In today's #vatnik soup I'll discuss nazis. I'll introduce some famous 🇷🇺 neo-nazi movements and figures and also discuss why the "de-nazification" project of Ukraine is simply absurd.
First, let's discuss the similarities between Russian regime and Hitler's nazi Germany. 1/12
Both of these countries share attributes that are commonly seen in totalitarian regimes: full state control of media, murdering and jailing of dissidents and opposition and powerful propaganda machinery that demonizes the enemy.
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Like Hitler's regime did with Jews, Putin's gang has been trying to wipe out the Ukrainian identity and culture. This rhretoric has been visible in many of Putin's speeches but also in op-eds and articles such as Timofey Sergeytsev's ...
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... "What should Russia do with Ukraine?" that was published in Kremlin-controlled RIA Novosti in April, 2022. Russians are also committing genocide in Ukraine:
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In addition to Putin's totalitarian regime having similarities to Hitler's 3rd Reich, there are also a rampant far-right and neo-nazi problem in Russia. Far-right political violence in 🇷🇺between 2000-2017 was 7 times higher than in Western Europe during the same time period. 5/12
It's worth noting that Putin rose to power in 1999 and since then, Russian police, FSB and GRU have tolerated violence and terrorism coming from the far-right as long as it's not anti-Putin and/or pro-Ukraine.
jstor.org/stable/26544645
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A neo-nazi group Russkii Obraz has received official government support. Russkii Obraz also has ties to far-right terrorist group BORN. A far-right motorcycle gang Night Wolves have been in close relations with Putin, and they have even appeared on a children's TV show.
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This is all a part of Kremlin funded "managed nationalism" program which supports actual
far-right actors and organizations. Robert Horvath (@RG_Horvath) has written an excellent book on the subject: routledge.com/Putins-Fascist…
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🇷🇺 army is also infested with actual neo-nazis.Rusich group that was fighting in Donbas in '14-'15 was led by Alexei Milchakov:
Prigozhin's mercenary army was led by Dmitry Utkin who has Waffen SS and other nazi symbols tattooed on his body.
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So how big is the "nazi problem" in Ukraine?It's actually miniscule. Far-right parties had 2% of the vote in the 2019 parliamentary elections. In comparison, this figure is much higher in many EU countries. Of course, the definition of far-right is debated and ever-changing.10/12
In the Russian propaganda "Neo-Nazis" are a synonym with the ZSU, volunteer battalions, and territorial defense forces. The goal with this rhetoric is to dehumanize the enemy: everybody hates nazis, and they SHOULD be treated badly and even killed.
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It's kind of ironic, that in the future the Z troops and Putin will be considered exactly the same as Hitler and his nazis in the past. If there's one country that needs de-nazification, it's Russia.
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