Zelensky denounced: “How can I be a Nazi and my grandfather fought the war in the infantry of the Soviet army?!”

Who are the "neo-Nazis" that Russia has often spoken of as aiming and trying to uproot from its western neighbor Ukraine? 

 Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has previously revealed that Putin is referring to Moscow's plans to liberate Ukraine from the "neo-Nazis", their supporters and their ideology, pointing out that Kyiv has attracted the so-called "voluntary battalions", which according to the Russian description are groups of fanatic nationalists with financing and equipping businessmen. Ukrainians close to the post-2014 government.

After Putin's statements about the "neo-Nazis", Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said to the Russians: "Ukraine in your newscasts and Ukraine are in fact two completely different countries. The difference between them is that our country is real. You were told that we are Nazis, but can a people who lost more than 8 million Someone in the fight against Nazism would support Nazism?

"How can I be a Nazi? Explain this to my grandfather, who fought the whole war in the infantry of the Soviet army, and died as a colonel in independent Ukraine," Zelensky asked.

But, according to the American newspaper, "Washington Examiner", it is likely that Putin was referring to the "Azov fighters", when he said that part of the current Russian offensive is aimed at "de-Nazification" of Ukraine.

Who are the "Azov fighters"?

What is the secret of Russian hostility to them?

The Azov Battalion is a right-wing nationalist military infantry unit accused of neo-Nazi ideology and white supremacist hate rhetoric that first fought alongside the Ukrainian army in the east of the country in 2014 against pro-Russian separatists.

After its efforts to retake the strategic coastal city of Mariupol and its port from Russian-backed separatists, the unit was formally integrated into the Ukrainian National Guard on November 12, 2014, earning high praise from then-President Petro Poroshenko, who said at an event that "these are our best warriors. Our best volunteers." ".

The American security analyst Irina Zukerman said, "The Azov Battalion was a volunteer national unit that was eventually integrated into the Ukrainian army, and although some of its members were accused of liking Ukrainian extremist right-wing figures who participated in the opposition to the Soviet Union and sided with the Nazis, it is not true that the unit belongs to the neo-Nazis." or white supremacists."

Zuckerman added in an interview with "Sky News Arabia": "This volunteer unit has become part of the military reserve of the National Guard of Ukraine, and is known for its fierce fighting, and its roots and the inclinations of some of its members have become an excuse for Putin to describe an entire battalion as a Nazi group, and to press for de-Nazification of Ukraine".

And she continued, "In fact, part of his opposition to that battalion has nothing to do with ideology, but rather more to do with its success in retaking Mariupol and its strategic port from pro-Russian forces."

The spokeswoman noted that the Azov Battalion "started as a militia, then was integrated into the official armed forces, and now follows the official line of the Ukrainian army. In the past, some members wore swastikas and other Nazi insignia, and its founder also followed Nazi ideology and was affiliated with the white supremacy organization." Noting that "the United States had prevented joint training with this unit while it was still a militia, and more than half of its members were Russian-speaking, many of them from Donetsk and Luhansk," whose independence Moscow recognizes.

And she continued: "With its joining the army, the battalion achieved great military successes, and it is now a complete battalion, and its integration into the army has become influential in terms of its military capabilities, but the talk about ideology faded. It was promoted to a regiment, and restructured as any official unit of the Ukrainian army with official training, and over time he joined Many foreign volunteers, some of them from Croatia, joined this unit.Some of them had left after it was incorporated into the military service, while others obtained Ukrainian citizenship.The view towards it changed over time and the American ban on joint training with it was lifted, and a Ukrainian Jewish group did not object Lifting the embargo, indicating major reforms and changes.

"Since 2016, this regiment has been overwhelmingly involved in the fight against pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, becoming the fitting bogeyman for Putin's propaganda," Zuckerman said.

She emphasized that "at the height of the extreme right's attraction, the unit was also mixed, attracting liberals, anarchists, leftists and others. Over time, and through concerted efforts, the unit took steps to depoliticize itself," noting that "currently the unit is not a militia and is not an independent unit. It is no different from any other military unit of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

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