US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a surprise visit to Kiev this week, ostensibly in order to voice the Biden administration’s support for Ukraine as the country faces challenging conditions amid its Western-backed proxy war against Russia.
Blinken’s itinerary included a stop at a military-themed pizza parlor and an unexpected performance by the top diplomat and amateur guitarist, who treated locals to a performance of Neil Young’s “Rockin’ in the Free World.” Blinken’s musical stunt was met with mixed reviews, with some Ukrainians questioning its appropriateness given the country’s current struggles on the battlefield.
“Like many other politicians… Blinken appears to have misinterpreted the 1989 rock hit as a patriotic anthem,” noted a critical review by NBC News. “In fact, the ‘free world’ is Young’s ironic reference to America’s failings, including homelessness and gun crime.”
However, the secretary of state’s dinner outing with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba is now receiving even more attention than the impromptu concert as users on social media make disturbing discoveries about the restaurant. Former US Marine Corps intelligence officer Scott Ritter discussed the controversy with host Garland Nixon on Sputnik’s The Critical Hour program Thursday.
“What are your thoughts on that spectacle of Tony Blinken going to some pizza joint in Kiev… and playing the guitar and all of this kind of stuff?” asked Nixon, referring to an incident that one White House spokesperson defended as an example of “cultural diplomacy.” Nixon referred to the restaurant as “a place that is notorious for sporting the iconography of the Third Reich.”
Users on the X social media platform identified the Kiev pizza parlor as Veterano Pizza, which is described online as a “relaxed restaurant serving pizzas & cocktails with military-themed decor and a terrace.” The parlor pays tribute to veterans of Ukraine’s ongoing conflict with Russia, with various nationalist paraphernalia adorning its walls.
But critics have pointed out the extremist political affiliations of many members of the country’s armed forces, with photos frequently emerging of servicemembers sporting Nazi tattoos. The troubling connection was again identified in the decor of the pizza restaurant, with users on X spotting a patch that appeared to feature the insignia of the Nazis’ “Wiking” 5th SS Panzer Division. The symbol, which resembles a rounded swastika, corresponds to a division of the Nazi Party’s Waffen-SS paramilitary.
Another framed photo appeared to show an image from the 2014 Odessa trade union house massacre, when neo-Nazi paramilitaries set a building where demonstrators were sheltering ablaze. Some 48 people were burned alive during the shocking attack.
Other users quickly noticed that it appeared the restaurant’s owners had swapped out some of their more controversial decor before Blinken’s visit. Large framed images of the flag of Ukraine’s extremist Right Sector* organization and the Nazi Wolfsangel were also observed in other photos from the pizza parlor.
The Wolfsangel is a Medieval rune design adopted by the Nazi Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS Das Reich division – the symbol is frequently used by groups with Nazi sympathies or affiliations, such as the Ukrainian nationalist organizations that collaborated with Nazi Germany during World War II.
Observers stress that the troubling symbolism is not simply an indication of a few “bad apples” in Ukraine’s military, but a representation of the extremist politics of the government that took hold after the 2014 Euromaidan coup. US public television outlet PBS aired an interview with the mayor of a large Ukrainian city in 2022 who referred to Russians as “cockroaches.”
A large portrait of notorious Ukrainian nationalist and Nazi collaborator Stepan Bandera was observed behind him – it was unclear whether the attempt to blur and obscure the background was made by PBS or the interviewee.
Ritter criticized Blinken’s attempt at “cultural diplomacy” in Kiev, saying “it's ridiculous and I think the Ukrainians are seeing through this. Even Kuleba couldn't muster too much enthusiasm, although he felt at home in the Nazi pizza parlor. But the Ukrainians understand what's happening right now.”
“This isn't going to last much longer,” concluded the former UN weapons inspector, claiming Ukraine is nearing military and political collapse.
*Right Sector, Azov Battalion are terrorist organizations banned in Russia.