It’s true that the vast majority of Ukrainians are not Neo-Nazis or support such an ideology. However, these ultranationalists do have influence disproportionate to their numbers because of their willingness to use violence.
Here is an interview with a Ukrainian sociologist in which he explains this.
Here is an article from 2018 by the Atlantic Council (a think tank funded by NATO and hostile toward Russia) admitting that these people are a problem.
Here is another article documenting how the Azov battalion and its supporters threatened to kill Zelensky if he implemented the Minsk Agreement and negotiated peace with Donbas. I encourage people to follow the links included therein.
I could go on linking to more articles from Reuters and The Guardian documenting that the ultranationalists have used violence outside of the Ukrainian parliament when former president Poroshenko wanted to rein them in. But I think one can get the picture from what I’ve already provided. I don’t support Putin’s invasion of Ukraine either, but let’s not whitewash the ultranationalists and their seriously problematic influence on the Ukrainian government. None of the above sources are Russian.
