Meet Lev Dobriansky, the grandfather of the Ukrainian American community's "Banderization," a longtime Republican National Committee (RNC) official, leader of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA) and founder/chair of the National Captive Nations Committee (NCNC). /1
Dobriansky, born 1918 in NYC, was elected UCCA prez in 1949. He couldn't speak Ukrainian but felt a "deep inner certitude that the vast majority of the 40 million Ukrainians...are at one, in mind & soul" (i.e "intrinsically anti-communist," pro-western & anti-Russian). /2
In 1951 a close friend, colleague & CIA informant thought Dobriansky to be unaware and uninterested "in the party squabble and minor cleavages within the [Ukrainian] emigration." In 1953 they assisted a US govt effort to unite the emigration, and met Stepan Bandera in Europe. /3
The CIA had hoped to unite the Ukrainian diaspora under its control via the "left-wing," anti-Bandera faction of the far-right OUN-B (led by Bandera's wartime deputy turned postwar rival, Mykola Lebed). 1960s Dobriansky denounced Lebed as "soft on communism" and a "CIA tool." /4
By turn of the 60s Dobriansky was a staunch ally of Bandera's forever loyal deputy turned successor Yaroslav Stetsko, and got the Ukrainian war criminal his first visa to the US although the CIA + State wanted to "deny him one for the rest of his life." /5
After the US govt had smuggled Mykola Lebed (also a war criminal & Nazi collaborator) to NYC, but before Dobriansky met Bandera in Europe, a CIA analyst noted the hypocrisy of US policy vis a vis the OUN-B: "The Ukrainians do not understand the basis of American attitudes..." /6
1960s Mykola Lebed told the CIA, Dobriansky "receives a substantial part of his income from the Bandera group" & "may have CIA contacts." Not true said Lebed's case officer. "Then they must be DIA, Pentagon, etc." LD was well-connected via the American Security Council (ASC). /7
In 1959 Lev Dobriansky invented Captive Nations Week, which the POTUS has proclaimed each 3rd week of July ever since. It proved to be a beachhead for the John Birch Society (JBS) & Stetsko's ABN, the world's "largest & most important umbrella for former Nazi collaborators." /8
Stetsko visited the Reagan White House in 1983 to celebrate the 25th Captive Nations Week in history and ABN's 40th, by which time Lev Dobriansky was made Ambassador to the Bahamas, and his neoconservative daughter Paula Dobriansky joined the National Security Council. /9
Lev Dobriansky was at the center of the RNC's "ethnic strategy" since 1952. His daughter Paula, an original signatory of the Project for a New American Century, a pro-Trump neocon today, is one of the GOP's most respected "democracy promotion" experts. /10
“We shall continue to expose the Russia First movement in this country,” Lev promised over 50 years ago. Paula accused Obama of "unprecedented... abdication of American leadership," but has remained silent about Trump's relationship with Russia, hoping for a top job in his admin.
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Part 3 🧵— Some have said Azov can't be neo-Nazi, because one of its most famous fighters is of "Jewish origin." After losing a leg in Azovstal and being freed in a prisoner exchange, Ruslan "David" Serbov visited Israel for rehabilitation, which he used to promote 🇺🇦 Nazi brands
"David" was among the Azov fighters flown to Mariupol by 🇺🇦 military intelligence after 🇷🇺 invaded. Here he is in
Azovstal with Oleksandr Kravtsov, the Hitler-tattooed commander of the "Ведмеді SS," an openly neo-Nazi squad that fought with Azov Regiment.
Azov's "myth-busting" website () says that "David" went to Israel in November 2022. By February 2023 he visited the Dead Sea, wearing a hoodie that says "NS," which is a double entendre: "National Socialist" and "North Side," the name of this neo-Nazi brand azovcontrafake.com
According to his LinkedIn account, Smelyansky has worked in Tel Aviv for years and has "native or bilingual" proficiency in Hebrew + Russian, but he obviously identifies as a 🇺🇦 neo-Nazi. Here he is with Azov leader Andriy Biletsky, wearing 🇺🇦 Nazi brands "SvaStone" and "REICH."
Smelyansky's a big fan of SvaStone owned by Arseniy Bilodub, a leader of extremist Right Sector & the neo-Nazi band "Sokyra Peruna." Smelyansky has one of their "V Legion" shirts & his private Instagram quotes one of their songs. He met Bilodub last year.
The "Israeli Friends of Ukraine" is said to be "the leading pro-🇺🇦 organization in 🇮🇱" & works closely w. the 🇺🇦 embassy in Tel Aviv. Zelensky awarded medals (3rd degree Order of Merit) to IFU co-chairs, including Vyacheslav Feldman who has signed rockets for Gaza "Slava Ukraini"
A year ago, the "Israeli Friends of Ukraine" arranged meetings in Tel Aviv for Azov vet Arseniy Fedosiuk (circled in 3rd pic), whose wife has traveled around the world on behalf of this neo-Nazi movement & used to work for one of its far-right publishers.
Does anyone think that the far-right Svoboda party having a unit in Ukraine's National Guard led to the "depoliticization" of either? Of course not, because that sounds ridiculous, except when you replace "Svoboda party" with "Azov movement," then you are making perfect sense...
@lingerence noticed that "Rubizh," the 🇨🇦-trained "Rapid Reaction Brigade" in 🇺🇦Nat'l Guard, shared an image of one of its solders w. red eyes and a patch of neo-Nazi "Misanthropic Division" affiliated with Azov mvmt. He's also wearing an Azov-linked brand, "Company Group Team."
Zelensky also awarded the "Hero of Ukraine" title to Andriy Zhovanyk (1975-2022), commander of the far-right "V Legion" sponsored by the neo-Nazi brand "SvaStone" and linked to neo-Nazi band "Sokyra Peruna." Zhovanyk's squad fought with far-right Carpathian Sich and Right Sector.
V Legion social media includes unsurprising hints of Nazism. They're promoted by the white supremacist SvaStone brand, and advertised a concert in honor of "Hammer," a neo-Nazi commander from Right Sector (who had a V Legion shirt)
Photo of V Legion with 🇺🇸 tanks including its Nazi deputy commander, Andriy Bilodub of SvaStone, Sokyra Peruna and Right Sector. In another post featuring Bilodub, the caption says "our squad performs the following tasks ... [including] preparation for coups, regimes overthrow."