DISINFO: Ex Nazi allies support Nazi regime in Kyiv
SUMMARY
Countries which collaborated with Hitler or were direct allies of Nazi Germany are supporting Ukrainian Nazis. They provide the Nazi regime in Ukraine with intelligence information, supply it with weapons, train its militants, direct military operations and terrorist activities, and finance foreign mercenaries.
RESPONSE
This is a recurring disinformation narrative from pro-Kremlin outlets accusing Ukraine and its Western partners of Nazism and Russophobia. This claim was made in the context of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine.
Kyiv’s authorities are neither Nazi nor Russophobic. All ethnic minorities and their rights are respected in Ukraine. Contrary to Russia’s claims, Ukraine did not carry out a policy of genocide in its temporarily occupied territories in the South-East before Moscow’s unprovoked large-scale aggression.
The myth of Nazi-ruled Ukraine became a cornerstone in pro-Kremlin disinformation since the very beginning of the 2013-14 Euromaidan protests. It was used back then to discredit the pro-European popular uprising in Kyiv and, subsequently, the broader pro-Western shift in Ukraine's foreign policy. Nazi ideology was banned by Ukrainian law in 2015. Far-right groups had a very limited presence during the 2014 Euromaidan demonstrations itself and even gained poor results in the 2014 presidential and parliamentary elections. In 2019, the far-right parties gained only 2.15% of the vote, far short of the 5% threshold needed to enter Parliament. The fact that Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is of Jewish decent, won the 2019 presidential election with 73 per cent voter support is enough evidence to dispel any myths about a Nazi Ukraine.
The myth of a Nazi Europe has been widely used by Putin and pro-Kremlin outlets since Russia attacked Ukraine and illegally annexed its peninsula of Crimea in 2014. The European Union was set up with the aim of ending the frequent and bloody wars between neighbours, which culminated in the Second World War. In 2012, the EU was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for advancing the causes of peace, reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe. Most countries which provide Ukraine with aid now were fighting Nazism back then. They were providing support for the former Soviet Union during its war with Nazi Germany.
Read more disinformation cases claiming that the EU is Hitler's 'New Europe', that the European Union justifies Nazism, and that the The EU continues the aggressive policies of Nazi.