What is this?

This is a collection of sources related to the war in Ukraine, mainly focusing on the context leading up to Russia’s escalation in 2022. It consists primarily of Western media articles, as well as articles using Western media to point out contradictions. This is far from being finished and will be updated sporadically.

This thread is being written for those who are already somewhat aware of, and opposed to, US imperialism.

Context for the 2022 escalation

In 2014, the US supported a fascist coup in Ukraine.

Ukraine has a long history of Nazism.

NATO has been expanding toward Russia, despite assurances when East and West Germany were reunited.

NATO has been refusing to abide by agreements, and despite being elected on a peace platform, the Zelensky government has consistently escalated tensions.

Additional sources:

Sources contributed by:

  • Fruitbat [she/her]@lemmygrad.ml
    0·
    2 months ago

    This source is useful in the sense it’s straight from the horse’s mouth itself. Since it’s from a journal from west point in the united states talking about ukraine as a nexus for nazis. It says some interesting things in part two of it, that I’ll highlight below. It kind of goes over things broadly of “far right extreminism”/nazis and then talks about nazis. Of course it purposefully ignores the u.s role in fermenting nazis and also has to talk about russia, but it does talk about nazi’s in ukraine and ukraine support of them like in part 2, and the international role that gets played to an extent but the article downplays things. It is best used in conjugation with other sources.

    Just mainly useful in the sense that even the u.s military has admitted to ukraine having nazis. Anyways it was publish in 2020.

    Archive ph source. The Nexus Between Far-Right Extremists in the United States and Ukraine

    just to share some highlights

    In 2014, as pro-Russian groups began to seize parts of the Donbas, a neo-Nazi group that called itself Patriot of Ukraine formed a battalion to reinforce the beleaguered Ukrainian army. Few qualifications were required, and volunteers came from all walks of life. The group soon became better known as the Azov Regiment.

    The author met some of the group’s fighters around the port city of Mariupol on the Sea of Azov in the summer and fall of 2014. At that time, few were properly armed or had much military training, but they were very much on the frontlines. The Azov Regiment enjoyed support from within the government of then President Petro Poroshenko and the security services,k despite well-documented reports of human rights abuses.70 The deputy head of the Kyiv region police Serhiy Bondarenko openly voiced his support for Azov in 2015.l Members of the Azov Regiment also organized youth camps that taught basic military skills and ideology.

    The emergence of such an overtly far-right white nationalist militia—publicly celebrated, openly organizing, and with friends in high places—was electrifying to far-right individuals and groups in Europe, the United States, and further afield. Among them was the Christchurch shooter, Brenton Tarrant.

    However, the National Corps’ strength does not lie in parliamentary corridors. It focuses on grassroots activism that translates into a street presence that often threatens its adversaries. In 2018, hundreds of members of its so-called “National Militia Units” paraded through Kyiv in uniform and swore to clean the streets of illegal alcohol, drug traffickers, and illegal gambling establishments.77 They began patrols in some Kyiv districts, ostensibly as part of an anti-crime campaign. A National Corps spokesman described the patrols as “part of the Azov movement” that would help “where the authorities either can’t or do not want to help the Ukrainian community.”78

    Their presence was largely tolerated by the National Police and Interior Ministry, according to human rights researchers in Ukraine who have spoken with the author.79 n On June 8, 2018, a group from the National Militia Units attacked and destroyed a Romany camp in Kyiv after its residents failed to respond to their ultimatum to leave within 24 hours. Police were at the scene but did not intervene, according to witnesses

    Another far-right group in Ukraine that has attracted interest and support among far-right extremists in the West is Right Sector. Originally involved in the Euromaidan protests in November 2013 because of its animosity toward Russia, Right Sector evolved into a volunteer fighting battalion in the Donbas.

    Officials of the National Corps were instrumental in organizing ‘Paneuropa’ conferences in Kyiv in April 2017 and October 2018, attracting white supremacist and other far-right groups from across Europe.94 Semenyaka invited Greg Johnson, editor of Counter-Currents and a prominent figure in the U.S. alt-right movement, to the Kyiv conference in October 2018.p Johnson champions what he has called the “North American New Right,” whose goal (like that of several paramilitary groups) is a white ethno-state.95 At the conference, Johnson spoke about his Manifesto of White Nationalism and said that what was “happening in Ukraine is a model and an inspiration for nationalists of all white nations.”96 Also attending the event were representatives of the Norwegian Alliansen Nationalist Party, the neo-fascist CasaPound Italia, neo-Nazis affiliated with the German Der III. Weg and JN-NPD youth group, as well as Karpatsa Sich.

    As noted, for now, the appeal of the Ukrainian ‘front’ to foreign volunteers, many of whom espouse far-right extremist views, has ebbed. However, the Kyiv government in December 2019 adopted a mechanism to apply legislation introduced by the leader of the National Corps Andriy Biletsky that makes it easier for foreigners fighting in the Ukrainian armed forces to acquire citizenship.149 Biletsky sits as an independent member of parliament.