Editing Neo-Nazism (section)

==== Ukraine ====
{{Main|Far-right politics in Ukraine}}
{{See also|Racism and discrimination in Ukraine|Ukrainian nationalism}}
In 1991, the [[Social-National Party of Ukraine]] (SNPU) was founded.<ref>"[https://www.algemeiner.com/2013/05/24/svoboda-fuels-ukraines-growing-anti-semitism/ Svoboda Fuels Ukraine's Growing Anti-Semitism] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125223653/https://www.algemeiner.com/2013/05/24/svoboda-fuels-ukraines-growing-anti-semitism/ |date=25 January 2021 }}". ''[[Algemeiner Journal]]''. 24 May 2013.</ref> The party combined [[radical nationalism]] and neo-Nazi features.<ref name="konotop">"[https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Ukrainian-Jews-shocked-after-city-elects-neo-Nazi-mayor-437975 Local Jews in shock after Ukrainian city of Konotop elects neo-Nazi mayor] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210211220740/https://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Ukrainian-Jews-shocked-after-city-elects-neo-Nazi-mayor-437975 |date=11 February 2021 }}". ''The Jerusalem Post''. 21 December 2015.</ref> The SNPU was characterized as a [[Right-wing populism|radical right-wing populist]] party that combined elements of [[Ultranationalism|ethnic ultranationalism]] and [[anti-communism]]. During the 1990s, it was accused of neo-Nazism due to the party's recruitment of [[White power skinhead|skinheads]] and usage of neo-Nazi symbols.<ref name="umlandp412">{{cite journal|last=Umland|first=Andreas|author2=Anton Shekhovtsov|date=September–October 2013|title=Ultraright Party Politics in Post-Soviet Ukraine and the Puzzle of the Electoral Marginalism of Ukrainian Ultranationalists in 1994–2009|journal=Russian Politics and Law|volume=51|issue=5|page=41|doi=10.2753/rup1061-1940510502|s2cid=144502924}}</ref><ref name="rudling13wr2">{{cite book|last=Rudling|first=Per Anders|title=The Return of the Ukrainian Far Right: The Case of VO Svoboda|url=https://www.academia.edu/2481420|publisher=Routledge|year=2013|editor=Ruth Wodak and John E. Richardson|location=New York|pages=229–247}}</ref> When [[Oleh Tyahnybok]] was elected party leader in 2004, he made efforts to moderate the party's image by changing the party's name to [[Svoboda (political party)|All-Ukrainian Association "Svoboda"]], changing its symbols and expelling neo-Nazi and [[Neo-fascism|neofascist]] groups.<ref name="osw-tadeusz2">{{cite journal|last=Olszański|first=Tadeusz A.|date=4 July 2011|title=Svoboda Party – The New Phenomenon on the Ukrainian Right-Wing Scene|url=https://www.isn.ethz.ch/Digital-Library/Publications/Detail/?lng=en&id=137051|journal=Centre for Eastern Studies|series=OSW Commentary|issue=56|page=6|access-date=27 September 2013}}</ref><ref name="umlandp412" /> According to radicalism researchers [[Anton Shekhovtsov]] and [[Andreas Umland]], extreme far-right in Ukraine are extremely weak and marginal force. Right-wing movements researcher [[:uk:Ліхачов_В'ячеслав_Андрійович|Vyacheslav Likhachev]] notes that the number of Nazi skinheads in 2008 was less than two thousand, which, compared to 20 to 35 thousands skinheads in Russia, makes a substantially lower proportion.<ref name="umlandp412" />  According to ''[[The Nation]]'' journalist James Carden, in 2016 "neo-Nazis (or neo-fascists, if you prefer) are a distinctly minority taste in Western Ukraine".<ref name="nation">"[https://www.thenation.com/article/congress-has-removed-a-ban-on-funding-neo-nazis-from-its-year-end-spending-bill/ Congress Has Removed a Ban on Funding Neo-Nazis From Its Year-End Spending Bill] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200114161138/https://www.thenation.com/article/congress-has-removed-a-ban-on-funding-neo-nazis-from-its-year-end-spending-bill/ |date=14 January 2020 }}". ''[[The Nation]]''. 14 January 2016.</ref> In 2015, Konotop residents elected Artem Semenikhin, a Svoboda party member accused of neo-Nazi sympathies, as a mayor, because, according to Likhachev, he "created himself an image of a defender of Ukrainian independence";<ref>{{cite news |title=Local Jews worried about behavior of neo-Nazi mayor of Ukrainian town |website=World Jewish Congress |url=https://www.worldjewishcongress.org/en/news/local-jews-worried-about-behavior-of-neo-nazi-mayor-of-ukrainian-town-12-2-2015 |date=2 December 2015 |language=EN}}</ref> however, Eduard Dolinsky of the [[Ukrainian Jewish Committee]] stated that Konotop was a "clear case" of anti-Semites being elected in local governing bodies.<ref name="konotop" />

The [[Azov Battalion]], founded in 2014, has been described as a far-right militia,<ref name="bbc-20140905">{{cite news |last=Keane |first=Fergal |date=5 September 2014 |title=Ukraine crisis: Heavy shelling in hours before ceasefire |work=[[BBC News Online]] |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-29086403 |url-status=live |access-date= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150129082900/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-29086403 |archive-date=29 January 2015}}</ref><ref name="telegraph-20220318">{{cite news |date=18 March 2022 |title=Inside Azov, the far-Right brigade killing Russian generals and playing a PR game in the Ukraine war |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/03/18/inside-azov-neo-nazi-brigade-killing-russian-generals-playing/ |url-access=limited |access-date=1 April 2022 |archive-date=18 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220318224111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/03/18/inside-azov-neo-nazi-brigade-killing-russian-generals-playing/ |url-status=live }}</ref> with connections to neo-Nazism<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jones |first=Seth G. |date=7 November 2018 |title=The Rise of Far-Right Extremism in the United States |url=https://www.csis.org/analysis/rise-far-right-extremism-united-states |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220212041104/https://www.csis.org/analysis/rise-far-right-extremism-united-states |archive-date=12 February 2022 |access-date= |website=[[Center for Strategic and International Studies]] |quote=Azov Battalion, a paramilitary unit of the Ukrainian National Guard, which the FBI says is associated with neo-Nazi ideology.}}</ref> and members wearing neo-Nazi and [[Schutzstaffel|SS]] symbols and regalia, as well as expressing neo-Nazi views.<ref name="parfitt">{{cite news |last1=Parfitt |first1=Tom |date=11 August 2014 |title=Ukraine crisis: the neo-Nazi brigade fighting pro-Russian separatists |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/Europe/ukraine/11025137/Ukraine-crisis-the-neo-Nazi-brigade-fighting-pro-Russian-separatists.html |url-status=dead |access-date= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180705220331/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ukraine/11025137/Ukraine-crisis-the-neo-Nazi-brigade-fighting-pro-Russian-separatists.html |archive-date=5 July 2018}}</ref><ref name="Walker">{{cite news |last=Walker |first=Shaun |title=Azov fighters are Ukraine's greatest weapon and may be its greatest threat |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/10/azov-far-right-fighters-ukraine-neo-nazis |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140910130437/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/10/azov-far-right-fighters-ukraine-neo-nazis |archive-date=10 September 2014 |url-status=live |work=The Guardian |date=10 September 2014}}</ref>

According to Vyacheslav Likhachev of the {{lang|fr|[[Institut français des relations internationales]]}}, members of far-right (including neo-Nazi) groups played an important role on the pro-Russian side, arguably more so than on the Ukrainian side, especially during early 2014.<ref name="Likhachev" /><ref name="Averre">{{cite book |editor1-last=Averre |editor1-first=Derek |editor2-last=Wolczuk |editor2-first=Kataryna |title=The Ukraine Conflict: Security, Identity and Politics in the Wider Europe |date=2018 |publisher=Routledge |pages=90–91}}</ref> Members and former members of the [[National Bolshevik Party]], [[Russian National Unity]] (RNU), [[Eurasian Youth Union]], and [[Combatants of the war in Donbas#Cossacks|Cossack groups]] participated in recruitment of the separatists.<ref name="Likhachev" /><ref name="Yudina">Yudina, Natalia (2015). [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/313258866_Russian_Nationalists_Fight_Ukrainian_War "Russian nationalists fight Ukrainian war"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220313202440/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/313258866_Russian_Nationalists_Fight_Ukrainian_War |date=13 March 2022 }}, in: ''Journal on Baltic Security'', Volume 1, Issue 1 ([[de Gruyter]]). pp.47–69. [[doi:10.1515/jobs-2016-0012]].</ref><ref name="washingtonp">{{cite news |date=26 June 2014 |title=Is anyone in charge of Russian nationalists fighting in Ukraine? |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2014/06/26/is-anyone-in-charge-of-russian-nationalists-fighting-in-ukraine/ |last=Laruelle |first=Marlene |access-date=3 March 2022 |archive-date=1 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220301032420/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2014/06/26/is-anyone-in-charge-of-russian-nationalists-fighting-in-ukraine/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Saunders |first1=Robert |title=Historical Dictionary of the Russian Federation |date=2019 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishing |pages=581–582}}</ref> A former RNU member, [[Pavel Gubarev]], was founder of the Donbas People's Militia and first "governor" of the Donetsk People's Republic.<ref name="Likhachev" /><ref>[[Timothy Snyder|Snyder, Timothy]]. [https://www.newrepublic.com/article/117048/crimean-referendum-was-electoral-farce ''Far-Right Forces are Influencing Russia's Actions in Crimea''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140317211808/https://www.newrepublic.com/article/117048/crimean-referendum-was-electoral-farce |date=17 March 2014 }}. ''[[The New Republic]]''. 17 March 2014.</ref> RNU is particularly linked to the [[Russian Orthodox Army]],<ref name="Likhachev" /> one of a number of separatist units described as "pro-Tsarist" and "extremist" Orthodox nationalists.<ref name="Kuzio110">{{cite book |last1=Kuzio |first1=Taras |title=Ukraine: Democratization, Corruption, and the New Russian Imperialism |date=2015 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |pages=110–111|quote=the Russian Orthodox Army, one of a number of separatist units fighting for the "Orthodox faith," revival of the Tsarist Empire, and the Russkii Mir. Igor Girkin (Strelkov [Shooter]), who led the Russian capture of Slovyansk in April 2014, was an example of the Russian nationalists who have sympathies to pro-Tsarist and extremist Orthodox groups in Russia. ... the Russian Imperial Movement ... has recruited thousands of volunteers to fight with the separatists. ... such as the Russian Party of National Unity who use a modified swastika as their party symbol and Dugin's Eurasianist movement. The paramilitaries of both of these ... are fighting alongside separatists.}}</ref><ref name="Likhachev" /> 'Rusich' is part of the [[Wagner Group]], a Russian mercenary group in Ukraine which has been linked to far-right extremism.<ref name="Guardian Wagner">{{cite news |title=Russian mercenaries in Ukraine linked to far-right extremists |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/20/russian-mercenaries-in-ukraine-linked-to-far-right-extremists |work=[[The Guardian]] |last=Townsend |first=Mark |date=20 March 2022 |quote=Russian mercenaries fighting in Ukraine, including the Kremlin-backed Wagner Group, have been linked to far-right extremism ... Much of the extremist content, posted on Telegram and the Russian social media platform VKontakte (VK), relates to a far-right unit within the Wagner Group called Rusich ... One post on the messaging app Telegram, dated 15 March, shows the flag of the Russian Imperial Movement (RIM), a white-supremacist paramilitary ... Another recent VK posting lists Rusich as part of a coalition of separatist groups and militias including the extreme far-right group, Russian National Unity. |access-date=26 April 2022 |archive-date=27 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220327141257/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/20/russian-mercenaries-in-ukraine-linked-to-far-right-extremists |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Smid">Šmíd, Tomáš & Šmídová, Alexandra. (2021). [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/352051011_Anti-government_Non-state_Armed_Actors_in_the_Conflict_in_Eastern_Ukraine Anti-government Non-state Armed Actors in the Conflict in Eastern Ukraine]. ''Czech Journal of International Relations'', Volume 56, Issue 2. pp.48–49. Quote: "Another group of Russian citizens who became involved in the armed conflict in Eastern Ukraine were members of the so-called right-wing units of the Russian Spring."</ref> Afterward, the pro-Russian far-right groups became less important in Donbas and the need for Russian radical nationalists started to disappear.<ref name="Likhachev">{{cite web |first=Vyacheslav |last=Likhachev |url=https://www.ifri.org/sites/default/files/atoms/files/rnv95_uk_likhachev_far-right_radicals_final.pdf |title=The Far Right in the Conflict between Russia and Ukraine |date=July 2016 |publisher=[[Institut français des relations internationales]] |access-date=6 March 2022 |archive-date=8 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108002745/https://www.ifri.org/sites/default/files/atoms/files/rnv95_uk_likhachev_far-right_radicals_final.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

The radical nationalist group [[C14 (Ukrainian group)|С14]], whose members openly expressed neo-Nazi views, gained notoriety in 2018 for being involved in violent attacks on [[Romani people|Romany]] camps.<ref>[https://www.rferl.org/a/ukrainian-militia-behind-brutal-romany-attacks-getting-state-funds/29290844.html Ukrainian Militia Behind Brutal Romany Attacks Getting State Funds] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210203110137/https://www.rferl.org/a/ukrainian-militia-behind-brutal-romany-attacks-getting-state-funds/29290844.html |date=3 February 2021 }}, [[Radio Free Europe]] (14 June 2018)</ref><ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-44593995 Ukraine Roma camp attack leaves one dead] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210129101946/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-44593995 |date=29 January 2021 }}, [[BBC News]] (24 June 2018)</ref><ref>[https://www.unian.info/m/society/10156238-sbu-opens-case-against-c14-nationalists-for-detention-of-brazilian-mercenary-lawyer.html SBU opens case against C14 nationalists for detention of Brazilian mercenary – lawyer] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210220162432/https://www.unian.info/society/10156238-sbu-opens-case-against-c14-nationalists-for-detention-of-brazilian-mercenary-lawyer.html |date=20 February 2021 }}, [[UNIAN]] (18 June 2018)</ref>