MOSCOW, October 12 (RIA Novosti), Ekaterina Blinova - Since the Euromaidan turmoil and events triggered by the Ukrainian coup of February 2014, Ukrainian youth has been used as the main propaganda force of the Ukrainian nationalist movement.
Ukrainian right-wing nationalists attract young people by romanticized the image of OUN-UPA and Stepan Bandera, the famous Nazi collaborators.
According to video and photo evidence, as well as numerous eyewitness, the Ukrainian pro-nationalist youth took part in the massacre of the Trade Union House in Odessa in May 2014, when dozens of pro-Russian protesters and ordinary citizens were burnt alive by neo-Nazi paramilitary fighters.
Ukrainian youth openly declared they were proud that they burnt Odessa's civilians, referring to them as "colorados" and "Russian terrorists."
A girl named Lesya, on her Twitter account @Sotnik_UA, posted a video with a footage of burnt dead corpses in the Trade Union House, dubbing it "Odessa's shish kebab." Earlier in May, the girl confessed in Twitter that she was proud she burnt Odessa's civilians with her friends.
Шашлык по-одесски (уникальное видео) https://t.co/4KWdCNxi6c
— Сотник Леся (@Sotnik_UA) June 22, 2014
After the coup, Ukrainian nationalism enjoyed it's second birth. The Right Sector has unified the ultra-nationalist groups and began to advertise nationalism through social media in order to attract more young followers and supporters.
Подруга передает вам привет, колорады) pic.twitter.com/ScGaDGrK5Y
— Сотник Леся (@Sotnik_UA) June 16, 2014
Motto of the #RightSector: God, Ukraine, Freedom! #ukraine #pravyysector #christian #nationalist #patriot pic.twitter.com/zFmn8z8TSH
— UkrainianNationalist (@UANationalists) September 14, 2014
kids in #Lvov r celebrating 72 years of UPA near monument of murder #Bandera #glorifyFascism #Ukraine pic.twitter.com/UpJxvmQ5gw
— Nadia Nadia (@NadezhdaAle) October 10, 2014
Many of the Right Sector supporters have joined the Ukrainian National Guard military units or nationalist volunteer squads fighting against the civilians of southeastern Ukraine.
Soldier of the DUK #RightSector, 18 years old. One of those who can not be defeated by the #Russian commandos. pic.twitter.com/flJm3KGPld
— UkrainianNationalist (@UANationalists) October 3, 2014
Stepan Stefurak,student from #Ternopil and soldier with #PravySektor...http://t.co/DywmzvKIQF pic.twitter.com/u8TFnBQku3
— UkrainianNationalist (@UANationalists) September 24, 2014
Бійці Добровольчого Українського Корпусу. "Шмель" і "Спікер". Тому, що зліва на фото - 18 років. Студент з Харкова pic.twitter.com/SeHM1AfSZi
— The Avramchuk Post (@avramchuk_katya) October 10, 2014
The fighters of the Ukrainian Volunteer Corps [Right Sector]. "Shmel" and "Spiker." The one on the left is an 18-year-old student from Kharkiv.
Per A. Rudling, an Associate Professor of the Department of History at Lund University (Sweden), underscores that the Ukrainian nationalists have longstanding ties with the European ultra-nationalist and neo-fascism movements such as British National Party, Nationaldemokraterna of Sweden, Fiamma Tricolore in Italy and the Hungarian Jobbik.
In the book "Analysing Fascist Discourse. European Fascism in Talk and Text" published in 2013, Professor Rudling and his counterparts warned against "the emergence, rise and success of extreme right wing political movements, across Europe and beyond."
In the light of the recent events in Ukraine, it seems their deep concerns and fears were not groundless.
