Before Russia invaded Ukraine, these fighters were neo-Nazis. They still are.
By Lev Golinkin, The Nation
Vladimir Putin’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine has already resulted in millions of losers—chief among them the civilians who’ve been tortured, murdered, forced to become refugees, or forced to spend their days worrying about loved ones fighting Russia.

But there are also winners: the neofascists whom Putin’s war has turned into heroes.
For seven years, Western institutions have warned about Ukraine’s Azov Movement, which began as a neo-Nazi paramilitary group in 2014 and became notorious for its worldwide recruitment of extremists.
Then came Russia’s invasion. Within months, Azov fighters were being feted in Congress and at Stanford University. MSNBC swooned over a Ukrainian soldier whose Twitter account overflowed with neo-Nazi images. Facebook made the stunning decision to allow posts praising the Azov Battalion, even though the company admitted that it was a hate group.
This overnight normalization of white supremacy was possible because Western institutions, driven by a zeal to ignore anything negative about our Ukrainian allies, decided that a neo-Nazi military formation in a war-torn nation had suddenly and miraculously stopped being neo-Nazi.
Recent Posts
The Trump-Musk Spat Exposes Our Ugly Plutocracy
June 7, 2025
Take Action Now Two billionaires, Donald Trump and Elon Musk, are squabbling over the federal government’s spoils. It seems almost quaint to worry…
Donald Trump Is Advertising Genocide As A Business Opportunity
June 6, 2025
Take Action Now The U.S. president is still trying to sell the world on the destruction of Gaza.By Edward Hunt, Foreign Policy in Focus Among all…
The FBI Sought Search Warrants For Columbia Students’ Social Media
June 5, 2025
Take Action Now New court documents reveal how the feds tried to unmask the Columbia students — and got blocked by federal judges on First Amendment…
Greta Thunberg Speaks From Aid Ship Heading To Gaza Despite Israeli Threats: It’s My Moral Obligation
June 5, 2025
Take Action Now “We cannot have climate justice without social justice. The reason why I am a climate activist is not because I want to protect…