Ukraine doesn’t have a Nazi problem, but Russia sure does

On May 9, Russia celebrated the victory over Nazism in World War II. The message of the victory over Nazism is one of Russia’s fundamental state-building messages. In Russian ideology, the “Russian nation” is seen as almost the sole victor over the Third Reich, while the term Nazism is demonized to the maximum extent possible.

This established propaganda image allows the Kremlin to convince 77 percent of Russians to support its aggressive war on Ukraine, the purpose of which is supposedly “denazification” of Ukraine.

While the Kremlin invents stories about fighting “Ukrainian Nazism”, denazification is indeed taking place in Ukraine. Ukraine’s defense forces continue to eliminate the many Russian neo-Nazis who fight in the Russian army and often boast of their war crimes.

Russian Nazis were among the first to take part in aggression against Ukraine in 2014. With the start of the full-scale invasion, these units officially came under the command of the Russian Ministry of Defense.

For example, the Rusich sabotage and assault reconnaissance group, which is suspected of committing war crimes, is fighting in Ukraine. In particular, the Rusich has detailed instructions on the “disposal of prisoners of war of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.” In February, the militants released footage of the execution of Ukrainian POWs. One of Rusich’s leaders, Aleksey Milchakov, known in Russia as flayer, openly admits that he is a Nazi. In 2017, the Rusich trained the youth military-patriotic organization Unarmia (children from 8 years old), founded by the Russian Ministry of Defense.

Russian neo-Nazis are also represented by the Russian Imperial Legion, a subdivision of the monarchist organization of the Russian Imperial Movement. They have also been fighting in Ukraine since 2014. In 2020, the movement was recognized as a terrorist organization in the USA, and its leaders were designated as terrorists. It was the first time that an organization espousing white supremacist ideas had been included in the U.S. list of terrorist organizations. At the time, the Russian Foreign Ministry called Washington’s decision “unreasonable.”

It is worth mentioning Wagner PMC, many of whose militants professed Nazi views and were involved in war crimes not only in Ukraine but also in Africa. In particular, the unit’s late commander, GRU officer Dmitry Utkin, had full SS officer insignia tattooed on either side of his clavicle, right where it would have been if he were wearing a Nazi uniform.

One could conclude that this is due to isolated groups of fanatics, but in fact this is a vivid result of Russian propaganda and ideology, espoused by Putin, among others. It is based on the uniqueness of the Russian state and the alleged parasitism of the entire Western world.

The idea of Russia’s uniqueness and its confrontation with the West are not new in Russia. Back in 1997, one of the leading “philosophers” of modern Russia, Alexander Dugin, called Ukraine’s independence an “existential danger” for Russia. He saw the world through the prism of opposing the Eurasian world (led by Russia) to the Atlantic world (led by the USA).

Dugin, who was recently interviewed by pro-Russia pundit Tucker Carlson, began his career in the late 1980s when he joined an organization of militant antisemitic nationalists called “Memory.” He has gained some recognition in intellectual circles of modern Russia with his theory of “Eurasianism,” and he has connections in academic and ideological circles of China, Iran and Turkey.

By May 9, Dugin wrote a column stating that Russian troops are at war with NATO, and that the goal of the new patriotic war in Ukraine is to regain for Russia the status of a global superpower.

This is the honest answer to what Russia really wants out of this conflict — it really has nothing to do with NATO expansion or “denazification” of Ukraine. It is because of these imperial ambitions that Ukrainian civilians are dying every day and entire cities are being destroyed.

Moscow wants to be feared and seen as a superpower, but will capturing a few regions of Ukraine be enough? The Kremlin needs a victory over the modern world order, international law and the unipolar world represented by the collective West. The question is how willing the West is to give Russia what it wants. Will it encourage a new Hitler, or will it give him a collective fight?

Serhii Kuzan is chairman of the Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Center. He previously served as an adviser to the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and to the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine.