Neo-Nazi Russian National Unity in Eastern Ukraine

Here are some photos of the Russian neo-Nazi organisation Russian National Unity (Русское национальное единство, RNE) who are fighting against Ukrainians in Eastern Ukraine.

RNE's logo, a swastika, on a St. George ribbon hailed by Putin's Russia as an allegedly anti-fascist symbol

June 2014, Eastern Ukraine

What Can Be Expected from Ukrainian Right in the Midst of Political and Military Crisis?

My interview to Nikolas Kozloff, author of Revolution! South America and the Rise of the New Left (Palgrave Macmillan, 2008) and founder of the Revolutionary Handbook project.

In addition to the military crisis in Eastern Ukraine and the rise of pro-Russian separatist rebels, Kiev now confronts a growing political crisis as the country gears up for new elections. What can we expect from the Ukrainian right, and how will nationalist forces seek to profit from escalating tensions with Russia? For answers, I caught up with Anton Shekhovtsov, a visiting fellow at the Institute of Human Sciences in Vienna and an expert on Ukrainian politics.

NK: In the aftermath of the Malaysia flight 17 disaster, the media has tended to examine events in Ukraine in military and geopolitical terms. Yet we hear very little about what effect the crash will have upon domestic politics in Ukraine and nationalist as well as rightwing sentiment. What are your thoughts?

AS: I don't think the crash has exerted much impact on domestic Ukrainian politics. Bear in mind that Kiev has been militarily engaged with Russian separatists for some time now, and so the Malaysia airliner disaster won't do much to change the fundamental dynamic one way or the other. I also don't believe this incident has had much of an impact upon nationalist groups, again for similar reasons.

Article: "Ukraine’s Radical Right" published in Journal of Democracy

Journal of Democracy has recently published a new issue that features a special section "The Maidan and Beyond". Andreas Umland and I co-authored an article for this section:

Ukraine’s Radical Right

Abstract:
Thanks largely to the Kremlin’s information war, Ukraine’s ultranationalists have become global media stars of a sort, depicted in Western and other reports as key players in Ukraine’s third major political upheaval in less than a quarter-century. How do we explain the paradox of ultranationalist parties becoming involved in a protest movement whose thrust is toward greater integration between Ukraine and the European Union? And are the fears that swirl around these parties justified? The most obvious explanation for the Ukrainian far right’s ardent participation in the EuroMaidan may be found in the primary goal shared by all Ukrainian nationalists, radical and moderate alike: to liberate Kyiv from the Kremlin’s hegemony.

Российский нео-нацист Роман Железнов просит политического убежища в Украине

9 июля в Украину прибыл российский нео-нацист - Роман "Зухель" Железнов. В киевском аэропорту "Борисполь" его встречали представители украинской нео-нацистской группировки "Социал-национальная ассамблея" (СНА), лидеры которой составляют руководство спецбатальона МВД Украины "Азов".

"Одна вера, один вождь и один народ. У нас есть вера. Наша вера - это национал-социализм". Выступление Романа Железнова на "Русском марше" в Москве 4 ноября 2012 года.

Игорь Криворучко (СНА), Анна Сенник (глава информационной службы "Азова") и Роман Железнов. Киев, 9 июля

The Kremlin Builds an Unholy Alliance With America’s Christian Right

My guest op-ed for War is Boring:

The Kremlin Builds an Unholy Alliance With America’s Christian Right

Since the re-election of Pres. Vladimir Putin of Russia in 2012, the Kremlin has clamped down on independent media, established a draconian ban on “gay propaganda” and invaded the Ukrainian Republic of Crimea.

This new Russian government is aggressive, autocratic and moving further to the political right, argues Anton Shekhovtsov, a London-based expert on the Ukrainian and Russian far right—who originally hails from the Crimean city of Sevastopol.

The Kremlin is also reaching out to American conservative evangelicals as a means to find potential allies sympathetic to Russia’s rightward shift. In the following op-ed, Shekhovtsov explains why that’s dangerous.

Look far right, and look right again

My new article for openDemocracy:

Look far right, and look right again

The Russian political establishment thinks that Ukrainians are 'traitors to Orthodox civilisation and Russian unity.’ But it is not only Putin’s Russia that is behind the challenge to democracy in Ukraine.

Украинские нео-нацисты готовят "новую революцию"

Read this post in English here.

1 июля в 12:00 украинская нео-нацистская группировка Социал-Национальная Ассамблея (СНА) планирует устроить беспорядки в Киеве.

В руководство СНА входят Андрей Билецкий, Игорь Мосейчук и Олег Однороженко. Вместе с другими членами СНА они были освобождены из тюрьмы - благодаря Олегу Ляшко - после победы украинской революции как политзаключенные, хотя они не имели никакого отношения к самой революции и оказались в тюрьме (кроме Однороженко) задолго до нее. Во время революции СНА формально входила в "Правый сектор" (ПС), а Билецкий и Однороженко даже были введены в "провид" ПС в марте, но многие члены СНА предпочитали базироваться не на 5-ом этаже Дома профсоюзов (база ПС во время революции), а в КГГА, который контролировался "Свободой" и ее нео-нацистским крылом С14 ("Січ"). С марта-апреля СНА также предпочитает сотрудничать с Ляшко, нежели с ПС, а Мосейчук даже был избран депутатом Киевской Рады по списку Радикальной партии Олега Ляшко.