii'', ''DPNI'') was a Russian far-right, nationalist and racist o ...
. Another Russian separatist paramilitary unit, the
Interbrigades The Interbrigades (russian: Интербригады) is a volunteer movement organized by the unregistered Russian National Bolshevik political party "The Other Russia" to participate in the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine on the side of ...
, is made up of activists from the National Bolshevik (Nazbol) group Other Russia. Russian far-right groups gradually became less important in
Donbas The Donbas or Donbass (, ; uk, Донба́с ; russian: Донба́сс ) is a historical, cultural, and economic region in eastern Ukraine. Parts of the Donbas are controlled by Russian separatist groups as a result of the Russo-Ukrai ...
as the need for Russian radical nationalists faded.


Analysis

According to a 2018 report by the NGO
Freedom House Freedom House is a non-profit, majority U.S. government funded organization in Washington, D.C., that conducts research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom, and human rights. Freedom House was founded in October 1941, and Wendell Wi ...
far-right groups have been marginal in Ukrainian society and especially in Ukrainian politics. The report identifies three political parties in Ukraine which qualify as extremist ― Svoboda, National Corps and Right Sector. None of the three parties obtained enough votes to gain parliamentary representation. The report argues that due to the far right's weakness in official politics, right-wing groups have sought avenues outside of politics to impose their agenda on Ukrainian society, including attempts to disrupt peaceful assemblies and use force against those with opposite political and cultural views such as left-wing, feminist, LGBT, and human rights activists. The report concludes that while such groups do not have the capabilities to challenge the state, they pose a threat to Ukrainian democracy because they reject democratic values yet actively employ all spectrum of the opportunities offered by democracy. One particular area of concern according to the report is that Ukrainian law enforcement has failed to stop far-right disruptions and such activities have gone unpunished. The report calls on Ukrainian authorities to take more effective measures. While far-right activists played their role in the first few months of the conflict in 2014, their importance was often exaggerated. The development of the conflict ultimately led declination of far-right groups on both sides of the conflict. The political climate in the separatists-controlled Donetsk and Luhansk further pushed far-right groups into the margins. American scholar and journalist
Stephen F. Cohen Stephen Frand Cohen (November 25, 1938September 18, 2020) was an American scholar of Russian studies. His academic work concentrated on modern Russian history since the Bolshevik Revolution and Russia's relationship with the United States. C ...
wrote in ''
The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper t ...
'' in 2018 that the resurrection of Nazi ideology could be observed all around the globe, including
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
and
the United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
, but that the growing Ukrainian Neo-Nazi movement posed a special danger due to its well-armed and well-organized nature in a political center of the
Second Cold War The Second Cold War, Cold War II, or the New Cold War are terms that refer to heightened political, social, ideological, informational, and military tensions in the 21st century. The term is used in the context of the tensions between th ...
. Cohen cited the
Azov battalion The Special Operations Detachment "Azov" (), also known as the Azov Regiment ( uk, Полк «Азов», translit=Polk "Azov") and formerly the Azov Battalion ( uk, батальйон «Азов», translit=Batalion "Azov"), is a unit of the ...
and
Right Sector Right Sector ( uk, Пра́вий се́ктор, ''Pravyi sektor'') is a right-wing to far-right, Ukrainian nationalist organization. It originated in November 2013 as a right-wing, paramilitary confederation of several radical nationalist orga ...
in this regard. In 2020,
Taras Kuzio Taras Kuzio (born 1958) is a British academic and expert in Ukrainian political, economic and security affairs. He is Professor of Political Science at National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy ( Kyiv, Ukraine). Education Taras Kuzio received a ...
criticized Cohen, noting research finding they were largely filled by Russian speakers and national minorities. Kuzio says despite Cohen's claims, even
Right Sector Right Sector ( uk, Пра́вий се́ктор, ''Pravyi sektor'') is a right-wing to far-right, Ukrainian nationalist organization. It originated in November 2013 as a right-wing, paramilitary confederation of several radical nationalist orga ...
and
Azov Regiment The Special Operations Detachment "Azov" (), also known as the Azov Regiment ( uk, Полк «Азов», translit=Polk "Azov") and formerly the Azov Battalion ( uk, батальйон «Азов», translit=Batalion "Azov"), is a unit of the ...
that are often described as '
nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...
', had minorities such included Georgians, Jews, Russians, Tatars, and Armenians. British scholar Richard Sakwa wrote in 2015 that "The creation of the National Guard, consisting largely of far-right militants and others from the Maidan self-defence forces, had the advantage of removing these militants from the centre of
Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the seventh-most populous city in Europe. Ky ...
and other western Ukrainian towns, but they often lacked discipline and treated south-east Ukraine as occupied territory, regularly committing atrocities against civilians and captured 'terrorists'."


Press coverage

Despite the fact that far-right parties in Ukraine have been unpopular with the electorate and received considerably less support than far-right parties in other European countries, the Russian government and media started to label Ukraine a "fascist state" following the
Orange Revolution The Orange Revolution ( uk, Помаранчева революція, translit=Pomarancheva revoliutsiia) was a series of protests and political events that took place in Ukraine from late November 2004 to January 2005, in the immediate afterm ...
in 2004. The subject of the far right's alleged influence in Ukraine became especially politicized during the 2013–2014
Revolution of Dignity The Revolution of Dignity ( uk, Революція гідності, translit=Revoliutsiia hidnosti) also known as the Maidan Revolution or the Ukrainian Revolution,
when small radical groups without political influence received disproportionate media attention not only in Russia as well as in the West. The impact of these and similar organizations on both Ukrainian politics and society has since been greatly exaggerated in Russian state media and also in some West European journalistic accounts. Media coverage has been focused largely on
Right Sector Right Sector ( uk, Пра́вий се́ктор, ''Pravyi sektor'') is a right-wing to far-right, Ukrainian nationalist organization. It originated in November 2013 as a right-wing, paramilitary confederation of several radical nationalist orga ...
and on Svoboda whose members stand accused of killing four national guardsmen using
hand grenade A grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade ...
s during a rally outside Ukrainian parliament in August 2015. Russian president
Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
used the pretext of "
denazification Denazification (german: link=yes, Entnazifizierung) was an Allied initiative to rid German and Austrian society, culture, press, economy, judiciary, and politics of the Nazi ideology following the Second World War. It was carried out by remov ...
" to launch the
invasion of Ukraine The territory of present-day Ukraine has been Invasion, invaded or Military occupation, occupied a number of times throughout History of Ukraine, its history. List See also *List of invasions *List of wars involving Ukraine References

...
in 2022. The
US Holocaust Memorial Museum The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) is the United States' official memorial to the Holocaust. Adjacent to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the USHMM provides for the documentation, study, and interpretation of Holocaust hist ...
and
Yad Vashem Yad Vashem ( he, יָד וַשֵׁם; literally, "a memorial and a name") is Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; honoring Jews who fought against th ...
condemned Putin's abuse of Holocaust history. In an analysis of the Russian propaganda article "
What Russia should do with Ukraine "What Russia Should Do with Ukraine" (russian: Что Россия должна сделать с Украиной, translit=Chto Rossiya dolzhna sdelat' s Ukrainoy), is an op-ed article written by and published by the Russian state-owned news ag ...
", historian
Timothy Snyder Timothy David Snyder (born August 18, 1969) is an American historian specializing in the modern history of Central and Eastern Europe. He is the Richard C. Levin Professor of History at Yale University and a permanent fellow at the Institute f ...
pointed out that the use of words "Nazi" and "denazification" by the Russian regime has no direct link to historical use of these words.


Far-right political parties

*
Social-National Party of Ukraine The Social-National Party of Ukraine ( uk, Соціал-національна партія України) (SNPU) was a Far-right politics, far-right party in Ukraine that would later become Svoboda (political party), Svoboda. The party combined ...
(1991–2004) *
Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists The Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists ( uk, Конгрес українських націоналістів ''Konhres ukrayinskykh natsionalistiv'') is a far-right political party in Ukraine. It was founded on October 18, 1992, and registered wit ...
(1992–present) *
Svoboda (political party) The All-Ukrainian Union "Freedom" ( uk, Всеукраїнське об'єднання «Свобода», translit=Vseukrainske obiednannia "Svoboda"), commonly known as Svoboda, is an ultranationalist political party in Ukraine. It has been l ...
(2004–present) *
Ukrainian National Union (political party) The Ukrainian National Union ( uk, Український Національний Союз; abbreviated UNU) is a Ukrainian far-right organisation. It was founded in 2009 and was a member of Social-National Assembly until 2013. History The ...
(2009–present) *
Right Sector Right Sector ( uk, Пра́вий се́ктор, ''Pravyi sektor'') is a right-wing to far-right, Ukrainian nationalist organization. It originated in November 2013 as a right-wing, paramilitary confederation of several radical nationalist orga ...
(2013–present) *
National Corps The National Corps ( uk, Національний корпус, Natsionalnyi korpus), also known as the National Corps Party, and previously called the Patriots of Ukraine, is a far-right political party in Ukraine founded in 2016 and then led by ...
(2016–present) After Yanokovych's ouster in February 2014, the interim
First Yatsenyuk government The first government headed by Arseniy Yatsenyuk was created in Ukraine on 27 February 2014 in the aftermath of the Revolution of Dignity. The cabinet was formed as a coalition of the Batkivschyna, UDAR and Svoboda political parties, the Econom ...
placed four Svoboda members in leading positions:
Oleksandr Sych Oleksandr Maksymovych Sych ( uk, Олександр Максимович Сич; born 16 July 1964) is a Ukrainian politician. He is a member of the Svoboda party. On 27 February 2014 he became one of two "Vice Prime Ministers" to the Deputy ...
as Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine,
Ihor Tenyukh Ihor Yosypovych Tenyukh ( uk, Ігор Йосипович Тенюх; born 23 May 1958) is a former Ukrainian admiral and member of the nationalist Svoboda political party. He was the commander of the Ukrainian Navy from 2006 until 2010 when di ...
as Minister of Defense, lawyer
Ihor Shvaika Ihor Oleksandrovych Shvaika (born 25 February 1976 in Troyitskoye, Kalmykia) is a right-wing Ukrainians, Ukrainian politician and a former Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food (Ukraine), Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine. Shvaika w ...
as Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food and Andriy Mokhnyk as Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of Ukraine; with the fall of the First Yatsenyuk government on 27 November 2014, Svoboda lost representation in the Ukrainian Government. From 14 April 2016 to 29 August 2019, the Chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament was
Andriy Parubiy Andriy Volodymyrovych Parubiy ( uk, Андрій Володимирович Парубій; born 31 January 1971) is a Ukrainian politician
, the co-founder of the SNPU; however, Parubiy left such organizations in 2004 and later joined moderate political parties, such as Our Ukraine,
Batkivshchyna The All-Ukrainian Union "Fatherland" ( uk, Всеукраїнське об'єднання "Батьківщина", translit=Vseukrains'ke obiednannia "Bat'kivshchyna") referred to as Batkivshchyna (), is a political party in Ukraine led by Peo ...
and the People's Front.How the far-right took top posts in Ukraine's power vacuum
.
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
. 5 March 2014.
In June 2015, Democratic Representative
John Conyers John James Conyers Jr. (May 16, 1929October 27, 2019) was an American politician of the Democratic Party who served as a U.S. representative from Michigan from 1965 to 2017. The districts he represented always included part of western Detroit. ...
and his Republican colleague
Ted Yoho Theodore Scott Yoho ( ; born April 13, 1955) is an American politician, veterinarian, and businessman who served as the U.S. representative from from 2013 until 2021. He is a member of the Republican Party. In the 2012 Republican primary elec ...
offered bipartisan amendments to block the U.S. military training of Ukraine's
Azov Battalion The Special Operations Detachment "Azov" (), also known as the Azov Regiment ( uk, Полк «Азов», translit=Polk "Azov") and formerly the Azov Battalion ( uk, батальйон «Азов», translit=Batalion "Azov"), is a unit of the N ...
—called a "neo-Nazi paramilitary militia" by Conyers and Yoho.Ukraine's Neo-Nazis Won't Get U.S. Money
.
Bloomberg Bloomberg may refer to: People * Daniel J. Bloomberg (1905–1984), audio engineer * Georgina Bloomberg (born 1983), professional equestrian * Michael Bloomberg (born 1942), American businessman and founder of Bloomberg L.P.; politician and ma ...
. 12 June 2015.
Congress Has Removed a Ban on Funding Neo-Nazis From Its Year-End Spending Bill
". ''
The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper t ...
''. 14 January 2016.
Andriy Biletsky Andriy Yevheniyovych Biletsky ( uk, Андрі́й Євге́нійович Біле́цький, Andríj Jevhénijovyč Biléćký, ; born 5 August 1979) is a Ukrainian far-right politician. He is the leader of political party National Corps. ...
, the head of the ultra-nationalist and far right political groups
Social-National Assembly The Social-National Assembly (SNA) was an assemblage of the ultra-nationalist radical organizations and groups founded in 2008 that share the social-national ideology and agree upon building a social-national state in Ukraine. It is located on th ...
and
Patriots of Ukraine The Patriot of Ukraine ( uk, Патріо́т Украї́ни, Patriót Ukrayíny) was an ultranationalist organization in Ukraine founded in 1999, disbanded in 2004, revived in 2005 and defunct since December 2014. In its original form, it was ...
,Ukraine conflict: 'White power' warrior from Sweden
. BBC News. 16 July 2014.
has been commander of the Azov Battalion.
. ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...
''. 11 August 2014.
Azov Battalion of the
Ukrainian National Guard The National Guard of Ukraine (NGU; uk, Націона́льна гва́рдія Украї́ни, Natsionalna hvardiia Ukrainy, , ) is the Ukrainian national gendarmerie and internal military force. It is part of the Ministry of Internal A ...
is fighting pro-Russian separatists in the
War in Donbass War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular ...
. Some members of the battalion are openly
white supremacists White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White su ...
. In the 2019 Ukrainian elections, the far-right nationalist electoral alliance, including Svoboda,
National Corps The National Corps ( uk, Національний корпус, Natsionalnyi korpus), also known as the National Corps Party, and previously called the Patriots of Ukraine, is a far-right political party in Ukraine founded in 2016 and then led by ...
, Right Sector, Azov Battalion, OUN, and
Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists The Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists ( uk, Конгрес українських націоналістів ''Konhres ukrayinskykh natsionalistiv'') is a far-right political party in Ukraine. It was founded on October 18, 1992, and registered wit ...
, under-performed expectations. In the
presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pre ...
, its candidate
Ruslan Koshulynskyi Ruslan Volodymyrovych Koshulynskyi ( uk, Руслан Володимирович Кошулинський; born 9 September 1969) is a Ukrainian politician, nationalist, soldier, and former People's Deputy of Ukraine who served as the 9th Deputy S ...
received 1.6% of the vote, and in the
parliamentary election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
, it was reduced to a single seat and saw its national vote fall to 2.15%, half of its result from 2014 and one-quarter of its result from 2012.


Far-right groups

* Patriot of Ukraine (2005–2014) *
Social-National Assembly The Social-National Assembly (SNA) was an assemblage of the ultra-nationalist radical organizations and groups founded in 2008 that share the social-national ideology and agree upon building a social-national state in Ukraine. It is located on th ...
(2008–2015) *
Right Sector Right Sector ( uk, Пра́вий се́ктор, ''Pravyi sektor'') is a right-wing to far-right, Ukrainian nationalist organization. It originated in November 2013 as a right-wing, paramilitary confederation of several radical nationalist orga ...
(2013–present) *
National Corps The National Corps ( uk, Національний корпус, Natsionalnyi korpus), also known as the National Corps Party, and previously called the Patriots of Ukraine, is a far-right political party in Ukraine founded in 2016 and then led by ...
(2016–present) * S14 (2010–present) * Misanthropic Division (2014–present)


Notes


References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ukrainian Nationalism Independence movements Nationalist movements in Europe
Nationalism Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...
Nationalism Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...
Far-right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...
Far-right politics in Europe