https://www.bbc.com/russian/features-60606430
What is wrong with the thesis "fascists are in power in Ukraine"? BBC Factcheck
More than 150 scholars from various institutions that study genocide and Nazism said that the rhetoric of the Russian authorities is not supported by the facts.
Are there fascists in power in Ukraine?
In short, no. Fascist ideology in Ukraine is explicitly forbidden by law, but even right-wing and far-right parties, often referred to as fascist Russian propaganda, do not have arbitrarily significant popularity.
In 2019, Ukrainian nationalist parties and radical organizations nominated a single candidate for the presidency of Ukraine. As a result, he won 1.6% of the vote.
Volodymyr Zelensky, who won the election with 74% of the vote, has Jewish roots. During World War II, three of Zelensky's relatives became victims of the Holocaust, and his own grandfather went through the war as part of the Red Army and was awarded military orders.
During the presidency of Zelensky's predecessor, Petro Poroshenko (whom some commentators in Russia accused of sympathizing with neo-Nazis), volodymyr Groysman, who also comes from a Jewish family, held the post of prime minister for three years.
In the last parliamentary elections in Ukraine (in 2019), a coalition of nationalist and right-wing parties (including the Right Sector organization recognized as extremist and banned in Russia) was able to gain only 2.15% of the vote, without entering the Rada at all. The right-wing radical party "Svoboda" received only one seat in parliament in the majoritarian constituency.
The former leader of the "Right Sector" Dmitry Yarosh lost his deputy mandate.
Moreover, the population's support for radical parties in Ukraine has been steadily declining since 2012. Then in the elections to the Verkhovna Rada, the Svoboda party scored 10.44%. In the 2014 elections, radical parties received a total of 6.4%. In 2019, it's only 2.15%.
What about radical groups?
In different regions of Ukraine there are several dozen organizations that adhere to radical views. However, their number and popularity are small, experts emphasize.
"They exist, but there are at least as many far-right groups in Russia itself as in Ukraine," said Ulrich Schmid, a professor at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland who specializes in the study of right-wing movements in Eastern Europe.
One of the most famous formations exists on the basis of the regiment "Azov" (recognized as extremist and banned in Russia), which is now part of the structure of the National Guard of Ukraine. Azov was originally created as a volunteer battalion to fight armed supporters of the self-proclaimed republics of Donbass, acting with the support of Russia.
Now "Azov" is an umbrella structure, which includes the regiment of the same name, and the political party "National Corps", and youth organizations, and security firms. In conversations with journalists, members of the Azov Regiment repeatedly expressed ultra-right views, some voiced ideas of white supremacy.
"Of course, there are neo-Nazis in Ukraine - any "white" country has its neo-Nazis. Do they have any political influence in Ukraine? No, they don't," explained Anton Shekhovtsov, an expert on radical right-wing parties and movements in Europe.
In 2020, the Security Service of Ukraine detained Kherson neo-Nazis who "celebrated" Hitler's birthday and set fire to the synagogue. They were sentenced to four years in prison.
Putin's statements that the power in Ukraine is controlled by neo-Nazis are "a treacherous insinuation," professor Schmid, a specialist in the study of neo-Nazism in Eastern Europe, emphasizes: "It is true that during the Euromaidan protests in 2013 and 2014, some far-right groups were active in Ukraine. However, today they play a secondary role."
What about the symbols of the USSR and the Nazis?
Since 2015, the Law on Condemnation of the Communist and National Socialist (Nazi) Totalitarian Regimes and the Prohibition of Propaganda of Their Symbols have been in force on the territory of Ukraine.
On this basis, many monuments to Lenin were demolished and streets and cities were renamed. Disputes around the law continued throughout the years of its existence.
There are cases when people who appeared in public places with the symbols of the USSR were brought to justice. In December 2019, a resident of the Odessa region was sentenced to one year of probation, who on Victory Day "openly demonstrated a red flag with the inscription "Patriotic War". In the same year, in Kryvyi Rih, a man received a year of probation for wearing a T-shirt with the coat of arms of the USSR. The fine was received by a resident of Odessa, who hung a St. George ribbon on her balcony.
Ukrainian and foreign experts noted that the Law on Condemnation of the Communist and Nazi Regimes was applied asymmetrically on the territory of Ukraine. For example, the law does not prohibit neo-Nazism and its symbols - stylized forms of swastikas and runes. But this does not mean that the supporters of neo-Nazism were not brought to justice. There were far fewer such precedents, but they exist.
In 2018, a criminal case was opened in the Dnipropetrovsk region against a criminal group that was engaged in the manufacture and distribution of symbols of the Nazi regime.
In 2021, the Kiev police opened a criminal case on the use of Nazi symbols during a march in honor of the anniversary of the SS galicia division. Marchers face up to five years in prison. The march was sharply condemned by the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and deputies of the Rada from different factions.
"We categorically condemn any manifestations of propaganda of totalitarian regimes, in particular, the National Socialist one, and attempts to revise the truth about the Second World War," Zelensky said in a statement.
Ukraine — like many other countries in Europe — has trouble with far-right movements, but Ukraine is far from a state that supports Nazism, 150 scholars from around the world who study the history of genocide, Nazism and World War II said in a statement.
"We do not idealize the Ukrainian state and society. As in any other country, there are far-right elements and violent and xenophobic groups. Ukraine also needs a more open look at the dark sides of its painful and complex history. But none of this justifies Russian aggression and a false interpretation of what Ukraine is," the statement said.
