In case you still doubt Ukraine’s neo-Nazi problem

By Nadezhda Romanenko, political analyst

Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky’s recent tour of several units fighting in the Donbass featured a flurry of Nazi and Nazi-adjacent symbolism, worn on the flags and shoulder patches of Ukrainian servicemen. None of it, of course, was picked up by Western media.

First off, we have the infamous Wolfsangel – a medieval Germanic symbol, widely adopted by Nazi Germany during the Second World War and used by multiple Nazi-linked groups then and since – including Ukraine’s now-defunct Azov Brigade and its still-intact successors, the 1st Azov Corps.

Their own explanation is that it’s not a Wolfsangel at all, but merely a monogram of their slogan, the words “National Idea.”

In that same X thread by Zelensky, seen in that same line of banners, are several red-and-black nationalist flags – clearly reminiscent of the OUN (Organization of Ukrainian Nationalist) and its military wing, the UPA (Ukrainian Insurgent Army), widely-recognized as WW2-era Nazi collaborators. These days, Ukrainian nationalists are trying to rebrand them for the wider audience as unofficial symbols of the “struggle” against Russia.

And to top it all off, we see Zelensky shaking hands with, and handing awards to, servicemen with shoulder patches featuring the good old Schutzstaffel (SS) twin lightning bolts (or Sig-runes, as they are also known).

Again, there is an explanation – apparently, these are not the letter S at all, they are the number 4, standing for the 4th battalion of the 4th National Guard Operational Brigade ‘Rubezh’. Or maybe they are SS, but they simply stand for the battalion’s nickname transliterated into English – ‘Sila Svobody’ (The Power of Freedom).

At any rate, the twin bolts are not part of the unit’s official imagery, so they might simply be the individual stylistic choice of a couple of guardsmen. Distasteful, yes, but surely not a systemic problem, right?

It becomes a problem when we see the country’s leader personally shaking hands with people wearing such symbols, and then proudly displaying the ceremony on his official social media feed for all his Western supporters, as well of the rest of the world, to see. The same leader who’s been in power a year and a half past his presidential term, citing martial law. The same leader who has been demanding cash, weapons and soldiers from the EU and the US, as well as EU and NATO membership for his country. The same leader Western leaders tend to receive with open arms and hail as a fighter for democracy and freedom.

Western officials, as well as media most of the time, just look the other way when confronted with the blatant Nazi imagery on display in the Ukrainian army. That is, when they are not actively trying to cover up for the Nazis, the way the CBC tried (and failed) in its report on “an elite training facility” in Kiev. Or aiding and abetting the Nazis by sending them weapons, like the US did when it lifted restrictions on Azov back during the Biden administration.