On Tuesday, on the occasion of International Women’s Day, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) tweeted a picture of a Ukrainian woman soldier with a Nazi symbol on the uniform and said that the Ukrainian women were a symbol of strength for their nation. NATO later deleted the tweet realizing that the post included a picture of a women soldier wearing the black sun symbol.
“All women must live free and equal. This international women’s day, we think of the remarkable women of Ukraine. Their strength, bravery and resilience are symbolic of the spirit of their nation #IWD2022”, the tweet by the official Twitter account of NATO read.
In the tweet that was deleted later, NATO had shared 4 pictures of Ukrainian women to celebrate International Women’s Day. One of the pictures was that of a woman soldier who was wearing the black sun symbol on her uniform. According to the reports, the black sun symbol is associated with Nazism and is popular with neo-Nazis in Ukraine. The symbol is composed of two concentric circles and rays that start from the smaller circle to the larger one.
Unfortunately for #NATO, they appear to be clueless about what they’re promoting in #Ukraine. They tweeted four pictures celebrating the women of Ukraine on International Women’s Day , including a pic of a woman soldier… good try NATO, but this one’s a Nazi.🤦♂️ #NotFeminism pic.twitter.com/hua1514oqg
— FLAF_GreaterManchester (@FLAFGreaterMan1) March 8, 2022
Reportedly the symbol is different from the Hakenkreuz symbol which is most commonly used by Nazis. The black sun symbol refers to movements linked to esotericism and the occult of the mid-19th century. The symbol was first employed by the Schutzstaffel or Protection Squad in Germany but it became popular in 1991.
In Ukraine, the black sun is one of the symbols associated with Nazism that are part of the insignia of the Azov Battalion, a right-wing militia formed by several individuals with a history of activity in neo-Nazi organizations. As reported earlier, the Azov battalion of the Ukrainian National Guard is a neo-Nazi unit and they often flaunt their Nazi inclinations openly. It is a far-right volunteers group and their leaders have called Putin ‘a Jew’ in the past.
Earlier the day, in one similar incident, a photograph of a Ukrainian soldier who was evacuating civilians near the capital Kyiv had gone viral over the internet because of a symbol associated with Nazism present on his uniform.
Also on February 28, the Ukraine National Guard had shared a video of a neo-Nazi unit greasing bullets with pig fat to be used against Chechen forces fighting from the Russian side. “Azov fighters of the National Guard greased the bullets with lard against the Kadyrov orcs”, the tweet read.
Azov fighters of the National Guard greased the bullets with lard against the Kadyrov orcs👊
— НГУ (@ng_ukraine) February 27, 2022
Бійці Азова Нацгвардії змастили кулі салом проти кадировських орків👊
Підписуйтесь на наш телеграм канал https://t.co/SBQltMr4bM pic.twitter.com/A1ci7tZL8r
Ukraine’s dalliance with neo-Nazi forces: A problem that NATO chooses to paper over
It is important to note that, the neo-Nazism ideology has not only taken root in the Ukrainian conscience but has also gained the Ukrainian government’s sanction. This has done anything but raised concerns in Moscow as was evident in the speech made by Putin days before Russia’s military offence in Ukraine.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine came amidst heightened tensions between Moscow and NATO countries, with the former concerned about their precarious security apparatus as the latter mulled over its expansion in eastern Europe. Even as NATO and the US mount a propaganda blitz to counter Russia’s invasion, they have turned a blind eye to a festering problem that seemed to have played a pivotal role in Putin’s calculus to wage an armed conflict in Ukraine.
On February 24, Putin had justified his country’s aggression against Ukraine as a peacekeeping mission and couched the forthcoming military operation by Russian forces as ‘denazification’ of Ukraine. “We will seek to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine and put to justice those that committed numerous bloody crimes against peaceful people, including Russian nationals,” Putin had said while justifying a military incursion in neighbouring Ukraine.
One such neo-Nazi group that enjoys Ukrainian state patronage is the Azov Movement, one of the 30-odd privately-funded “volunteer battalions”, that does much of the frontline fighting with Ukraine’s army against the pro-Russian separatists in the country’s restive eastern region. The Azov is not just known for their reputation of being ruthless on the battlefield but also for espousing a militant ideology that shares its roots with the Nazi army that wreaked havoc in Germany in the second world war.
