Ukrainian fighters have been spotted wearing skull and crossbones patches. This could play into the hands of Kremlin chief Putin’s propaganda in the Ukraine war.
New York – According to information from New York Times (NYT) wore Ukrainian soldiers in the Ukraine war in some cases Nazi symbols on their uniforms. The US newspaper reported that three photos had been removed from social media. The case is considered delicate. Because the head of the Kremlin Wladimir Putin had the Russian invasion of Ukraine justified, among other things, by wanting to liberate the Russian-occupied areas there from “Nazis” – despite the fact that the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is of Jewish faith.
War in Ukraine: Controversial Azov Brigade has its own swastika version
Nazi symbols on Ukrainian uniforms are not a new phenomenon. Newsweek grabbed the NYT-Article recalling the Azov brigade, which fought against the Russian invaders at the Mariupol Steelworks during the Ukraine War. That was in the early stages of the Ukraine war. “Regrettably, these fighters flaunted their neo-Nazi ideology and wore their own version of the swastika,” wrote Newsweek in an opinion piece. Nevertheless, the unit was “incorporated” into the Ukrainian military.
Also the NYT reported that “some members” of such neo-Nazi groups since the Crimea-Annexation by Russia on the part of Ukraine fought.
“Neo-Nazi” symbols in the Ukraine war: the interpretation is complicated
Ukraine has been working “for years” to curb these far-right fringe movements through legislation and military restructuring. Its members have a hostile worldview towards leftists, LGBTQ movements and ethnic minorities, the reported NYT further – but also emphasized how “complicated” the interpretation of neo-Nazi symbols is in Ukraine “which is steeped in Soviet and German history”.
Newsweek didn’t accept that. “If that is meant in any way as a justification, it contradicts history. Although many Ukrainians were killed by German soldiers, too many also joined the German military and its genocidal program,” her comment read.
However, this also underscored the NYTbut emphasized: “Today, as a new generation fights against the Russian occupation, many Ukrainians see the war (Editor’s note: against the Russian attackers) as a continuation of the struggle for independence during and immediately after the Second World War.” Symbols such as the flag of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army and the Galicia badge are now symbols of anti-Russian resistance – they are not necessarily symbols of neo-Nazi ideology. (frs)
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