The Azov fighters are reported to be “harbouring neo-Nazi and white supremacist ideology.” Putin has exploited the presence of units such as the Azov fighters “as a reason for launching his so-called special military operation … to de-militarise and de-Nazify Ukraine.”
Jihadists have joined the fight, as have Nazis. But the broader attempt by Putin to justify his invasion of the democratic constitutional republic of Ukraine as “de-Nazifying” the country is another story. Ukrainian Jews are reportedly outraged by Putin’s claims of fascism in their country, and have been mocking his antisemitism charges; Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zalensky is a Jew himself who strongly supports Israel.
Foreign Policy magazine reported that Russia tried to use psychological intimidation against Ukraine with terrorizing images of Chechen jihadist soldiers ready to join forces with Russia and launch attacks:
Thousands of Chechens mobilizing south of Ukraine. Hundreds of Chechen fighters praying in the forest before battle. Dozens of Chechen special forces handed playing cards bearing the names and photos of their intended targets. Ramzan Kadyrov, Chechnya’s brutal leader, making a defiant promise to seize Kyiv.
According to the media tech company Media Entertainment Arts WorldWide, the Chechen jihadis unleashed by Putin are a known “Kill Squad”:
Notorious for their brutalities, the Chechen Special Forces mostly comprise Jihadist fighters.
The Azov fighters started greasing bullets against their jihadist foes with pig fat, and a warning attached:
“Dear Muslim brothers. In our country, you will not go to heaven. You will not be allowed into heaven. Go home, please. Here, you will encounter trouble. Thank you for your attention, goodbye.”
“Ukrainian fighters grease bullets against Chechens with pig fat,” Al Jazeera, February 28, 2022:
The National Guard of Ukraine has shared a video on its Twitter account that appears to show Azov fighters greasing bullets with pig fat, ostensibly to be used against against Muslim Chechens deployed to their country as Russia steps up its military assault on Ukraine.
Azov, a far-right all-volunteer infantry military unit, are ultra-nationalists who are accused of harbouring neo-Nazi and white supremacist ideology. They first fought alongside the Ukrainian army in the east of the country in 2014 against pro-Russia separatists and have since been incorporated into the regular armed forces.
In the video, which could not be independently verified by Al Jazeera, a man who is purportedly a member of the Azov fighters is seen dipping bullets into what appears to be pig fat as he addresses the Chechen fighters.
He says: “Dear Muslim brothers. In our country, you will not go to heaven. You will not be allowed into heaven. Go home, please. Here, you will encounter trouble. Thank you for your attention, goodbye.”
Despite being integrated into the official military, Azov fighters have reportedly continued to wear the Wolfsangel insignia used by a number of Nazi divisions during WWII.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has referenced the presence of such units within the Ukrainian military as a reason for launching his so-called “special military operation … to de-militarise and de-Nazify Ukraine”.
The Russian military in a press briefing has also claimed that “Nazi Battalions” form a significant part of the resistance to their offensive.
On Saturday, Ramzan Kadyrov, the leader of Russia’s Chechnya region and a Putin ally, said that Chechen fighters had been deployed in Ukraine and urged Ukrainians to overthrow their government….
Doomer says
There is a broader meaning to “denazify Ukraine”. Unlike the presidents of Poland,Hungary,Slovakia,etc, Zelensky is just a puppet of Leftists.
1. He was democratically elected but depends on Soros and the West European countries (who are secretly Leftist or openly Leftist: France, Germany,Scandinavia,etc) that want to force Leftist ideology into Eastern Europe’s new generation, to INDOCTRINATE them.
2. During WW II several countries declared NEUTRALITY and were spared: Switzerland,Spain,Portugal,Sweden. Ukraine could have done the same before the war and signed a neutrality treaty with Russia, it STILL can.
3. I think Zelensky knew that if he tried to ,Western and American Leftists with Soros money would have overthrown him.
4. Putin’s phrase “denazify” is more directed to the European and American Leftists who are trying to totally destroy freedom in the West. Putin is telling the governments of France,the US,the UK,etc that they are FASCISTS. During WW II Russian soldiers usually called Nazis with that title:”Fascist”.
5. Putin has an authoritarian government,and there are authoritarians and authoritarians,
the REDPILL says:”A dictatorship of the RIGHT is ALWAYS better than a dictatorship of the LEFT”. ( To live under Franco was way better than living under POL POT or MAO ZEDONG)
Doomer says
It seems Putin is also playing Leftists at their own game.
1. Leftists use the tactic of inventing Nazis and White Supremacists in conservative groups.
Then they use GUILTY by ASSOCIATION.
The pro-Macron press in France often calls Zemmour (a Jew) fascist, neo-nazi,white supremacist,Islamophobe.
2. This use of Muslim jihadis also seems to be used to destabilize Leftists, with their Leftist-Green alliance. They will hesitate to condemn the Chechens out of fear of alienating their Muslim allies in the West. Out of fear of being called ISLAMOPHOBES.
Doomer says
And I think also the use of denazify is playing Leftists at their game, for example against ANTIFA (anti-fascists) of today, which was originally created in Germany against the NAZIS.
It was militant anti-fascist organisation in the Weimar Republic started by members of the Communist Party of Germany
Dan says
It stopped all that Muslim crap in the area for over 50 years.
Watch an old Gary Cooper movie, called “The Real Glory.”
It used that problem as backstory, and dealt with it accordingly.
Dan says
Oops.
Meant for “revereridesagain says”
gravenimage says
Doomer wrote:
There is a broader meaning to “denazify Ukraine”. Unlike the presidents of Poland,Hungary,Slovakia,etc, Zelensky is just a puppet of Leftists.
…………….
So choosing the at least semi-free West over unfree Russia makes you a puppet of Leftists?
Then, Ukraine has been increasingly stemming immigration over the past 30 years–including Muslim immigration. If Western Europe is trying to indoctrinate Ukraine into accepting more Musliums, it is clearly failing badly.
You wrote:
2. During WW II several countries declared NEUTRALITY and were spared: Switzerland,Spain,Portugal,Sweden. Ukraine could have done the same before the war and signed a neutrality treaty with Russia, it STILL can.
……………….
This is not a war raging around Ukraine–the war *is* the invasion of Ukraine. How can Ukraine declare neutrality under this circumstance, and what would it mean? It would mean that they would have to drop their arms and just let Russia invade. This is like chiding France, the Netherlands, and Belgium for not declaring neutrality when they were being invaded by Nazi Germany.
And with all respect, the idea that Putin’s aim is to preserve the freedoms of the West by “denazifying” Leftists is truly odd–in fact, Putin regularly rails against the freedoms of the West. He is not defending them; he hates them.
And yes–living under Franco was better than living under Pol Pot or Mao. But was living under Hitler a good thing? I think many would disagree…
Then, while Ukraine was *not* a fully free country, it was certainly freer than Russia. And Ukrainians living under Russian conquest will be far worse than the conditions of, say, Russians living in Moscow.
Living in freedom is actually better than living under any kind of dictatorship.
Then, the idea that Putin is only using Jihadists against his enemies to weaken the left is truly bizarre. I think this more just shows how savage he is. Then, he himself has often talked about how Islam is a bulwark against the West.
More:
And I think also the use of denazify is playing Leftists at their game, for example against ANTIFA (anti-fascists) of today, which was originally created in Germany against the NAZIS.
……………….
There *is* actually a genuine neo-Nazi faction in Ukraine, although I don’t think this is a big factor, nor the reason Putin is invading. I agree that Antifa is Fascist but it is not present in Ukraine.
And Russia’s–and Putin’s–relationship to Communism is very equivocal. Putin himself was KGB, and there is a great deal of nostalia in some quarters for the Soviet Union.
In fact, Putin said this in 2016: “I really liked and still like communist and socialist ideas”, and said he still keeps his old Communist Party card.
The idea that Putin’s main goal in conquering the Ukraine is to stem Communism doesn’t seem to hold water.
Dan says
Hey.
Worked for General Jack Pershing.
revereridesagain says
I believe the British used the same tactic against Muslims in India. Adults are responsble for what they believe. If you think pig grease will send you to hell instead of the jihad bordello paradise full of renewable virgin “sex workers”, and someone uses that to freak you out, the joke is on you, O slave of Allah!
Dan says
It stopped all that Muslim crap in the area for over 50 years.
Watch an old Gary Cooper movie, called “The Real Glory.”
It used that problem as backstory, and dealt with it accordingly.
gravenimage says
Dan, this is a canard–albeit one with real legs.
And you cannot rely on old hollywood movies, as wonderful as manhy of them are, for accurate history–certainly not in this case.
somehistory says
Is it really putin’s business to concern himself with some nazi’s in another country? Esp when he has a worse group …mozlums….in his own.
Perhaps the pig fat will cause some mozlum fighters to quit. Only individuals involved will know for sure unless the entire bunch of mozlums quit and return home.
CogitoErgoSum says
I’m afraid that Putin does see Ukraine as his country, or at least as a part of his country. I would think of what is going on between Ukraine and Russia to be as if Texas or California had declared independence from the U.S. and those states were now intent on becoming a part of Mexico. Would a U.S. President just sit idly by while Mexico then began placing troops and nuclear weapons within the borders of those states? Well, okay, I’m pretty sure Joe Biden would …. but Vladimir Putin has more determination to unify his country than Biden does.
gravenimage says
Ukraine: Nazi soldiers use pig fat to grease bullets against Muslim Chechen jihadis
……………………
*Yeeeesh*–Alien vs Predator. Still, I think genuine Nazis make up a very small number of Ukrainians, whereas Russia is cynically using Jihadists against their neighbors.
Fitna says
Agreed Graven, I have my doubts they are legit Nazis, sounds more like propaganda by Putin to make himself look like the shining hero on a white horse saving Ukraine (laughable).
In this case I see the Jihadists as a far greater threat. If there was a war between actual Nazis and Muslims, I’d want both sides to destroy each other….like the Sunnis vs Shias.
gravenimage says
Agreed, Fitna.
Fitna says
+1
kepha says
So, Ukraine has its Neo-Nazi fringe? Russia has its own Red-Brown nexus. Yet this supposedly “neo-Nazi” Ukraine has a Jewish president. If everyone in Ukraine who was not native Ukrainian-speaker and either Eastern Rite Roman Catholic or a supporter of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church becoming Autocephalous is oppressed and hurt by the current government, Ukraine would’ve folded by now.
I freely admit that I respect Putin’s principled stand against organized perversion; I hope his adult reconciliation with the Orthodox Church does indeed mean peace with God through the mediatorial offices of Christ. But, at the end of the day, he invaded another nation that had been at peace with him. If he is protecting Russian-speakers (and I understand Zelenskiy’s first language is RUssian rather than Ukrainian or Yiddis), Ukraine should make a claim on all those descendants of Ukrainian peasants who, under the Tsars, spread eastwards along the Chernozem Belt to Siberia? Or, closer to home, should we Americans decide it’s time for us to rescue our Canadian Anglicized immigrant “brothers” from the shackles of English imperialism? Pfiffle!
I further understand that there are Russians who, as much as Putin himself, made their post-Soviet peace with one or another Christian tradition who object to this war. My prayer is that their desire for peace would be met.
This being said, there were missed opportunities with Russia. I can understand their security concerns, even if I vehemently oppose Putin’s moves on Georgia and Ukraine. Perhaps in the absence of something like the 1939-40 Winter War, Russia might not have respected a Finland-esque situation in its Near Abroad. But, could there have been other things which might have been done?
My own guess is that if Ukraine survives, it will want to join not only the EU, but NATO as well. But this will produce its own pressures for a new Cold War.
But I also worry more about the Taiwan Straits. I have family there.
gravenimage says
Mostly agree, Kepha. But Russia invaded Finland early in WWII in an act of naked aggression–Finland did *nothing* to incite this.
As for Putin’s taking a stand against organized perversion, I think this is rather undercut by his tacit support of Shari’ah law in Chechnya–after all, child marriage, forced marriage, and “Honor Killings” are actually *very* perverse, and he seems fine with this.
LIke you, I am also worried about Taiwan (and more oppression of Hong Kong). I think China is waiting to see the world’s reaction to this aggression on the part of Russia and if they can get way with doing the same.
Infidel says
Well, if this ‘Nazi’ Azov group is willing to work w/ Jews, particularly a Jewish president, what exactly makes them Nazi?
Regardless of their ideology, I congratulate them for using pig fat to grease the bullets. That should scare away Chechens, Tatars or any other muslims Russia puts up against the Ukrainians
gravenimage says
Infidel, here is a good article debunking this calumny:
“‘Just Total Fiction’: How Putin Is Using Nazi Propaganda to Defend Invasion of Ukraine”
https://people.com/politics/how-putin-uses-nazi-propaganda-to-defend-ukraine-invasion-russia/
Pray Hard says
Don’t use Crisco.
Infidel says
Why, what’s w/ them? I don’t – I typically buy the Kirkland branded oils from Costco
gravenimage says
Actually, Crisco is vegan.
libertyORdeath says
Why the need to label them “Nazi Fighters” despite the description being absent in the original article title, especially since the “evidence” is simply that they are “…reported to be “harbouring neo-Nazi and white supremacist ideology.” ???
If we followed that logic, we’re all Nazis.