War in Ukraine: How ‘Denazification’ Speech Is Crucial to Russia’s New Offensive

April 11, 2022

Robert

This is the War in Ukraine newsletter. Do you want to receive it in your email? Sign up below.

The Russian Defense Ministry announced that it had killed Taras Bobanitch, deputy commander of Pravi Sektor (Right Sector), a nationalist and neo-Nazi group operating in Ukraine.

Russia says Bobanich had been involved in operations in the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine since 2014 and was killed in the Kharkiv region.

Ukraine’s second-largest city has been heavily attacked in the new phase of the Russian invasion, which is focused on consolidating eastern dominance in order to create a corridor between Russia and the Crimean peninsula.

We explain in this Sunday’s newsletter (10) how this operation is related to two objectives declared by Russia at the beginning of the offensive: 1) the recognition of the Donbass provinces as independent; two) and the recognition of Crimea as being Russian.

Today, we are going to explain a third argument from Vladimir Putin’s narrative of war: the “Denazification of Ukraine”.

According to the Kremlin, Volodymyr Zelensky’s government tolerates and has the support of extremist nationalist and neo-Nazi ballots that:

emerged from 2013, a period close to the annexation of Crimea by Russia, which fostered Ukrainian nationalist sentiment;
they have a greater presence in the eastern portion, where the pro-Russian breakaway regions of Donbass are also located.

In his speech justifying the invasion of the neighboring nation 47 days ago, Putin declared that his objective was to protect the Russian peoples in the region, “who for eight years have been subjected to abuse and genocide by the Kiev regime”.

This Monday (11), in announcing the death of commander Bobanitch, the Ministry of Defense declared: “The Russian Armed Forces will continue to seek and eliminate the leaders of Ukrainian neo-Nazi organizations”.

But is the neo-Nazi presence in Ukraine significant?

Yes… “Ukraine, like almost all European countries, has its fascist and even neo-Nazi extreme right groups”, explains Angelo Segrillo, a professor of contemporary history at USP, a specialist in Russia and author of the book “Os Russos”.

…And not: “However, the political weight of these really neo-Nazi groups is small. The radical right-wing groups formed a coalition in the last election for the Ukrainian Parliament and got only about 2% of the votes”, ponders Segrillo.

Zelensky, who is Jewish, denies his government’s link with these ballots. However, one of the most famous neo-Nazi groups, the Azov Battalion, was partly incorporated into the Ukrainian National Guard and trained civilians to fight the Russians after the invasion.

Why it matters now: the battalion’s name is a reference to the Sea of Azov, where it operates, a strategic port for trade and also important access to the Donbass. One of its exits is in Mariupol, devastated by the troops of Moscow. This is the situation in the city:

Russia plans to reinforce military action there to end the last resistance in the region;
pro-Russian separatists say they have already taken control of the port;
Ukraine speaks of “tens of thousands of dead”, but the estimate cannot be confirmed;
entities such as the Red Cross report difficulties in evacuating residents and providing assistance.

The battle of Mariupol is considered to define the course of the conflict in the coming days. The discourse of “denazification” may justify more violent attacks by Russia.

Do not get lost

Here are three paramilitary groups operating in eastern Ukraine:

Pravi Sektor/Right Sector: A far-right and ultranationalist organization was created in 2013 and became a party. Its flag, with the trizub symbol (“trident”, in Portuguese), has been seen in demonstrations in support of President Jair Bolsonaro in recent years.
Azov Battalion: A militia created in 2014 to fight Russian separatists in Donbass, it exists to this day under other names and was incorporated into the Ukrainian National Guard. “This opened the flank for Vladimir Putin to say that neo-Nazis had infiltrated the Ukrainian state”, explains Angelo Segrillo, from USP.
Wagner Group: It is an organization of mercenaries who act on the side of Moscow, supporting pro-Russian separatists. According to the BBC, it was first identified in 2014 in eastern Ukraine and has faced allegations of human rights abuses and war crimes in its operations in Syria and Libya.

What happened this Monday (11)

Kremlin has declared that it will not stop the attacks until the next negotiation;
Pro-Russian separatists said they had taken the port of Mariupol in the east;
Moscow said it destroyed NATO-donated anti-aircraft batteries;
Brazil announced that it had granted 74 humanitarian visas to Ukrainians.