Странные друзья Юрия Збитнева и Юрия Романенко

Среди друзей Юрия Збитнева и Юрия Романенко, которые, возможно, причастны к провокациям против Украинской революции, обнаруживаются очень странные личности.

Владимир Карасев

Проживает в Киеве. Президент благотворительного фонда «Российско-украинское сотрудничество». Поклонник Александра Дугина и сторонник Виктора Медведчука, которого Карасев "видит будущим лидером страны".

Владимир Карасев и Виктор Медведчук

"Re-organisation of the Ukrainian space", or Putin's agents in Ukraine

The disgraceful publication of "There is no Ukraine" (later renamed into "Is There One Ukraine?"), where a controversial British historian (and fraudster) Orlando Figes calls for the division of Ukraine, is only only one example of an increasing trend toward implanting an idea that the division of Ukraine may solve some political problems. Viktor Yanukovych's Party of Regions discussed this idea already in 2004, during the "Orange revolution", when they held the Severodonetsk convention - a major separatist move of Yanukovych’s supporters aimed at the creation of the Sout-East Ukrainian Autonomous Republic. Present at that convention was then Moscow's Mayor Yuriy Luzhkov.

Why would Russian authorities be interested in the division of Ukraine if they want to incorporate it in its Eurasian Union? Russian fascist Aleksandr Dugin (whom I already mentioned earlier and will refer to again) believes that Ukraine is too diverse to be incorporated in its entirety in the Russian geopolitical project. In his Foundations of Geopolitics, where he describes the Russia-led Eurasian integration, Dugin writes:

The sovereignty of Ukraine represents such a negative phenomenon for Russian geopolitics that it can, in principle, easily provoke a military conflict. [...] Ukraine as an independent state with some territorial ambitions constitutes an enormous threat to the whole Eurasia, and without the solution of the Ukrainian problem, it is meaningless to talk about the contitental geopolitics. [...] Considering the fact that a simple intergration of Moscow with Kyiv is impossible and will not result in a stable geopolitical structure [...], Moscow should get actively involved in the re-organisation of the Ukrainian space in accordance to the only logical and natural geopolitical model.

European extreme right and Russian imperialism

European extreme right and Russian imperialism: Understanding the 50 shades of brown

French and Austrian radical right-wing leaders have recently declared that the EU should not interefere in Ukraine's national sovereignty. Some may consider these statements as a spit in the face of the Ukrainian radical right-wing Svoboda party, which today supports Ukraine's European integration, but in fact these statements reveal a bigger picture.

The dubious role of Bratstvo in the 2012 parliamentary elections in Ukraine

Dmytro Korchyns'ky, the leader of the far right Bratstvo party, which was one of the organisations behind the attacks on the Presidential Administration, is said to be on the wanted list. Moreover, he is said to have fled to Russia.

The police refused to arrest him for several days, so if he is indeed now hiding in Russia, he had plenty of time to go to there without any fear of being arrested by the Ukrainian police on the border with Russia.

A comment on Timothy Snyder's "A Way Out for Ukraine?"

Timothy Snyder has written a good analysis of the current situation in Ukraine:

A Way Out for Ukraine?

My comment:

One more important aspect should be taken into account too: the Ukrainian civil society which started the protests and is currently growing in strength. Non-partisan protesters on streets are very sceptical about the opposition, and demand a complete overhaul of the political system. A deal that could possibly be struck between the political elites will surely be not enough for them. The opposition understands and is concerned about this because hundreds of thousands of non-partisan protesters are the opposition's only resource of power. If the civil society sees that the opposition is using them for bargaining, it will withdraw its support, and even if the political elites strike some deal, the protests will likely to continue.

Provoking the Euromaidan

Provoking the Euromaidan

ANTON SHEKHOVTSOV 3 December 2013

Were disturbances on the Maidan the work of provocateurs or Ukrainian ultra-nationalists?

Ukrainian extra-parliamentary extreme right behind the provocations at the President Administration

A few extra-parliamentary extreme right groups took part in the attack on the President Administration in Kyiv today. Currently, there is no one reason to believe that these groups were somehow associated with the parliamentary radical right-wing Svoboda party or even with its paramilitary neo-Nazi units like C14.

One of these groups is "Tryzub" (Trident), which was originally formed as a paramilitary unit of the Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists but then became an independent organisation.

The second group is the "Maidan Action 'Right-Wing Sector'" (Акція на Майдані "ПРАВИЙ СЕКТОР"), a movement formed on the social networking web-site VK.

Also seen by the President Administration is Dmytro Korchyn'sky, leader of the "Bratstvo" (Brotherhood) party. Korchyns'ky is widely considered an agent provocateur, and his "Bratstvo" already took part in several actions that were meant to provoke police suppression of peaceful protests. Moreover, it is said that Korchyns'ky taught a course at the explicitly pro-Putin "Seliger" summer camp in Russia.

Неонацистская угроза Евромайдану

Протесты в Украине, вызванные преступным отказом украинских властей от подписания Соглашения об Ассоциации с ЕС, могут столкнуться с проблемой легитимации. 23 ноября около 150 человек приняли участие неонацистском марше по улицам Львова.

Колона молодиків у білих масках пройшла з вулиці Коперника по проспекту Свободи, далі – вул. Галицька і до міської Ратуші, де розташована міськрада. При цьому радикально налаштовані мітингувальники вигукували нацистські та расистські гасла і закликали до революції: «Революція!», «Не вір, не бійся, не проси!», «Слава переможціям! Вождеві слава!», «Одна раса!», «Зіг Хайль!» та інші."

Pavlo Lapshyn: The transnational lone-wolf terrorist (in English, Ukrainian and Russian)

My article on Pavlo Lapshyn's case of transnational lone-wolf right-wing terrorism is now published in three languages:

The transnational lone-wolf terrorist
Справа Павла Лапшина як приклад транснаціонального праворадикального тероризму (переклала Ірина Доброгорська)
Транс-национальный террорист-одиночка (перевел Дмитрий Колесник)

Articles in Ukrainian and Russian are extended versions of the original English article.
Thanks to the translators!

Music and the Other - The Special Issue of Patterns of Prejudice

The Special Issue of Patterns of Prejudice on music and the Other, which I guest-edited, is finally out.

Contents

Music and the Other: an introduction
Anton Shekhovtsov

Demonizing and redeeming the gaucho: social conflict, xenophobia and the invention of Argentine national music
Melanie Plesch

Rhapsody in red: Shostakovich and American wartime perceptions of the Soviet Union
Lawrence P. MacCurtain

Germans, Hungarians and the Zigeunerkapelle: performing national enmity in late nineteenth-century Transylvania
Marian Zăloagă

‘Gypsy music’ as music of the Other in European culture
Anna G. Piotrowska

Music as a weapon of ethnopolitical violence and conflict: processes of ethnic separation during and after the break-up of Yugoslavia
Catherine Baker

‘Onward Blackshirts!’ Music and the British Union of Fascists
Graham Macklin

The soundtrack of neo-fascism: youth and music in the National Front
Ryan Shaffer

Mwenye? Muhindi? Mwafrika? Creative encounters with Afro-Asians in Tanzania, Zambia and Kenya
Aaron Louis Rosenberg

Music and the Other: an introduction

My introduction to the Special Issue of Patterns of Prejudice on music and the Other is now available online:

Music and the Other: an introduction

Excerpt:

In the contemporary world, music has been used for an ever-growing number of purposes, a process that has followed closely the evolution of humankind itself. As apparently the most comprehensive study, at least to date, in evolutionary musicology shows us, music—from the emergence of human civilization—has been an essential component of most social behaviours: hunting, herding, story-telling, playing, washing, eating, praying, meditating, courting, marrying, healing, burying and so on. Music evolved along with humans’ neural and cognitive mechanisms, as well as with the advance of technology. Indeed, the history of humankind can be partially documented through the music it produced over the millennia, and the ways it used music for a myriad of purposes.

It is remarkable, however, how the uses of music persisted throughout human history. For example, the ancient Greeks considered Apollo a god of both medicine and music, the biblical David was said to rid King Saul of the evil spirit by playing on the harp, ‘Florence Nightingale brought music to hospitals during the Crimean War’, and, just a few years ago, Austria became the first country worldwide to officially recognize music therapy as a health profession. Similar persistence can be registered in many other instances.

I have a number of eprints, so the article can be downloaded for free via this link.

Правый радикализм в сегодняшней Украине

В журнале Форум новейшей восточноевропейской истории и культуры опубликована важная серия статей на нашу любимую тему: "Правый радикализм в сегодняшней Украине".

Андреас Умланд
Введение – Исследования современных украинских ультранационалистических партий – c чистого листа: четыре причины недостаточного изучения постсоветских правоэкстремистских движений в Украине

Антон Шеховцов
Всеукраинское объединение «Свобода»: проблема легитимности борьбы за власть

Сергей Васильченко
«Свобода» против всех: краткий обзор результатов радикальных правых на выборах 1994–2012 гг.

Константин Федоренко
Протестная активность крайних правых в Украине в 2010–2012 гг.: Всеукраинское объединение «Свобода» в сравнительной перспективе

Вячеслав Лихачев
Место антисемитизма в идеологии и пропаганде Всеукраинского объединения «Свобода»

Андреас Умланд
Типичная разновидность европейского правого радикализма? Четыре особенности Всеукраинского объединения «Свобода» в сравнительной перспективе

Top members of the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn arrested (PHOTOS)

Nothing special, just a few photos of arrested top members of the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party ;-)

Nikos Michaloliakos

Ilias Panagiotaros

Christos Pappas

"Liberal" Ukrainian media defend neo-Nazis and racists

An important notice from the Stop far right violence in Ukraine group:

Several days ago popular Ukrainian media source LB.ua published an article written by Evhen Karas' (Svoboda party deputy assistant and one of the main members of paramilitary group C14 assosiated with Svoboda). In the article the author blames FARE along with a couple of left wing activists for FARE's report on racist conduct of Ukrainian football fans and for the announcement that Ukrainian national team may be docked points and made to play the next match behind the closed doors.

Pavlo Klymenko, FARE Eastern Europe Development office, turned to LB.ua in order to publish an answer to Karas' article to unmask fact fudging in Karas' text. Firstly, Pavlo was asked by the editorial board to cut his text. Then, the editors turned the text down by saying that "the text is full of accusations not supported by facts". It is interesting that Evhen Karas' text did not provoke such reaction on the part of the editors, though it had a lot of logical fallacies and was full of incriminations and accusations not supported by any arguments and facts.

Neo-Nazi thugs are defended by Ukrainian "liberal" media

Svoboda meets more European fascists at Festival Boreal

Svoboda never reported on its contacts with the neo-Nazi National Democratic Party of Germany in May 2013, as its leaders are aware of the damage that these contacts can do to the image of a "respectable" nationalist party.

Likewise, Svoboda has not reported on another meeting it had with European fascists on 13-14 September 2013. This time it was the Boreal Festival held in Cantù (Italy) and organised by Roberto Fiore's Forza Nuova.

Online articles to be featured in the Special Issue of Patterns of Prejudice

In December this year, Patterns of Prejudice will publish the double Special Issue on music and the Other which I have guest-edited. In its Latest Articles section, the journal has already published three of the articles to be featured in the Special Issue:

Lawrence P. MacCurtain, "Rhapsody in red: Shostakovich and American wartime perceptions of the Soviet Union"

MacCurtain addresses the role of Russian classical music in brokering popular American perceptions of the Soviet Union during the Second World War. With the launch of Operation Barbarossa on 22 June 1941, the United States entered into an unprecedented wartime alliance with the Soviet Union, a state that had long conjured up domestic American anxieties, and was only recognized by the FDR administration in 1933. Specifically, MacCurtain examines how the composition and transport of Shostakovich's Symphony No. 7 to the United States in 1942 bolstered domestic commitment towards the wartime alliance with Stalin. By examining and comparing the critical and popular reception of Shostakovich's work in the United States, he found that the music possessed a populist appeal to the domestic audience that was seemingly capable of transcending the rhetoric and fear that previously defined the American image of the Soviet Union.

Catherine Baker, "Music as a weapon of ethnopolitical violence and conflict: processes of ethnic separation during and after the break-up of Yugoslavia"

Using illustrations from the Yugoslav wars of the 1990s and their aftermath, Baker argues that understanding popular music and public discourses about it can help to understand the dynamics of ethnopolitical conflict. Studies of war and conflict have approached music as political communication, as an object of securitization, as a means of violence and as a symbol of ethnic difference, while international law in the context of another case of collective violence, Rwanda, has even begun to question whether performing or broadcasting certain music could constitute incitement to genocide. Drawing on poststructuralist perspectives on the media and ethnicization in conflicts, Baker explores and interrogates the discourse of popular music as a weapon of war that was in use during and after the violent break-up of Yugoslavia. Music during the Yugoslav wars was used as a tool of humiliation and violence in prison camps, and to provoke fear of the ethnic Other in line with a strategy of ethnic cleansing; it was also conceptualized as a morale-booster for the troops of one's own side. A discourse of music as a weapon of war was also in use and persisted after the war, when its referent was shifted to associate music-as-a-weapon not to the brave and defiant ingroup so much as the aggressive Other. This was then turned against a wider range of signifiers than those who had directly supported the Other's troops and had the effect of perpetuating ethnic separation and obstructing the reformation of a (post-)Yugoslav cultural space. Despite evidence that music did serve as an instrument of violence in the Yugoslav wars (and the precedent of the Bikindi indictment in Rwanda), Baker concludes that music should be integrated into understandings of ethnopolitical conflict not through a framework of incitement and complicity but with respect for the significance of music in the everyday.

Ryan Shaffer, "The soundtrack of neo-fascism: youth and music in the National Front"


Shaffer examines youth involvement in the National Front and the development of neo-fascist music as a conduit for its ideas. Using rare publications and interviews with National Front members, he argues that youth had a profound impact on post-war British fascism by influencing fascist ideology and tactics. Following challenges from the Anti-Nazi League and Rock Against Racism, the National Front started its own youth outreach programmes that reshaped neo-fascism and how neo-fascists distributed their message. In adopting skinhead style and music, the organization spread ‘nativist’ culture not only to gain supporters, but to counter multiculturalism in popular music and politics. Shaffer's article explains how neo-fascist youth created their own publications, clubs, concerts and even a record company to provide entertainment, spread ideas, raise money, recruit and build associations with like-minded neo-fascists in other countries. With these new tactics, the young National Front members redefined British fascism, which had lasting impact on radical groups in Europe and North America.

The old and new European friends of Ukraine’s far-right Svoboda party

In English: The old and new European friends of Ukraine’s far-right Svoboda party
Українською: Старі та нові друзі української ультраправої партії «Свобода»
По-русски: Старые и новые европейские друзья «Свободы»

Міжнародна конференція "Різноманіття та Толерантність в Європі" (програма)

Різноманіття та Толерантність в Європі: Виклики та можливості для співпраці
Міжнародна конференція
10 вересня 2013, Київ, Україна

Місце: Готель «Amarant», вул. Костянтинівська, 71-Д, Київ, 04080, Україна
Організатори: Фонд ім. Фрідріха Еберта, Берлін; Проект з протидії правому екстремізму
Контакти в Україні: mail@fes.kiev.ua

ПРОГРАМА

09:00 Реєстрація учасників

09:30 Вітальне слово
Урсула Кох-Лаугвітц, Директор, Фонд ім. Фрідріха Еберта, Представництво в Україні та Білорусії, Київ

09:45 Сесія 1: Праві радикальні погляди в Європі
Модератор: Себастьян Серафін

Виступ 1: Праві радикальні погляди в Європі: розвиток та стратегія протидії
Д-р Ральф Мельзер, Керівник проекту з протидії правому екстремізму, Фонд ім. Фрідріха Еберта, Берлін

Виступ 2: Крайні праві в сучасній Україні
Д-р Мрідула Гош, Східно - Європейський Інститут Розвитку, Київ

Виступ 3: Європейські радикальні праві і «санітарний кордон»
Д-р Антон Шеховцов, Дослідницька група з питань радикалізму та нових медіа, Університет Нортгемптону

11:15 Дискусія

Articles for Searchlight in 2012/2013

Here are the articles I wrote for the Searchlight magazine in the 2012/2013 academic year:

• "Poland: Huge rise in nationalist marchers", Searchlight (December 2012), pp. 16-17.
• "Germany: After scandals and delays, the National Socialist Underground trial finally starts in Munich", Searchlight (May 2013), pp. 26-29.
• "Germany: Lessons learned?", Searchlight (August-September 2013), pp. 31-33.
• "The old and new European friends of Ukraine’s far-right Svoboda party", Searchlight (August-September 2013), pp. 5-7.

Review: Rafał Pankowski. The Populist Radical Right in Poland

Моя рецензия на книгу Рафаля Панковского о правом радикализме в Польше, опубликованная в журнале Laboratorium:

Rafał Pankowski. The Populist Radical Right in Poland: The Patriots. London: Routledge, 2010. 258 p. ISBN 978-0-4154-7358-8.

Эта книга – первое англоязычное исследование правого радикализма в Польше. Она написана польским политологом Рафалем Панковским – членом польской ассоциации «Nigdy więcej» («Никогда снова»), занимающейся мониторингом расизма и случаев дискриминации в Польше. Книга появилась в 2010 году – спустя три года после важного момента в истории современной Польши: в 2007 году распалась правительственная коалиция, созданная правоконсервативной партией «Право и справедливость» Ярослава Качиньского, правопопулистской «Самообороной» ныне покойного Анджея Леппера и крайне правой «Лигой польских семей» Романа Гертыха. Это было первое правительство в современной Польше, в которое входили крайне правые политики, что вызывало обеспокоенность в Евросоюзе.

Aleksandr Dugin and the West European New Right, 1989-1994

I've recently written a new article which inquires into the relations and contacts between Russian fascist intellectual Aleksandr Dugin and West European far right groups, first and foremost, the European New Right.

Alain de Benoist, Aleksandr Dugin, Robert Steuckers. Moscow, 1992

From the beginning to the mid-1990s, there was a mutual interest between Dugin and particular West European far right activists. The latter were originally interested in Dugin because he was apparently the first representative of the Russian New Right, who spoke the same language with them – both literally and intellectually – and could not only enlighten them on Russian phenomena from a native’s point of view, but also disseminate their own ideas in Russia. Furthermore, in 1992-1993, the West European far right – especially the “philo-Soviet” groups – supported the Russian “red-brown” alliance, as they were increasingly interested in political developments in Russia that could – rather feasibly – lead to a much-hoped right-wing revolution. Dugin, in his turn, originally established contacts with the West European far right in order to satisfy his interest in the contemporary interpretations of René Guénon and Julius Evola, but then he used his West European contacts to consolidate and strengthen his position in Russian ultranationalist and mainstream circles.

The article will, hopefully, be published in 2014.

Conference: The mainstreaming of the extreme right

The mainstreaming of the extreme right
University of Bath

Date: Friday 20 September 2013
Time: 10.00-17.30
Room: 6 E. 2.1
Audience: This event is open to all, with registration in advance.

Theme: Governance and policy design

Purpose of event: In these times of social and economic crises, and although the extreme left has witnessed a revival of sorts, there is no doubt that the extreme right has become the fastest growing political family in Europe.

However, although the ideas of extreme right parties are growing in popularity, their historical legacies often remain an obstacle preventing them from appealing to wider audiences. In this context two crucial developments have occurred, with significant implications for the future of our liberal democracies.

Conference: Diversity and Tolerance in Europe

On September 10, the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Ukraine is holding the International Conference "Diversity and Tolerance in Europe: Challenges and Opportunities for Cooperation".

International experts will present a review of the threats and challenges for tolerance as well as counter strategies; they talk on political education as a tool for prevention of group-focused aggression. During the conference, participants will discuss efforts of the European civil society networks against discrimination and the opportunities of Ukrainian civil society for cooperation with various international organizations aimed at prevention of right-wing extremism.

You can make a request for further information about the event here.

Svoboda's MP and reenectors dressed as SS soldiers join the re-interment ceremony

On the 28th of July, remains of 16 members of the 14th SS-Volunteer Division "Galician" were re-intered in a small village in the Lviv region, Ukraine. The ceremony was joined by several members of a Ukrainian historical reenactment group, dressed as SS soldiers.

Far-right Populism and Lone Wolf Terrorism in Contemporary Europe

Democracy and Security, has just published an important special issue, titled "Far-right Populism and Lone Wolf Terrorism in Contemporary Europe", which is based on the papers presented at the conference "Populist Racism in Britain and Europe since 1945" which I co-organised at the University of Northampton.

Table of contents

Introduction
Matthew Feldman & Paul Jackson

A Distant Mirror: Nineteenth-Century Populism, Nativism, and Contemporary Right-Wing Radical Politics
Hans-Georg Betz

Far-Right “Contagion” or a Failing “Mainstream”? How Dangerous Ideas Cross Borders and Blur Boundaries
Aristotle Kallis

The License to Hate: Peder Jensen's Fascist Rhetoric in Anders Breivik's Manifesto 2083: A European Declaration of Independence
Paul Jackson

Comparative Lone Wolf Terrorism: Toward a Heuristic Definition
Matthew Feldman

Au Revoir to “Sacred Cows”? Assessing the Impact of the Nouvelle Droite in Britain
Nigel Copsey

The Think Project: An Approach to Addressing Racism and Far-Right Extremism in Swansea, South Wales
Rocio Cifuentes, Geraint Rhys Whittaker & Laura Lake

On Aleksandr Dugin's father

I remember that, in 2009, I was the first to challenge a wide-spread assumption, or actually a myth, that Russian fascist Aleksandr Dugin's father had something to do with the military intelligence. This myth was most likely propagated by Dugin himself, in order to romanticise his own biography.

An hour of simple research, however, revealed that Dugin's father was a customs officer.

More on ultranationalist activist Mike Shelby (aka Michael Chtcherbitski)

Recently, I've posted a message on ultranationalist activist Mike Shelby (who is actually Michael Chtcherbitski, a Canadian national of Ukrainian extraction). He sent several messages of similar nature to researchers of the Ukrainian far right and posted the same message online on various websites.

A few days after I posted my message, Mike Shelby wrote me an e-mail saying that someone was using his name and e-mail address and "sent some political message" to me and my colleagues.

Below you will find a full record of my correspondence with Mike Shelby. The reason why I'm putting this correspondence up is given in the last few messages.

Pavlo Lapshyn: From estrangement to far right terrorism? Part 2

Pavlo Lapshyn: From estrangement to far right terrorism? Part 2

In Part 2, I am discussing Pavlo Lapshyn's possible motives behind the murder of Mohammed Saleem and bombings.

Free e-prints of some of my articles

I have a number of free e-prints of my articles published with Routledge. Here they are:

"The Palingenetic Thrust of Russian Neo-Eurasianism: Ideas of Rebirth in Aleksandr Dugin's Worldview", Totalitarian Movements and Political Religions, Vol. 9, No. 4 (2008), pp. 491-506. E-print link.

Applying Roger Griffin’s methodological approach to generic fascism, the article analyses individual – socio‐political, cultural and esoteric – themes within Dugin’s doctrine, treating them as elements of a larger integral concept of rebirth that constitutes the core of Neo‐Eurasianism. The article highlights the highly syncretic nature of this ideological core, a direct result of the ‘mazeway resynthesis’ that has conditioned Dugin’s worldview. It argues that this process has been necessitated by his self‐appointed task of envisioning a new stage of history beyond Russia’s present decadent and ‘liminoid’ situation, one that he sees only coming about as the result of a ‘geopolitical revolution’. The variant of Eurasionism that results has the function of a political religion containing a powerful palingenetic thrust towards a new Russia and new West. In conclusion, it is suggested that the new order aspired to by Dugin could only be realised by establishing a totalitarian regime.

Pavlo Lapshyn: From estrangement to far right terrorism? Part 1

Pavlo Lapshyn: From estrangement to far right terrorism? Part 1

Part 1 deals with the context: I write about the murder of Mohammed Saleem and the explosions near mosques in Walsall, Wolverhampton and Tipton; look at what people said about Pavlo Lapshyn while he was in Ukraine; and summarise charges against him.

My article on Pavlo Lapshyn to be published in "Levy bereg"

I've written a long piece (over 3 thousand words) for the Ukrainian webzine Levy bereg where I'm discussing possible motivations behind Pavlo Lapshyn's alleged crimes in Britain.

The piece will be published in two parts in Russian language. The first part will be published on Monday.

Watch this space.

International neo-Nazis respond to the Pavlo Lapshyn case

Here are some remarks from international neo-Nazis commenting on the earlier report saying that two Ukrainian men had been arrested for mosque bombings (only one has been charged):

scousehead
This story just further proves how us Brits have had our bollocks cut.... Immigrants attacking mosques for us

Tani (England)
[...] a bomb in a Mosque. What is wrong with that? I LOVE these Easterners! I wish they had put TEN bombs there if it really was them!

Pavlo Lapshyn case: Brief chronology and charges (to be updated)

7 August 2010 - Pavlo Lapshyn unsuccessfully tests explosives in his flat in Dnipropetrovsk.


20 March 2013 - Pavlo Lapshyn's mother is severely injured in a car accident.

24 April - Lapshyn comes to the UK.

29 April - Mohammed Saleem is murdered in Birmingham.

21 May - Lapshyn adds a video on Timothy McVeigh on his social networking web-site (0:08).

22 May - Drummer Lee Rigby is murdered in Woolwich.

24 May - Lapshyn adds a video on Hitler Jugend training (20:12). Later deleted.

5 June - Posts a picture of a detonator element (03:40).

14 June - Posts a poem of Russian imprisoned neo-Nazi Nikola Korolyov (17:00). Later deleted.

21 June - Posts a picture of Timothy McVeigh along with an audio biography of McVeigh (01:34).

21 June - An attempt to bomb a mosque in Walsall.

27 June - Lapshyn posts a link to the Russian translation of William Pierce's Hunter (0:52).

28 June - A bomb exploded at a mosque in Wolverhampton.

28 June - Lapshyn posts a link to the bogus interview with Abe Finkelstein on "Jewish domination" (23:01).

12 July - Burial of Lee Rigby.

12 July - An attempt to bomb a mosque in Tipton.

17 July - Lapshyn posts a message on the National Socialist Underground along with a song by the German White Power band Hassgesang (22:52).

18 July - The last time Lapshyn is available online (10:38).

18 July - Lapshyn arrested.

22-23 July - Charged with terror-related and other offences.

List of charges (from the West Midlands Police press releases):

Charge 1
Pavlo Lapshyn, within the jurisdiction of the Central Criminal Court on 29 April 2013 murdered Mr Mohammed Saleem Contrary to common law.

Charge 2
Pavlo Lapshyn between 24 April 2013 and 18 July 2013 within the jurisdiction of the Central Criminal Court within intention to commits acts of terrorism did a series of acts to give effect to that intention namely:
• Purchased batteries, a lunch bag, clock and green container as part of the construction an explosive device;
• Carried out internet research to identify locations to plant explosive devices;
• Visited at least one area in the West Midlands to identify where explosive devices should be place;
• Purchased chemicals via the internet to use to make explosive devices; and
• Modified mobile phones to act as detonators for explosive devices. - The devices had at home that were ready for use but not completed.

Contrary to section 5 of the Terrorism Act 2006

Charge 3
Pavlo Lapshyn on 21 June 2013, within the jurisdiction of the Central Criminal Court, you unlawfully and maliciously caused by an explosive substance an explosion of a nature likely to endanger life or cause serious injury to person or property.

Contrary to section 2 of the Explosive Substances Act 1883

Charge 4
Pavlo Lapshyn on 12 July 2013, within the jurisdiction of the Central Criminal Court, you unlawfully and maliciously caused by an explosive substance an explosion of a nature likely to endanger life or cause serious injury to person or property.

Contrary to section 2 of the Explosive Substances Act 1883

Ukrainian 25-year-old postgraduate student charged with terror attacks in England

West Midlands Police, investigating the murder of Birmingham pensioner, Mohammed Saleem, and recent explosions near to mosques in the Black Country, issued a statement saying that a 25-year-old Ukrainian man “has this evening (July 22) been charged with the terrorist-related murder of Birmingham pensioner Mohammed Saleem”. He will appear at Westminster Magistrates Court tomorrow. In an earlier statement, the West Midlands Police said that the second Ukrainian, who had been arrested a few days ago, “was last night released from police custody without charge. He is now assisting investigating officers as a witness”.

The 25-year-old Ukrainian's name is Pavlo Lapshyn (or Pavel Lapshin in Russian), he is coming from Dnipropetrovsk, an important industrial centre in Ukraine and a home-town of now-imprisoned former Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko. Lapshyn is a Russian-speaking postgraduate student at the National Metallurgical Academy of Ukraine. In England, he was doing practical training at the Birmingham-based Delcam company.

Pavel Lapshyn (in the middle)

My colleague Pavel Klymenko and I discovered Lapshyn’s account at one of the social networking web-sites, revealing his vehemently racist beliefs and right-wing terrorist obsessions.

On the 21st of June, when attempts were made to bomb mosques in Walsall, Lapshyn posted a picture and a music track praising Timothy McVeigh, a deceased American terrorist who was responsible for “the Oklahoma City bombing” that killed 168 people.

A picture of Timothy McVeigh from Lapshyn's web-site

On his web-site, he also posted a link to the Russian translation of Hunter, a book written, under the pseudonym Andrew Macdonald, by American neo-Nazi William Luther Pierce, the founder of the US-based National Alliance. The audio-book of William Piece, The Turner Diaries, which is believed to have inspired Timothy McVeigh, is featured in Lapshyn’s collection of audio files. The cover of The Turner Diaries is also his profile picture. One of his posts gave an account of the National Socialist Underground, a German neo-Nazi terrorist group, the only surviving member of which, Beate Zschäpe, now stands trial in Munich.

His “groups of interest” include the Russian communities “The Slavic Revival” and “The Hammer of National Socialism”.

In June this year, Lapshyn also posted a poem by Nikola Korolyov, the founder of the Russian neo-Nazi “SPAS” organisation. Korolyov is now jailed for life in Russia for right-wing terrorist attacks and murders. Another post in June featured a picture of an electric detonator element. Both these posts, however, were later deleted. Last time Lapshyn visited his web-site was on the 18th of July, the day he was arrested. Perhaps, he deleted those two posts then.

If Lapshyn is indeed the culprit (the investigation is still going on), one of the most important questions is whether he had any intentions to commit the terrorist attacks in England before he went to the country for the training course at Delcam. I would suggest that he did not. He might have been extremely radicalised (and his extremism resulted in the murder of Mohammed Saleem), but the impetus to bomb mosques was most likely been given by the Woolwich terror attack and the subsequent wave of anti-Muslim attacks.

A more detailed analysis requires more information which is currently scarce.

Updates:

• Pavlo Lapshyn case: Brief chronology and charges
• International neo-Nazis respond to the Pavlo Lapshyn case
• Pavlo Lapshyn: From estrangement to far right terrorism? (in Russian language) Part 1 / Part 2

Ultranationalist activist "Mike Shelby" aka Michael Chtcherbitski

A few days ago, my colleagues, who write on Ukrainian ultranationalism, and I received the following message:

Dear XXX,

Svoboda (Freedom) Party in Ukraine is not a right-wing extremist neo-Nazi anti-Semitic party. It advances the interests of true Ukrainian sovereignty and opposes Russia's domination of Ukraine and Russification of Ukraine (linguistically, religiously and culturally). Svoboda Party supports the legitimate interests of ethnic minorities in accordance with the Constitution of Ukraine on the basis that ethnic minorities support Ukraine's sovereignty and act in its interests.

Плагиат моей статьи в журнале "Ярославский педагогический вестник"

Обнаружил плагиат моей собственной статьи Андреем Валентиновичем Гавриловым, доцентом кафедры политологии и социологии ЯГПУ им. К.Д. Ушинского. Написал в редакцию журнала -

Уважаемая Марина Александровна,

В Вашем журнале "Ярославский педагогический вестник" (2013 – No 1 –
Том I (Гуманитарные науки)) была опубликована статья А.В. Гаврилова
"Правый радикализм: современные трактовки" -
http://vestnik.yspu.org/releases/2013_1g/20.pdf

Эта статья является прямым плагиатом моей статьи "Правый радикализм: к
вопросу о терминологии", опубликованной в Вестник СевГТУ - Вып. 84.-
С. 154-158.

Я требую (1) удаления статьи А.В. Гаврилова с веб-сайта "Ярославского
педагогического вестника", (2) публикации на веб-сайте "Ярославского
педагогического вестника" официального сообщения о случае плагиата
моей статьи А.В. Гавриловым и (3) принятия соответствующих мер к А.В.
Гаврилову, доценту кафедры политологии и социологии ЯГПУ им. К.Д.
Ушинского.

С уважением,
Антон Шеховцов

Хотя я вообще не знаю, что следует делать в таких случаях.
А.В. Гаврилов - это вот такое -

Плагиатор А.В. Гаврилов, доцент кафедры политологии и социологии ЯГПУ им. К.Д. Ушинского

UPDATE: После обмена несколькими сообщениями с руководством ЯНПУ статью А.В. Гаврилова удалили с сайта "Ярославского педагогического вестника".

Kyiv City Administration is planning to close the Refugee Integration Centre

Kyiv City Administration is planning to close the Refugee Integration Centre, which has been operating since 1998. The Centre is a unique institution where children and adults can find not only legal and psychological assistance but also home.

Since 2010 Kyiv City Administration has attempted to make the Centre vacate its premises without offering an alternative. In April 2013 Kyiv City Administration started court proceedings against the Centre without presenting credible housing arguments. The closure of the center does not comply with Geneva Refugee Convention ratified by Ukraine in 2002. Moreover, it is against the Refugee Integration Plan adopted by Ukraine’s Government in 2012. On 29 May 2013, 80 refugees from different counties and human rights activists participated in a protest against the threat of Centre closure organized in front of the State Migration Service head office in Kiev.

Two leaders of Svoboda are allegedly banned from entering the US - but why?

It has been announced [in Russian] earlier today that two leaders of the Ukrainian far right Svoboda party, Oleh Tyahnybok and Ihor Myroshnychenko, have been presumably banned from entering the US. According to the above-mentioned source, it was the US-based Simon Wiesenthal Centre which asked the US Department of State to enter Tyahnybok and Myroshnychenko in the list of those whose visits to the US were undesirable.

In 2012, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre included both Tyahnybok and Myroshnychenko into its 2012 Top Ten Anti-Israel/Anti-Semitic Slurs: Mainstream Anti-Semitism Threatens World Peace.

How Ukrainian History Should be Debated - a series of articles

A number of researchers replied to the smear article by Taras Kuzio, which has already been discussed here.

Special thanks goes to David R. Marples for providing an excellent platform for publishing these replies.

• Anton Shekhovtsov: Taras Kuzio’s Review of the “Russian and Ukrainian Nationalism” Workshop
• John-Paul Himka: Assessing the Prolog Legacy
• Halya Coynash: Limits of Tolerance
• Andriy Portnov: On Ukrainian Studies There and Here (Concerning the conference in New York and Taras Kuzio’s article)
• Jared McBride: On the Columbia Symposium
• Johan Dietsch: On Pluralism, Free Expression, and Intellectual Honesty
• Dominique Arel: On Context, Comparison, and Dialogue
• Tarik Cyril Amar, Per Anders Rudling, and Andreas Umland: Taras Kuzio’s Alternative Reality or How Not to Write about a Workshop (and Colleagues) –At Columbia or Anywhere Else

Ian Read (Fire+Ice) plagiarised "Gilded by the Sun"

Fire+Ice's "Gilded by the Sun" is regarded, by the fans, as one of the best songs of this apoliteic band.

However, very few know that Ian Read, leader of Fire+Ice, plagiarised most of the song lyrics from The Anvil of Ice (Winter of the World, Vol. 1) written by Scottish fantasy/sci-fi author Michael Scott Rohan and published in New York in 1986. Below is the comparison of the Rohan's and Read's versions of the song (Rohan's version does not have a title).

Out of harm's way. On the EU-Ukraine relations and the Tymoshenko issue

My most recent article for openDemocracy:

Out of harm's way
The moral case for releasing Yulia Tymoshenko is overwhelming. But her imprisonment might be a blessing in disguise for the Ukrainian opposition, argues Anton Shekhovtsov.

My other articles for openDemocracy:

• The West on Ukraine: when ‘anti-racism’ becomes xenophobia
• Security threats and the Ukrainian far right
• Ukraine: the far-right in parliament for the first time

Neo-Nazis, Svoboda's new European friends

After the Svoboda party had been deprived of the observer status in the Alliance of European National Movements, it started to look for new European connections. Eventually, the party found new comrades, and, ironically, they suit Svoboda even better than the AENM! Because they are neo-Nazis.

On 23-24 March 2013, Svoboda's member Taras Osaulenko took part in the conference "Vision Europa" organised by the Party of the Swedes (Sweden) founded in 2008 by members of the National Socialist Front. The main speaker at the conference appeared to be Udo Pastörs, deputy leader of the neo-Nazi National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD), two members of which now stand trial in Germany for their support of the terrorist National Socialist Underground. Another speaker at the conference was Roberto Fiore, leader of the fascist New Force.

"Russian and Soviet nationalism in Ukraine"

In the abstract of his paper "Contemporary Nationalism in Ukraine", presented at the Harriman Institute's workshop on Ukrainian and Russian nationalisms, Taras Kuzio writes:

The third section analyses Russian and Soviet nationalism in Ukraine. Skinheads and Nazi parties and movements are included in my analysis of Russian and Soviet Nationalism because they do not espouse ethnic Ukrainian nationalist ideologies but instead propagate eclectic combinations of Ukrainian state nationalism, anti-Americanism and pan-Slavism.

The combination of "Ukrainian state nationalism, anti-Americanism and pan-Slavism" is now allegedly called "Russian and Soviet Nationalism"...

More on academic fraudster Taras Kuzio

In the same article in The Ukrainian Weekly, Kuzio writes:

More bizarre was Shekhovtsov’s attempt to downplay the murder of two Ukrainian nationalists in Ukraine when I discussed the absence of any murders of Russian nationalist counterparts in Ukraine.  Shekhovtsov came as close as I have ever heard anyone say that the murder in Odessa was undertaken by an "anti-fascist" defending himself against a "fascist" Maksym Chayka (in other words, that it was justified).  Shekhovtsov ignored the fact that the murderer was a member of the national Bolshevik Rodina Party which has ties to local organized crime and was funded by Russian intelligence services (two Russian diplomats were expelled from Ukraine in summer 2009 for providing covert support to extremist and separatist groups in Odessa and Crimea).

I never justified the murder of Maksym Chayka, so Kuzio is lying again. For some reason, Chayka provides some kind of fascination to Kuzio. He refers to him as "member of the patriotic youth movement Sich Maksym Chaika". See here and here. Posted below are three pictures of the "patriot" Maksym Chayka (on the left in all pictures):

On Taras Kuzio, an academic fraudster

Commenting on the workshop "Russian and Ukrainian Nationalism: Entangled Histories" that took place at Columbia University's Harriman Institute on 22-23 April 2013, Taras Kuzio, one of the participants, published an article in The Ukrainian Weekly (No. 20, 19 May 2013). In this article, he, in particular, writes:

"Another workshop presenter, Anton Shekhovtsov (Vienna Institute for Human Sciences) — who although from Sevastopol, which has the greatest number of xenophobes and extremists in Ukraine — focused his entire talk instead on Western Ukraine and "Svoboda."  He refuses to accept the existence of xenophobia, racism and anti-Semitism anywhere in Ukraine, except that which may be found in Western Ukraine.  Because he had not read my paper prior to the workshop, I had to repeat what was there, namely:  the US State Department, Council of Europe, US diplomatic cables (Wikileaks) and the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) have reported the highest levels of xenophobia in Ukraine are to be found in Crimea, and that the greatest number of skinheads is found in Eastern Ukraine (usually with ties to Russia)."

This is essentially a lie. Or really bad research, which is worse.

No Platform!

В контексте скандала с присуждением премии "The Bobs" украинской праворадикальной блоггерше, публикую часть Введения к одной из своих статей, которая в скором времени будет опубликована на украинском языке в журнале "Україна Модерна".

В европейских либеральных демократиях крайне правые партии чаще других сталкиваются с проблемой легитимности на самых разных уровнях – от юридического и политического до социального и культурного. В 1989 году крупнейшие бельгийские партии ввели в политический лексикон понятие «санитарный кордон» (фр. cordon sanitaire), которое предусматривало отказ от какого-либо сотрудничества умеренных партий с набиравшим тогда популярность праворадикальным «Фламандским блоком» (Vlaams Blok). Несмотря на то, что понятие «санитарного кордона» было введено в отношении крайне правых впервые в 1989 году, подобная практика не была новой. Такой «кордон», например, существовал в Норвегии относительно Партии прогресса (Fremskrittspartiet) с момента ее основания в 1973 году вплоть до недавнего времени.

Conference: Fascist Ideologues Past and Present, Teesside University, 4-5 July 2013

Conference: Fascist Ideologues Past and Present
Teesside University
4-5 July 2013

This groundbreaking conference will present a variety of perspectives on leading fascist and far-right ideologues. Focussing upon the historical impact and contemporary influence of key radical right figures and 'intellectual' trends, such as transnationalism, metapolitics and White Power music, this event promises to bring together cutting-edge themes and speakers over two days of academic discussion.

With contributions ranging from internationally-renowned researchers to British postgraduates, this event is intended to serve several purposes: to examine the continuities and changes to (neo-)fascist ideology over the last century; to present reports and interviews on key aspects of the contemporary far-right – especially regarding the turn toward anti-Muslim prejudice and responses to Britain's PREVENT strategy – and more generally, to formally launch the UK's first research centre dedicated to these issues: the Centre for Fascist, Anti-fascist and Post-fascist studies at Teesside University.

Call for Papers: Teenage Kicks: The Representation of Youth Subcultures in Fiction, Film and Other Media

Call for Papers: Teenage Kicks: The Representation of Youth Subcultures in Fiction, Film and Other Media

An interdisciplinary conference at Keele University, Staffordshire, UK

11-13 July 2013

Speakers include:

• Alan Fletcher (author of Quadrophenia, and The Mod Crop Trilogy)
• Don Letts (director of The Punk Rock Movie, The Clash: Westway to the World, and Subculture)
• Alex Wheatle (author of Brixton Rock, East of Acre Lane, and The Dirty South)
• Professor Scott Wilson (author of Great Satan's Rage: American negativity and rap/metal in the age of supercapitalism)

Conference Website: www.keele-conferencemanagement.com/teen2013

Right-Wing Radicalism Today: Perspectives from Europe and the US

Right-Wing Radicalism Today: Perspectives from Europe and the US
Edited by Sabine von Mering, Timothy Wyman McCarty

To Be Published 24th May 2013 by Routledge – 210 pages

Series: Extremism and Democracy

Sabine von Mering is Associate Professor of German and Women’s and Gender Studies and Director of the Center for German and European Studies at Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, US.

Timothy Wyman McCarty is Visiting Assistant Professor of Government at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, US. His research and teaching focuses on political theory, the history of ideas, and literature and politics.

This book highlights recent developments in the radical right providing comparative analysis of current extremist activity in Eastern and Western Europe and the United States. It reveals the growing amount of connections and continuities of rightwing movements and ideologies across national borders. Subjects covered include:

Call for Papers: Performing Prejudice

Call for Papers: Performing Prejudice

We would like to invite scholars to a symposium on performing prejudice at Newcastle University on the 22nd July 2013. We are interested in submission of short papers, position papers and/or roundtable discussions to enable the exchange of ideas.

The aim of this symposium is to exchange ideas and develop a nuanced understanding of performances of prejudice and how these manifest themselves in community encounters with the legal, cultural and policy environments. We would like to hear from those interested in the performance in songs, music, recordings, community narratives, cultural texts (broadly defined), where they construct conflict between ethnic, religious or racial groups, particularly in the social life of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. A key focus of this symposium will be the exchange of ideas focused around the question of conflictual agency in the performance of prejudice. We are interested in hearing from scholars from any area of the arts, humanities and social sciences, but are particularly interested in those whose work engages methods such as critical discourse analysis, performance studies, media analysis, sociological and socio-legal approaches. We envisage publishing an edited collection of essays based upon work to emerge from the symposium.

Bringing the Dark Past to Light: The Reception of the Holocaust in Postcommunist Europe

Bringing the Dark Past to Light: The Reception of the Holocaust in Postcommunist Europe
Edited and with an introduction by John-Paul Himka and Joanna Beata Michlic
July 2013
736 pp. 6 x 9 6 photographs
Hardcover 978-0-8032-2544-2
$57.50 Canadian/£34.00 UK

John-Paul Himka is a professor of history and classics at the University of Alberta. He is the author of Last Judgment Iconography in the Carpathians.

Joanna Beata Michlic is the director and founder of the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute Project on Families, Children, and the Holocaust at Brandeis University and is the author of Poland’s Threatening Other: The Image of the Jew from 1880 to the Present (Nebraska, 2006).

Svoboda is no longer an observer in the AENM

At the end of January, I asked Jobbik to clarify the situation with Svoboda's relations to the Alliance of European National Movements.

Clearly, Svoboda could not be a fully-fledged member of the AENM, because Ukraine is not a member of the EU, so the only status a non-EU far-right party can have in the AENM is the observer status. See also here. Yet I wanted an official reply from the party that founded the AENM.

Jobbik did not reply at that time, but today I have finally received a message from them. Here it is:

Bécsi Attila <***@jobbik.hu>
Dear Anton Shekhovtsov,
Swoboda is no longer the member of the AENM because of its anti-Hungarian statements.
Best regards,
Attila Bécsi

The far-right Hungarian web-site Kuruc.info published a letter from Jobbik's Béla Kovács, where he explained why Svoboda's observer status had been terminated.

Right-Wing Populism in Europe: Politics and Discourse

Right-Wing Populism in Europe: Politics and Discourse
Editors: Ruth Wodak, Majid KhosraviNik, Brigitte Mral

Published: 28 March 2013
Extent: 368 p.
ISBN: 9781780933443
Imprint: Bloomsbury Academic

Right-wing populist movements and related political parties are gaining ground in many EU member states. This unique, interdisciplinary book provides an overall picture of the dynamics and development of these parties across Europe and beyond. Combining theory with in-depth case studies, it offers a comparative analysis of the policies and rhetoric of existing and emerging parties including the British BNP, the Hungarian Jobbik and the Danish Folkeparti.

The case studies qualitatively and quantitatively analyse right-wing populist groups in the following countries: Austria, Germany, Britain, France, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Italy, Netherlands, Hungary, Belgium, Ukraine, Estonia, and Latvia, with one essay exclusively focused on the US.

This timely and socially relevant collection will be essential reading for scholars, students and practitioners wanting to understand the recent rise of populist right wing parties at local, countrywide and regional levels in Europe, and beyond.

Ukrainian neo-Nazis use Russian pirated software

This is what happens when Ukrainian neo-Nazis use the Russian pirated content management system DataLife Engine for their web-site. A screenshot from the "Manifest of the Third Position" -

Piss poor.

Зферуешс 

Radykalna prawica na Ukrainie

My short comment on the Ukrainian extreme right for the Polish political and cultural weekly Kultura Liberalna:

„Okiełznać wszystkie obce grupy etniczno-rasowe”? Radykalna prawica na Ukrainie
Anton Shekhovtsov

Od początku istnienia nowego parlamentu w końcu 2012 roku posłowie „Swobody” dowiedli, że są najmniej aktywni w przygotowywaniu projektów ustaw, za to najchętniej biorą udział w asystowaniu Janukowiczowi i obecnemu rządowi w procesie oddalania społeczeństwa ukraińskiego od fundamentalnych wartości, jakimi kieruje się Unia Europejska.

Alliance of European National Movements today

Here's more evidence that the Ukrainian extreme right Svoboda party is no longer a member of the Alliance of European National Movements.

Although Svoboda claims that Bruno Gollnisch has confirmed Svoboda's membership in the AENM, this seems to be very odd. On the 24th of October, 2012, Gollnisch published an article on his blog, writing on the AENM congress in Hédervár, Hungary. In particular, he writes that the AENM now consists of only (!) four parties:

• Jobbik (Hungary)
• Fiamma Tricolore (Italy)
• British National Party (UK)
• National Democratic Party (Bulgaria)

Svoboda was excluded from the Alliance of European National Movements?

In October 2012, the website of the Hungarian extreme right Jobbik party pubished a report on a two-day congress of the Alliance of European National Movements (AENM) held on 20-21 October 2012 in Hédervár, Hungary. It was an important congress, as its participants had to, among other things, elect a new leader. Eventually, they re-elected Front National's Bruno Gollnisch as President of the AENM.

The AENM published a press-release, which stated:

The members of the European Alliance of National Movements, which gathers political organizations from France, Italy, Slovenia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Spain, Portugal, Belgium (Wallonia and Flanders), hold their Congress in the presence of observers from Japan in Hédervár, Hungary.