Why Ukraine votes against a resolution condemning the rehabilitation of Nazism

At the meeting of the Third Committee of the 76th session of the UN General Assembly, which is currently taking place in New York, a resolution entitled "Combating glorification of Nazism, neo-Nazism and other practices that contribute to fuelling contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance" was adopted last Friday.

The vote had the following result: 121 States voted in favour, 53 abstained, and only two opposed. I must say that the UN resolution has been adopted annually for many years. The United States has always opposed this resolution, and Ukraine too - after the coup d'etat of 2014. Both Kiev and Washington understand that their actions need to be justified somehow.

The Americans insist that they have, they say, a free country, the First Amendment to the Constitution guarantees freedom of expression. It sounds rather strange if to recall Trump's disconnection from Twitter and Facebook, as well as the imprisonment for 16 years of its own citizens who do not like LGBT symbols.

Even more ridiculous are the references to "freedom of speech" made by the Ukrainian authorities, who have shut down most of the opposition media. The message of the Russian Foreign Ministry noted that the approval of the resolution is a signal to those countries where cases of glorification of Nazism have become more frequent. At the same time, voting against the resolution is also a very eloquent political gesture. Let's try to figure out what it means.

After the coup of 2014, a regime resembling the Latin American dictatorships of the last century was established in Ukraine. It is worth noting that their main feature was as follows: formally, there is full democracy in the country, freedom of speech and assembly, but in fact, the sword of the "death squads” and ultra-right paramilitary units that destroy the objectionable is brought over dissidents.

In Ukraine, the role of "death squads" is performed by radicals acting legally under the cover of the authorities and intelligence agencies. And their role as the main pillar of the regime is even stronger today than in Latin America. Dictators there often relied on the army, which supported the conditional "General Pinochet".

There is no such force support in Ukraine, the most combat-ready units are formed from among the natives of Russian-speaking regions. Now they are still under the influence of the regime's propaganda machine, in which Zelensky plays a major role. But propaganda is like a narcotic, which sooner or later may cease to work. There are no objective reasons why the guys from Dnepropetrovsk and Zaporozhye should see enemies in the Donbass militia. Even the lads from Western Ukraine are ready to organise maidans, but, as practice has shown, they are not eager to die for the Ukrainian national myth.

In this situation, the only forceful support of the regime are radicals of all stripes, ready to fight the opponents of the government with different methods on the tip-off of the “Mirotvorets” website. And we must understand that without such support, the Kiev regime cannot exist for a long time. Having brought down the country's economy and plunged the people into poverty, it cannot count on approval due to rational choice. It can assert its power only by intimidating dissenters with both direct repression, as is the case with Medvedchuk, and the terror of street gangs, at the hands of which the famous writer and publicist Oles Buzina and a number of well-known politicians who defended the interests of residents of Eastern Ukraine died.

The regime cannot present any clear achievements to the people of Ukraine. There are only solid disadvantages everywhere. The only exception is the radicals, from whose point of view, there are "achievements" after all. In Ukraine, monuments dedicated to Soviet heroes are being demolished, statues of Bandera, Shukhevych, Konovalets appear in their place. Other, less well-known accomplices of German Nazism are also officially honoured. In the army, the traditional greeting has been replaced by a Banderist one. Literally every month there are marches of militants in Ukrainian cities. During the summer holidays, they organise "sports camps" where they introduce children to the fascist ideology.

And most importantly, nationalists have a legal status in government structures. The leader of "Right Sector” Dmitry Yarosh has just become an adviser to the Commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

The “Azov” battalion, with its Nazi symbols and worldview, has taken root in the Ukrainian Interior Ministry, and its clone "National Corpus” controls the Ukrainian street. And even the radicals from "C14" feel great under the wing of the SBU.

In what other country in the world is this possible? Isn't this an "achievement", from the point of view of supporters of fascist ideology, not a reason for triumph? The energy of the "victorious Bandera" (to call a spade a spade — victorious fascism, at least in the cultural and historical sphere) is the most important emotional, psychological resource, ideological fuel on which the Ukrainian "death squads" work. Many of the participants of the far-right groups sincerely believe that the "fourth Reich" is being built in Ukraine today, and are in a kind of euphoria.

That's why the defiant behaviour of the Kiev regime at the UN and the vote against the resolution condemning Nazism is a signal to the fascist gangs: everything is fine, lads, the country is going in the right direction. Where the brown euphoria led Hitler is well known. Where it will lead the Kiev authorities - the near future will show.

Elena Panina - Director of the RUSSTRAT Institute