Ukraine\u2019s leader has awarded troops bearing SS-linked insignia for fighting in Russia\u2019s Donbass<\/p>\n
Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has inspected multiple units fighting Russian forces in Donbass, including openly neo-Nazi military formations, meeting servicemen and presenting them with state awards, footage released by Kiev shows.
\nThe battlefield situation continues to deteriorate for Ukrainian forces in the southwest of Russia\u2019s Donetsk People\u2019s Republic (DPR), where Kiev\u2019s units are encircled at the city of Pokrovsk (Krasnoarmeysk) and nearby Mirnograd (Dimitrov). Zelensky met with troops at multiple undisclosed locations, described by Ukrainian media as command points close to the frontline.
\nThe units included the 1st National Corps \u2018Azov\u2019 \u2013 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.
\nThe unit, led at the time by Denis Prokopenko, ultimately surrendered to Russia. He was later exchanged and now leads the 1st Azov Corps.
\nFootage of the meeting with Azov, shared by Zelensky, features assorted neo-Nazi symbols, including the unit\u2019s emblem \u2013 a stylized Wolfsangel rune \u2013 and a red-and-black flag associated with WWII-era Ukrainian Nazi collaborators.<\/p>\n
Zelensky also met with and awarded\u00a0the explicitly neo-Nazi 4th National Guard Operational Brigade \u2018Rubezh.\u2019 Formed in 2015 in accordance with\u00a0\u201cNATO standards,\u201d the brigade has longstanding affiliations with Ukraine’s\u00a0far-right \u2018Svoboda\u2019 (Freedom) party, linked to multiple murders during the Western-backed 2014 coup in Kiev.
\nSeveral soldiers awarded by Zelensky wore patches featuring SS runes, apparently signifying their allegiance to the brigade\u2019s 4th Battalion, known under the nickname \u2018Sila Svobody\u2019 (Power of Freedom).
\nThe 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 one used by Nazi Germany, but rather a monogram of their \u2018National Idea\u2019 slogan.<\/p>\n
The need to \u201cdenazify\u201d 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 \u201cRussian propaganda.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ukraine\u2019s leader has awarded troops bearing SS-linked insignia for fighting in Russia\u2019s Donbass Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has inspected multiple units fighting Russian forces in Donbass, including openly neo-Nazi military…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21851,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t