It's not Just Azov (Part 2)
It's not Just Azov (Part 2)
Other ultra nationalist Ukrainian forces
You can find the first part of this article here:
The clear Nazi affiliations of the Azov brigade are often excused by liberals and other Nazi apologists as being just one small part of the Ukrainian military. This simply isn’t true as the Ukrainian military post-Maidan integrated numerous far right forces into it. This practice is continuing today. Nazi patches, insignia, and tattoos are often seen in photos of Ukrainian troops.
While this list is not comprehensive, I have done my best to document the most prominent far right and Nazi units in the Ukrainian armed forces.
1st and 2nd platoons of the Donbas battalion
The Donbas battalion was originally a Russian speaking group of volunteers organized to oppose the separatist movements in the Donbas. The battalion was known for wearing balaclavas and received the nickname “Little Black Men.” It was retired in September 2016, but has existed as a non governmental volunteer battalion since then. According to an Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights report:
A man with a mental disability was subject to cruel treatment, rape and other forms
of sexual violence by eight to 10 members of the ‘Azov’ and ‘Donbas’ battalions in
August-September 2014. The victim’s health subsequently deteriorated and he was
hospitalized in a psychiatric hospital
It is unclear if anyone of those men were ever charged for this assault.
According to the same report:
A witness reported to OHCHR that on 26 August 2014, Mr. Myronenko was
brought to school No.14, where he was reportedly locked with seven other people in a metal cabinet located in a small detached building in the school yard. “Donbas” battalion members allegedly took them one by one for interrogation and beat them.
Once again, it is unlikely that anyone was punished for these actions.
The Kraken Regiment was formed on February 22 from veterans of the Azov brigade. It is commanded by Konstantin V. Nemichev. As a former Azov member, he founded the “Slobozhanin” children’s camp in the Kharkov region. This is essentially a far right indoctrination camp - Azov for the youth.
This video from the opening of the camp shows children with Azov T-Shirts. The black sun or sonnerad Nazi symbol is clear on each T-Shirt. On January 3, 2022 he was calling for overthrowing the Zelensky government on his instagram:
Today is the birthday of my friend - Serhiy Velichko, call sign@chilli_1654.
Unfortunately, he is not celebrating his holiday today at home. Power@zelenskiy_officialthrew him behind bars on a far-fetched case, using the security service of Ukraine. We will definitely defeat this regime, and I
wish Serhii the strength to walk this path.
He is now proudly serving that regime which has sent the Kraken regiment into the meatgrinder of Bakhmut.
The Kraken regiment has been armed by the EU and United States. In this video showing them using western provided weapons, a Banderite patch is featured in the first shot:
There can be no doubt about the affiliation of the Kraken Battalion with Nazism.
OUN Battalion (now 81st Airborne Assault Brigade)
The OUN Battalion was originally a volunteer group formed after Maidan to participate in the attack on the Donbas. According to pro-NATO outlet Radio Free Europe:
Right-wing nationalists filled out the ranks of the OUN battalion and the 8th battalion of the Ukrainian Volunteer Army.
It was ordered to officially integrate into the Ukrainian Armed Forces in May 2015 because it was violating the Minsk agreements. It became a part of the 81st Airborne Assault Brigade.
The OUN Battalion Facebook page is still active and on March 5, 2023 they posted:
On March 5, 1950, UPA commander Roman Shukhevich was killed in a battle with a detachment of Soviet special services in the village of Bilogorshcha...
Today, the Ukrainian soldiers continue and will victoriously complete the work of the glorious upivians! And we will never forget our fallen heroes!
Soldiers of the OUN Volunteer Battalion commemorated Corporal General Roman Shukhevych in Bilogorsh today.
Celebration of known Nazi collaborators is common in Ukraine and it is no surprise that the battalion named after the OUN would participate.
Spartan Storm and the other Stormtrooper Brigades
Spartan Storm was recently highlighted in a video by Reuters than can be watched here. Spartan Storm is one of the “Stormtrooper brigades” that Ukraine has been pushing recruitment for recently. The use of the name ‘Adolf’ and the initials of Spartan Storm being SS went without comment by Reuters.
The eight brigades are Hurricane, Spartan Storm (SS), Chervona Kalyna (Red Vineyard), Frontier, Rage, Azov, Steel Border, Charter and Kara Dag.
The name Chervona Kalyna comes from a Ukrainian folk song that became a nationalist anthem of the Ukrainian People’s Army (UPA). The UPA was involved in the ethnic cleansing of Poles, Jews, and other minorities along side Nazis during WWII.
The Rage Brigade is a paramilitary police unit created in honor of hero of Ukraine, Serhiy Gubanov, who died fighting with the Luhansk-1 brigade early in the Donbas war. The Police of Luhansk recently posted this photo on Facebook:
The badge worn by this soldier is not as explicitly Nazi as some, but it did not take long to find the far right connection. The term Deus Vult (God’s Will) was first used by crusaders during the first crusade but has been connected today to far right Christian nationalists. In fact, it was the title of an essay (God Wills It) defending Hitler’s Beer Hall Putsch in 1923. The slogan and Crusader imagery was also prominent amongst the Nazi marchers in Charlottesville in 2017. Dorothy Kim writes of Deus Vult:
For a host of different alt-right groups, it specifically evokes an idea of a militaristic and racially-motivated defense of the Christian West against a racist fantasy of Islam and Muslims. All of which is historically inaccurate. The white supremacist use of #DeusVult and a return to medieval Catholicism is to invoke the myth of a white Christian (i.e. Catholic) medieval past that wishes to ignore the actual demographics and theological state of Catholicism today, let alone the doctrinal practices of contemporary Catholicism.
Ukraine is truly a breeding ground of white supremacist ideology.
The DUK - Right Sector Ukrainian Volunteer Corps or 67th Separate Mechanized Brigade
This is one of the few volunteer battalions created after Maidan that was not integrated into the Ukrainian Armed Forces during the Donbas war. It was not until the Russian special military operation began in 2022 that it became an official part of the Ukrainian ground forces. It was created by the head of Right Sector (Pravy Sektor) Dmytro Yarosh. According to their own description:
The Ukrainian Volunteer Corps "Right Sector" (DUK PS) is a voluntary formation of citizens of Ukraine, Ukrainians from abroad and non-Ukrainians - citizens of other countries who share the ideology of Ukrainian nationalism and expressed a desire to participate in the armed struggle of the Ukrainian people against the external and internal enemy.
They are specifically Ukrainian nationalists, which is not shocking coming from Right Sector. They specifically tie themselves to Bandera on their website:
The Red and Black Flag is one of the symbols of Ukrainian nationalism, this combination of colors is rooted to the nation's culture. What's more, this flag had been using by the OUN of Stepan Bandera times, which is a great example of the Idea and Deed for us. Our conviction: only the Red-Black Flag of struggle will lead us to the Blue-Yellow Flag of freedom!
At this point, there isn’t much more to say. I have once again come upon the email length limit for this post, so further far right brigades will have to await another time.