The skinny on why Russia wants to "de-Nazify" Ukraine

If you've been confused by Russia's stated aim to "de-Nazify" Ukraine, especially given that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy himself is Jewish, you're not alone. Let's see if we can throw some lights on it.

For one thing, President Zelenskyy's Judaism is far from representative - Jews make up only 0.2% of Ukraine's population, according to Wikipedia. But a lack of Jews does not make a state Nazi or neo-Nazi. So, what else is going on?

The other confounding issue is the existence of the Azov Battalion. There is a militant ultra-nationalist movement in Ukraine called Azov, which Ukrainians are a little embarrassed by, and generally try to downplay. The movement has its own fringe political party, the National Corps, and a paramilitary force, the National Militia, which has for years "patrolled" the streets. and has been implicated in several violent attacks in minorities. Yes, they are an unashamedly neo-Nazi group, right down to the Nazi Wolfsangel logo and swastika tattoos, and yes, they are a nasty piece of work.

However, after Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea and its incursions into the Donbas region, Ukraine's military found itself under-resourced and outgunned, and volunteer militias such as the Azov Battalion and the Right Sector made a name for themselves as fierce fighters and valiant defenders of the nation. As a result, the Azov Battalion was officially integrated into the Ukraine National Guard in late 2014, where it became known as the Azov Regiment, giving it an unprecedented legitimacy.

This has been something of a dirty secret for Ukraine, and something they are not very happy talking about. The USA has made a point of specifying that any military aid it gives to Ukraine does not reach the Azov Regiment. They are generally treated as a necessary evil, but evil nonetheless.

However, they have been a propaganda gift to the Russians, and the Russian propaganda machine has sought to smear the Ukrainian military as a whole as right-wing extremists, even though many far-right fighters, both domestic and foreign, have also volunteered in the Russian army. Armies seem to attract that kind of person.

So, yes, there are neo-Nazis in Ukraine, just as there are in Russia (and in Canada and the USA, for that matter), but they are probably no more influential there than in many another country. The radical-right coalition that the National Corps political party belongs to polled just over 2% in the last election, and failed to win a single seat in Parliament. 

So, hardly a hot-bed of Nazism. And certainly not a reason to invade.