In the 2nd image, you can see that the Kyiv rehabilitation center which caters to wounded Azov fighters (and follows this guy on Instagram) "liked" a post about the Nazi couple's trip to Auschwitz. I had noticed this rehab center seems unfazed by its many patients' Nazi tattoos
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Jr. Sgt. Volodymyr Vernyhora is sitting on the left, appears to have a patch from the Azov Brigade's Mykola Stsiborskyi school (named for fascist OUN ideologue who "envisioned the state as a 'natiocracy,' an ethnically defined totalitarianism"-@parudling)
Lt. Arseniy Fedosiuk has been photographed with people making Nazi salutes. His laptop has a sticker of the hardcore neo-Nazi paramilitary group ("Patriot of Ukraine") that spawned Azov. He followed an overtly neo-Nazi VK account "12 years not a slave" (referring to 1933-45)
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."