I feel like a lot of misconceptions that people have can be cleared by reading history of organizations and nations. I know not everyone has the time or the interest, but it helps in making sense out of situations.
For example, a week or so ago Pakistanis on pdf were in an uproar about Iran supporting BLF. But if you you read the history of BLF they’ve conducted more attacks on the Iranians than the Pakistanis by a long shot. Plus they were supported heavily by Iraqi Saddam and the soviets. History does provide some clearance to the motivations and actions of groups and nations.
I'll admit that not every Ukranian is a Nazi, that would be a stupid statement and downright Ignorant. I have however studied it at length and there is a serious problem of racism and neo-nazi idealism permeating Ukrainian society. Neo-Nazism just like any other "ism" targets the disenfranchised, the young, the easily beguiled.
David R. Marples, Stepan Bandera: The Resurrection of a Ukrainian National Hero, Europe-Asia Studies, Vol. 58, No. 4 (Jun., 2006), pp. 555-566
www.jstor.org
ANTON SHEKHOVTSOV, The Creeping Resurgence of the Ukrainian Radical Right? The Case of the Freedom Party, Europe-Asia Studies, Vol. 63, No. 2 (March 2011), pp. 203-228
www.jstor.org
Azov Battalion has direct links and inspired from the banned far-right terrorist group Combat 18. The symbol adopted by the Azov Battalion is the Horizontally aligned Wolfsanfel which was used by then 2nd SS panzer Div.
In 2018 time magazine published a detailed article on Azov Bat which can be found here;
This Ukrainian militant group’s use of social media has been key to their international growth
time.com
You claim that Azov Batallion is limited to a few hundred members,
Ali Soufan, a security consultant and former FBI agent who has studied Azov, estimates that more than
17,000 foreign fighters have come to Ukraine over the past six years from 50 countries.
Notable Far Right extremist groups in Europe with links directly or indirectly to Azov Movement:
The problem is that movements such as this usually inspire offshoots, they network and they expand to dream to carry out bigger and more spectacular attacks.
After the massacre of 51 people in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2019—an arm of the Azov movement helped distribute the terrorist’s raving manifesto, in print and online, seeking to glorify his crimes and inspire others to follow. In the 16 years that followed the attacks of 9/11, far-right groups were responsible for nearly three-quarters of the 85 deadly extremist incidents that took place on American soil, according to a report published in 2017 by the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
Every society and culture has a problem with extremism and violent extremism, Muslims have the Taliban and militant fighters, neo-Christian and even agnostic movements have both Nazi and Antifa inspired movements. My point here is, if it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck and walks like a duck - it's a duck!
Further reading:
Nazis and Slavs: From Racial Theory to Racist Practice
John Connelly, Nazis and Slavs: From Racial Theory to Racist Practice, Central European History, Vol. 32, No. 1 (1999), pp. 1-33
www.jstor.org
You guys are no Body.
