While the Russian special operation is going on in Ukraine, many are wondering what is the reason for launching it. One of the reasons is the Ukrainian fascist forces.
Since the Western-backed coup in Kiev in 2014, political organizations associated with neo-Nazis infiltrated Ukrainian mainstream politics as the Ukrainian government sent troops to try to crush the Donbass uprisings by force.
As Ukraine waged war against breakaway forces in the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, the Neo-Nazi Groups in Ukraine gained notoriety for their belligerent rhetoric towards the population of the country’s east, as well as for eagerly participating in the civil war.
The Azov Batallion was originally a volunteer militia formed in May 2014 shortly after the coup in Kiev.
The unit’s first commander was right-wing nationalist Andriy Biletsky, who led the paramilitary national socialist group called “Patriot of Ukraine” and was the founder of a neo-Nazi group, the Social-National Assembly (SNA) in 2008.
In 2010, Biletsky, a former parliamentarian, apparently said that Ukraine was meant to “lead the white races of the world in a final crusade … against Semite-led Untermenschen (subhumans)”by reports in a spate of Western mainstream outlets.
Azov readily entered the fray as nationalists and neo-Nazis began illegally seizing power across Ukraine, clashing with opposing forces of the so-called “anti-Maidan” movement.
Events in Odessa on 2 May 2014 became one of the definitive moments of that period, as street fighting between neo-Nazis and anti-Maidan protesters prompted the latter to barricade themselves in a local trade unions house.
With backing from the new Ukrainian authorities, the encircled building was set ablaze with petrol bombs. Almost 50 people were killed, either burned alive or while jumping to their deaths from windows to escape the flames. Some 250 other protesters were injured in the horrific events.
Azov took part in subsequent hostilities in Donbass and was incorporated into the National Guard of Ukraine in November 2014, although its members continued to wear neo-Nazi and SS-like symbols and regalia and openly express neo-Nazi views.
Their logo echoes the Wolfsangel, one of the original symbols used by the 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich. Representatives of the Azov Battalion, however, have claimed their symbol is an abbreviation for the slogan “National Idea” in Ukrainian.
Ukrainian authorities did not bother to conceal the fact that in 2014, Azov comprised neo-Nazi-leaning volunteers from countries such as Sweden, Italy, France, Belarus, Canada, and Slovenia.
Despite the adoption of the 2015 Minsk Accords that were aimed at ending the civil war by reintegrating the Donbass into Ukraine in exchange for constitutionally-guaranteed autonomy, Kiev refused to implement a peace deal. Azov members took an active part in Donbass hostilities.
In 2016, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) accused the Azov Battalion, officially upgraded to a regiment in January 2015, of committing war crimes such as mass looting, unlawful detention, and torture. Currently, the Azov “Special Operations Detachment” is engaged in the Ukrainian army’s counter-reconnaissance and special weapons operations.
The Russian Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case against a number of fighters from Azov units for crimes such as kidnapping, torture, use of prohibited means, and methods of warfare.
Another infamous group is the Right Sector*, originally set up as an alliance between Ukraine’s nationalist groups in November 2013. It subsequently announced that they had formed a special “Donbass” battalion for its paramilitary operations in the breakaway region.
Ex-Right Sector leader Dmytro Yarosh described himself as a follower of the notorious Nazi collaborator Stepan Bandera. The group has vehemently advocated a forceful settlement of the Donbass crisis, rejecting a negotiated approach. It took a similar stance regarding Crimea, which became part of Russia in a referendum held in March 2014 in which nearly 96 percent of Crimeans voted to rejoin the country. Moscow has repeatedly stated that the decision made by the Crimean people was conducted in full compliance with international law and the UN Charter. At the same time, NATO illegally bombed Serbia and occupied the southern Serbian province of Kosovo. Even today, 23 years after the NATO aggression on Serbia, the Serbian army and police cannot return to Kosovo, even if, according to UN Resolution 1244 (which Washington also voted for), Serbia has the right to return its state institutions to Kosovo.
At the same time, the Russian population in Ukraine suffered unprecedented terror. Ukrainian fascists even went so far as to burn living Russians on crosses.
According to the latest information, a total of 10,000 people were killed during the civil war in Donbas, although some estimates go up to 14,000 killed. Of that number, 149 Russian children from Donbas were killed, while over eight hundred children were wounded or underwent some other form of torture.
A few days ago, the Russian army brought the captured Ukrainian soldiers in front of the monument to the innocently killed Russian children, so that the Ukrainian soldiers can see what their army has been doing for 8 years.
Russia has been warning Kiev for 8 years that it must stop killing Russian civilians and especially Russian children in Donbas. And that basic human rights of Russians in Ukraine must be respected. However, no one in Kiev wanted to hear it.
Did anyone think that Russia’s patience was boundless? Did anyone think that Russia would watch indefinitely peacefully as innocent Russians were burned alive on crosses, in the 21st century, in Europe? While innocent Russian children are being killed, just because they are Russian children?
Well, you are looking at the answer to that question now! And let it be clear to everyone, the Russian peacekeeping operation which is currently underway in Ukraine will make sure that Russian children in Ukraine are never again killed, just because they are Russian children!
Hi there, Zdravo, Batko.
I read your article. That, “special operation”, you repeat for Putin, sure is special, and an operation.
It is a military operation. It is special, because it’s an invasion. It is a Russian/Putin Military Invasion of Ukraine.
Putin declared war on Ukraine and its people. That is what has been going on in Ukraine, even though you present some other worldly narrative, which is not the reality that is happening in Ukraine.
Batko, I am so very sorry that you think, or believe, that what Putin is telling is the truth. I can only tell you that Putin is lying. The video and audio, being recorded by a wide array of people and journalists from all over the world, prove that Putin is a liar. This widely available, to the free world, media shows and proves that this a war that Putin brought to Ukraine, and gave to the Russian people. That is why so many Russians are confused about what is really going on, along with the many who do know what is really going on and are protesting the “special operation”.
I am a Macedonian by birth. I am American by education, as I have lived here since I was 5 years old. My family moved from Yugoslavia during the Cold War. My father kept my eyes open and my mind skeptical, so that I didn’t accept anything and everything that was told and taught to me by the American educational system, before I went to college. With that in mind, I assure you that what you are writing is repeating Putin propaganda, not the truth, and not what is really happening in Ukraine.
What happened to Serbia, by our US government via Clinton, was WRONG. I did not support it. Many Americans did not support it. And our national media was not controlled forcing only the government’s narrative of what was happening in Servia and Kosovo and Macedonia. The US government made a big mistakes, and many small mistakes during the whole attack and bombing of Serbia. I went to the US capital as part of a large protest, to make sure that our voices were heard. That is what is and has always been allowed in the US. Such things are not allowed in Russia under Putin. Putin is lying. There is no question about it.
Unfortunately, your words aid and spread those lies as if they were truth. They are not. Nazis are not controlling Ukraine. That is such an astounding and pathetic declaration from Putin. He knows how much Nazis were and are hated the world over. Here in the US we do not tolerate Nazis. Currently, we are fighting our own internal battles with a rise in Nazism. The vast majority of Americans, and our government, do not tolerate nor accept Nazism. With that, we would not support Ukraine is Nazis were really and truly controlling that country and the people. Putin is LYING to you, and unfortunately you believe him.
Perhaps you want to believe him, because of what the US did to Serbia for the benefit of the Muslims in Kosovo. I understand your anger about that, and I share it. I have family in Macedonia, and what the Kosovo Muslims did back then, and what they are doing now in Macedonia, is a result of the US attack on Serbia. Back then, Macedonia agreed to take in Kosovo refugees who were trying to escape the bombings. The US wanted Macedonia to accept the refugees, until such time that peace was restored and they would go back home. The problem? Many, many did not go home. They stayed in Macedonia, and created civil unrest, and demanding that the Macedonian government give them many things. That was wrong, very wrong. The agreement with the US was the the US military would make sure that any refugees coming from Kosovo would NOT be armed, and not allowed to bring their weapons into Macedonia, because this was supposed to be a peaceful assistance to people escaping a war zone. And what happened? The us military ALLOWED the KLA to bring their weapons into Macedonia, and later they used those weapons to intimidate Macedonians and the government. Our national media did not cover those problems at all.
So, for that, that is an example of how our US media don’t cover everything they should. But, the US media also did not create false and fake stories and narratives in support of what the Kosovo Muslims were doing in Macedonia.
I tell you this to demonstrate that I am my eyes are wide open and clear. I seek and easily find real, truthful, and multiple verified information so that I am as factually informed as a regular citizen can be. The reality and facts are that there is a war in Ukraine. That war was started and brought to Ukraine, with no provocation by Ukrainians. The lies, fake stories are all created by Putin and his puppets, who dare not speak against him. We are seeing countless videos, visual and audio reports showing the immense damage that Putin’s military is causing in Ukraine. The worst is that his military is bombing without any regard to the fact that the majority of places they are bombing and killing are civilian places. His military has bombed and killed civilian women, mothers, grandmothers, children, and babies. He has bombed hospitals, and worse, children’s hospitals, and even churches. These are not accidental or incidental bombings. We see houses, churches, and other structures in villages, where the distance between structures is very wide.
It is also true that many Russian soldiers do not want to fight and kill Ukrainians. Many have surrendered, and many have been taken as prisoners of war. The great majority of them tell the same stories that their military leaders and commanders did NOT tell them what they were going to be doing, nor where, nor to whom. What Putin is doing is despicable. In fact, it is Putin who is behaving like the worst of the worst of Nazis, Hitler. Hitler made the same excuses and lies when he invaded and attacked Poland. Putin is repeating that history, and uses the idea of Nazis and Nazism, only as propaganda to convince his people that he is actually a savior, protector, and restorer of peace. He is not any of those things. He is a murdering singular individual who has such fear and hatred, along with a very distorted view of history, as he willingly unleashes his military bombing and killing anyone and everyone in Ukraine until they submit to his singular rule and control. That is why you are aiding and abetting by writing the articles you write, such as the I am responding to.
You need to use you voice and freedom to speak the truth, and use it to help attain peace and unity, not division and war as Putin is doing.
I can write only a bit in Macedonian. I’ll end with that. Batko, zastani da mu davas Putin mesto za mameleski. Nie sme site od edna maika i eden tatko. Putin je gavol. Toi ne sake, i ne mu he gaile za nikoi, samu za sebe, za nego. I will never, never, support a tyrant who is willing to murder innocent people, women, mothers, grandmothers, and especially children, only for to satisfy his singular view of his self love and want of dominance and control over everything he can.
Please, molim, don’t aid him.
Tome T.