DISINFO: Nazism is Ukraine's official ideology
SUMMARY
Seven decades after WWII, Ukraine became captured by domestic Nazis. At present, Ukraine's official ideology is Nazism. Any pro-Ukrainian propaganda currently amounts to the propaganda of Nazism. Lately, Ukraine tries to cultivate Nazism among Russian youth, and arrests of members of the Ukrainian youth Nazi movement M.K.U prove just that. They planned explosions, arsons, and mass killings in Russia.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative portraying Ukrainian politics and society as dominated by Nazi/fascist ideology. Linking some countries with Nazism is a widespread disinformation tactic used by pro-Kremlin outlets. Read more in our analysis "Nazi east, Nazi west, Nazi over the cuckoo's nest".
The myth about Nazi-ruled Ukraine has been the cornerstone of pro-Kremlin disinformation about the country since the very beginning of the 2013-14 Euromaidan protests, which disinformation outlets try to portray as a coup d’état.
Nazi and Communist ideologies were banned by Ukrainian law in 2015. Moreover, far-right groups enjoyed a very limited presence during the Euromaidan itself and had poor results in the 2014 presidential and parliamentary elections. In the 2019 election, far-right candidates fell short of the 5% minimum guaranteeing entry into parliament.
In April 2021, Russian authorities announced the arrest of 16 individuals who allegedly belonged to the "Ukrainian neo-Nazi youth gang dubbed M.K.U" and planned terrorist plots in Russian. The arrested individuals appear to be Russian nationals; the attribution of them to Ukraine is made because the alleged leader of the gang is based in Ukraine. See a detailed report by Polygraph.info which explains why calling the suspects "Ukrainian radicals" is highly misleading.
See similar disinformation cases in our database: fascism conquered most of Ukraine; Ukrainian authorities encourage the honouring of Nazi collaborators; the EU's historical revisionism contributes to neo-Nazi trends in Ukraine and the Baltic states; Joe Biden was part of the Obama Administration which fomented a Nazi coup in Ukraine in 2014.