Kyiv has been recruiting volunteers for Nazi brigades that will invade Donbas and Crimea, the Russian media writes, providing a reinterpretation of a statement by Ukraine’s Interior Ministry. The metanarrative about Ukrainian Nazism is used by Moscow to justify the aggression against its neighbor as early as 2014, although far-right extremists are politically irrelevant in Ukraine and Nazi ideology is banned under the law.
NEWS: “Kyiv has announced the recruitment of volunteers for its Nazi troops. According to the Kyiv Regional Military Administration, quoted by PolitNavigator’s correspondent, nationalist brigades called “the Offensive Guard” will be created. The Interior Ministry of Ukraine takes charge of setting up additional brigades as part of the National Guard, the National Police and the Border Police Service.
Volunteers can sign up for Azov, Chervona Kalina, Lyut and other Nazi brigades.
[…]
Fill out a volunteer form and join the assault brigades of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which will liberate the cities of Donetsk, Luhansk and other occupied territories, including Crimea […]”, the Offensive Guard webpage reads.”
NARRATIVE: Ukraine is recruiting volunteers for its Nazi brigades
WHY THE NARRATIVE IS FALSE: Ukraine’s Interior Ministry announced it is looking for volunteers with a view to creating brigades that will take part in the liberation of Russian-held territories. A total of 8 brigades will be created, each with its specific name reminiscent of key moments of the Russian invasion starting 2014: “Bureviy”, “Chervona Kalina”, “Kara-Dag”, “Rubizh”, “Spartan”, “Azov”, “Lyut” and “Staleviy Kordon”. Also worth noting is that many national armies (including the Romanian army) has military units bearing names that refer to the nation’s history, geography, customs, etc. The Russian media seeks to promote the idea that using names of “Russian” territories s evidence of Ukraine’s nationalism and Nazism. These are in fact Ukrainian territories Russia invaded.
The so-called “Offensive Guard” is also expected to serve a role complementary to the national army. The idea of Nazi or nationalist paramilitary units is therefore out of the question.
In fact, as early as July 2015, Ukraine banned any public expression of communist and Nazi ideologies. Far-right parties in Ukraine have never taken power in Ukraine due to obtaining few votes in elections.
Starting 2014, the Russian government media has been widely publicizing the metanarrative about Ukraine being “a Nazi state” in order to justify Russia’s aggression. The Kremlin never provided any clear-cut evidence to substantiate its claims about “Ukrainian Nazism”. To Moscow, everything at odds with the ideology of the “Russian world” is Nazi. One of the goals of the “special military operation” announced by Vladimir Putin on February 24 was to “denazify” Ukraine.
Veridica has debunked several false narratives about the nature of the war in Ukraine and Kyiv’s leaders. According to Russian propaganda, Ukrainians don’t understand that Russia is here to liberate, not occupy them because they are manipulated by Kyiv. Additionally, Moscow allegedly shows restraint when bombing Ukraine because it knows the population doesn’t support the neo-Nazi government. The Russian media also wrote that Volodymyr Zelensky has united Europe to destroy Russia, like Adolf Hitler, and that Kyiv authorities are massacring civilians in Donbas.
