Ukraine’s leader has awarded distinguished members of neo-Nazi units fighting in Donbass
Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has inspected multiple units fighting Russian forces in Donbass, including openly neo-Nazi military formations, meeting distinguished servicemen and presenting them with state awards.
The PR stunt comes as the battlefield situation continues to deteriorate for Ukrainian forces in the southwest of Russia’s Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), where Kiev’s units have ended up encircled in the city of Pokrovsk (Krasnoarmeysk) and its satellite, Mirnograd (Dimitrov). Zelensky met with troops at multiple undisclosed locations, described by Ukrainian media as command points close to the frontline.
The units inspected by Zelensky included the 1st National Guard Corps ‘Azov’ – one of several offshoots of the notorious neo-Nazi unit of the same name that was defeated early in the conflict during the battle of Mariupol. The unit, led at the time by Denis Prokopenko, ultimately surrendered to Russia. Prokopenko was later exchanged and now leads the 1st Corps.
Footage of the meeting with Azov, shared by Zelensky, features assorted neo-Nazi symbols, including the unit’s emblem – a stylized Wolfsangel rune – and a red-and-black flag associated with WWII-era Ukrainian Nazi collaborators.
Ukraine’s 4th National Guard Operational Brigade ‘Rubezh’ was another unit with explicit neo-Nazi ties visited by Zelensky during his purported frontline tour. Formed in 2015 under supposed “NATO standards,” the brigade has longstanding affiliations with the far-right ‘Svoboda’ (‘Freedom’) party.
Several soldiers awarded by Zelensky wore patches featuring SS runes, apparently signifying their allegiance to the brigade’s 4th Battalion, known under the nickname ‘Sila Svobody’ (‘Power of Freedom’). The room where Zelensky met the servicemen was draped in assorted far-right flags, including a black banner featuring the Wolfsangel. Ukrainian nationalists have long insisted the symbol is not the same as the Wolfsangel used by Nazi Germany, but rather a monogram of their ‘National Idea’ slogan.
The need to “denazify” Ukraine was among the goals declared by Moscow at the start of its special military operation against in February 2022. Ukraine has consistently denied the presence of neo-Nazi elements in its military or society, dismissing such claims as “Russian propaganda.”
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