Too Much Ado About Ukrainian Nationalists: the Azov Movement and the War in Ukraine

Vladimir Putin has been stubbornly insisting that Russian forces are invading Ukraine to “de-nazify” the country. Many Westerners are understandably startled since Ukraine’s president is a democratically elected official who lost family members in the Holocaust. The Highest rabbi of Ukraine wondered whether the denazification targets the Ukrainian president or the head of political opposition both of Jewish descent. Moreover, a professional community of scholars of genocide and Nazism adamantly opposed to “equation of the Ukrainian state with the Nazi regime.” Putin, however, is twisting reality because he has some evidence under his belt. He is primarily referring to the Azov movement—a Ukrainian militia-cum-political movement that arose in 2014. In the Kremlin’s depiction, Azov is a Nazi gang that holds sway over the Ukrainian government and is intent on harming Russian-speaking civilians. Putin is not alone in condemning Azov. In 2018, the U.S. Congress banned arms provision to Azov, citing its neo-Nazi ideology. While the Azov movement finds its roots on the white supremacist right, the Azov phenomenon has evolved in more complex ways since its founding. The movement emerged in 2014 and has gone through a notable transformation, which significantly changed its nature and its ideological basis. As a Ukrainian scholar who has studied Ukrainian nationalism in general and the Azov movement, I thought it is important that I explain exactly who they are and what they are doing to external audiences.Vladimir Putin has been stubbornly insisting that Russian forces are invading Ukraine to “de-nazify” the country. Many Westerners are understandably startled since Ukraine’s president is a democratically elected official who lost family members in the Holocaust. The Highest rabbi of Ukraine wondered whether the denazification targets the Ukrainian president or the head of political opposition both of Jewish descent. Moreover, a professional community of scholars of genocide and Nazism adamantly opposed to “equation of the Ukrainian state with the Nazi regime.” Putin, however, is twisting reality because he has some evidence under his belt. He is primarily referring to the Azov movement—a Ukrainian militia-cum-political movement that arose in 2014. In the Kremlin’s depiction, Azov is a Nazi gang that holds sway over the Ukrainian government and is intent on harming Russian-speaking civilians. Putin is not alone in condemning Azov. In 2018, the U.S. Congress banned arms provision to Azov, citing its neo-Nazi ideology. While the Azov movement finds its roots on the white supremacist right, the Azov phenomenon has evolved in more complex ways since its founding. The movement emerged in 2014 and has gone through a notable transformation, which significantly changed its nature and its ideological basis. As a Ukrainian scholar who has studied Ukrainian nationalism in general and the Azov movement, I thought it is important that I explain exactly who they are and what they are doing to external audiences.