Russian invasion into Ukraine has many fronts. The first one is, obviously, the military. There is also an economic one which includes sanctions and Russian energy sales. And finally, there is an information front.
For years, Russia has been running information campaigns to discredit Ukraine. Kremlin-supported propaganda has been highly active in spreading fakes and manipulations about its neighbor and many Western countries. Russian “troll factories” and bots intervened in the US Presidential elections of 2016 as well as the French Presidential elections of 2017 where they supported pro-Russian candidates.
The Kremlin also created an image of Ukraine as a country ruled by ring-wing radicals whose armed forces are full of Nazis. Russian media often singled out the “Azov” regiment to promote their narratives and carry out a series of disinformation-style political propaganda, for instance, "The United States and other Western countries help neo-Nazis in Ukraine". In China and Hong Kong, there are also media echoes.
Azov? Neo-Nazis?
“The story about “Azov” is popularized by Russian propaganda, and it was adapted for Western audiences because that’s what interests people,” says Iryna Matrviyishyn, an independent journalist and producer who specializes in Russian media narratives.
What exactly is this specially designed topic "Azov"?
“Azov” regiment came from “Azov” battalion which was a partially independent volunteer unit,” says Andreas Umland, analyst of the Stockholm Center for Eastern European Studies.
According to Umland, the battalion was created in March of 2014 by right-wing radicals, which influenced the ideology of “Azov” in its early stage. At that time, Russia had just annexed Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea and occupied parts of Eastern Ukraine called Donbas.
“In the fall of 2014, there was a split between the political wing of the battalion, and the military wing,” the expert explains. After the divide, the soldiers joined Ukrainian army and no longer act according to political commands or ideologies. The regiment now is reporting only to the Ukrainian Ministry of the Interior.
Another part of the people gave up their "Azov" identity and went on a political road. They also formed political parties such as Svoboda, Right Sector and the National Corps, trying to compete for seats in parliament. However, this group of people is not popular in Ukrainian politics, and now they do not have any seats in the Ukrainian parliament.
“When “Azov” transformed from a non-regular volunteer unit into a regiment of Ukraine’s Armed Forces, it automatically stopped any political activity. There can be no political activity or ideology in state military units,” Umland emphasizes.
“Russian, as well as some Western media, write about Azov as some sort of Ukrainian SS, which is a complete falsification,” he says.
According to the expert, even though there may be soldiers with ring wing views in the regiment, this happens in most armies in the world.
“The narrative related to “Azov” is very bizarre. It is wrong to call them Neo-Nazis because even the fact that the unit includes people of different nationalities proves the opposite.” Matviyishyn explains, that the regiment includes very many different people of various ethnicities such as Jews, Ukrainians, Georgians, and even Russians. “Azov” has gone through a transformation in comparison to how it was when it was founded
“In the beginning, it had these right-wing radicals political ideologies, but now, it is depoliticized unit, a part of Ukraine’s Armed Forces.”
The journalist highlights that “Azov” is now defending Ukraine in the South-East, where the fighting is heaviest. The regiment is holding defense in Mariupol, a city that Russians nearly destroyed, and where they killed thousands of civilians.
“Azov” also has a reputation of being a highly-skilled combat unit so many soldiers want to join it. However, just because of its professionalism in the military sense.
Why chose "Azov"?
There are key reasons why the “Azov”, which was not unusual and even had little sense of existence in Ukraine, was chosen by Russia as an important part of operating political propaganda.
Umland explains this narrative is based on the fact that Western Europe and North America tend to be interested in this type of thing and stories. There are right-wing radicals in Ukraine, but this movement is weaker than in other countries and is marginalized in Ukraine’s political and social life. However, for the Western audiences, the number of the stories about these marginalized cases creates a vision that it is almost the most important political force in Ukraine.
Based on the historical context of World War II, Europe is more sensitive to "right-wing extremists". In the U.S., Some congressmen have once proposed to designate Azov as a terrorist organization. Coupled with the recent resurgence of the far-right in some European countries, the propaganda of "Azov" has become very “fascinating”.
Russia is well versed in this, taking the most feared key points of the West as the target.
But does this mean that Ukraine is a serious right-leaning country worth worrying about?
“Support for right-wing parties in Ukraine is so small (lower than 2%) that they did not even get into the parliament during the last elections,” Anton Shekhovtsov, director of the Centre for Democratic Integrity and author of "Russia and the Western Far Right" explains to Crossing.
“Within Europe, Ukraine has some of the lowest support for right-wing movements,” he adds.
Matviyishyn agrees.
“Ukrainian right-wing parties can never match the level of support their counterparts get in European countries like Italy, Spain, France, and even Germany not to mention Switzerland and Austria where their support can reach around 20%,” she says.
“Kremlin’s definition of Nazism has nothing to do with political or social sciences, Shekhovtsov says, “For the Kremlin, a “Ukrainian Nazi” is anyone who thinks that Ukrainians are not Russians.”
Ukrainians: Who are the real Neo-Nazis?
Although there are indeed some Ukrainian liberals who worry that right-wing extremists will gain more political power after the war.
However, for Ukrainians, it is absurd to focus on “Azov” given the atrocities committed by Russian troops in Ukraine.
“With their war crimes, Russians clearly show who are the Neo-Nazis here. It is them as they massacre Ukrainians, they are the ones raping, torturing, and killing civilians,” she adds.
The journalist also highlights a recent article “What Russia should do with Ukraine” by Timofey Sergeytzev, which was published in a prominent Russian news outlet “RIA”. There, the author outlines the Russian state’s ideology toward Ukrainians.
The article clearly shows Russia’s objectives which are to erase Ukrainians from Ukraine. Russians call all Ukrainians Nazis. “This means that they conduct genocide in every city they siege. They say to kill everyone who helps and protects Ukraine,” Matviyishyn says.
The article, though has been taken down from the media, still has been widespread around the world, causing a stir given its clearly Ukraine-phobic message and a call for a massacre of Ukrainians. It goes in line with the right-wing ideology which has become dominant in Russia.
Umland observes that over the past 8 years, with more and more imperialism, nationalism, clericalism, isolationism, authoritarian rule, and homophobia in Russia, the country has moved in a more right-wing, radical direction.
“However, I don’t call Putin’s regime fascist because his ideology lacks revolutionary element which was present in Hitler’s and Mussolini’s ideologies,” he adds. According to the expert, Putin is an ultra-conservative reactionary who wants to restore the Soviet Union or Russian Empire.
“Russia also has fascists, but Putin does not exactly fit into this definition as he is a conservative right-wing radical,” Umland says.
The expert highlights that the Russian regime has a lot of close ties with other right-wing radicals in Europe. Some of them include Marine Le Pen in France, who is currently running for the President of the country, and Matteo Salvini, a former Deputy Prime Minister of Italy.
“Therefore, all of this makes Russia blaming Ukraine for being Nazi just funny,” Umland says, “And also, Ukrainian President Zelenskyi is a Jew.”
*中文版請見：亞速營、新納粹，到底是什麼？為何成為普丁與習近平最愛的宣傳武器？
Editor: Sylvia Tien
