DISINFO: Zelensky uses the same Nazi symbols as Hitler
SUMMARY
There is commonality of Nazi symbolism between Adolf Hitler and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian president elected man of the year by Time magazine whose army has been bombing civilian areas of Donetsk and Gorlovka for 8 years with European weapons. Today's Ukrainian symbols dredge up both the emblems of Nazi Germany (the black sun, the rune wolf tooth) and those of Hitler's collaborationist Ukraine (the red-and-black colours of the UPA, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army).
RESPONSE
Recurrent pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about Nazi Ukraine, often presented as justification for the full-scale Russian military aggression against Ukraine, which started on 24 February 2022 and recurrent pro-Kremlin disinformation about the atrocities of the Ukrainian army in Donbas, such as war crimes and genocide.
This is part of a disinformation campaign aiming to deflect attention away from Russian actions and justify Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine.
There is no evidence to support the claims of genocide by Ukraine. The Ukrainian authorities did not systematically exterminate or abuse people living in the conflict zone. The claimed dead people – military and civilian alike - are a result of a war Russia had started in Ukraine. It was not an internal civil conflict but a well-documented act of aggression by Russian armed forces, ongoing since February 2014. The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine which has closely monitored the conflict has observed no such genocide.
As for accusations of Ukrainians wearing Nazi symbols today, this is a fabrication from pro-Kremlin media. The myth of Nazi-ruled Ukraine has been the cornerstone of Russian disinformation about the country since the very beginning of the 2013-14 Euromaidan protests, when it was used to discredit the pro-European popular uprising in Kyiv and, subsequently, the broader pro-Western shift in Ukraine's foreign policy. The accusation of Nazism and building a link to Nazi Germany is one of the favourite techniques of pro-Kremlin outlets. Read our past analysis Nazi east, Nazi west, Nazi over the cuckoo's nest.
Learn more about the reasons behind Kremlin's obsession with framing Ukraine as a Nazi state in the EUvsDisinfo analysis titled "Why does Putin portray himself as the tamer of neo-Nazism".
See similar cases claiming that Ukrainians are the new Nazis, their actions directed by Europe against Russia, Ukraine is ruled by a Nazi junta, Ukrainian army has been attacking civilian areas in Donetsk with artillery for eight years and a Nazi symbol was found on the Commander in Chief of the armed forces of Ukraine.