Ukrainian neo-Nazis grateful for Canada's support
Ukrainian neo-Nazis grateful for Canada's support
A study from George Washington University shows far-right extremists in Ukraine boasting online of support from several NATO countries, including Canada
Members of a Ukrainian far-right group with military ties is boasting online of training it has received from Canadian Forces and other NATO militaries, David Pugliese reports at the Ottawa Citizen.
The piece is based on a study from the Institute for Russian, European and Eurasian Studies at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., which tracked the social media behaviour of members of the far-right group Centura, revealing members giving Nazi salutes, praising members of SS units and spouting white nationalist rhetoric.
In posts, Centuria members said they’ve not only received Canadian military training, but have travelled to Canada to participate in military exercises, in addition to collaborating with British, American, Polish, German and French forces.
“The Ukrainian military’s failure to check Centuria activities suggests a level of tolerance on its part for the apparent proliferation of far-right ideology and influence within the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” the report cautions.
Since 2018, Centura has been active at the Hetman Petro Sahaidachny National Army Academy (NNA), Ukraine’s preeminent military academy and a focal point for Western support for Ukrainian forces, the study found.
In 2019, Centura members attended a protest of Kiev Pride organized by far-right forces, issuing a statement expressing support for “right patriots, nationalists, conservatives and Christians currently defending the streets of Kyiv from perverts from the LGBT movement and their left-liberal sympathizers.”
Canadian Forces have provided training to the Ukrainian military since 2015 under Operation UNIFIER.
The official response from the Canadian military to allegations of training neo-Nazis is instructive.
Canadian Forces spokeswoman Lt.-Cmdr. Julie McDonald said it was up to Ukraine to vet its own security forces. But, if Canadian military personnel saw first-hand evidence of extremist views, they could refuse to train those soldiers, she added. The Canadian Forces, however, does not proactively examine the backgrounds of those they train or look for signs of support for far-right causes.
In other words — not our problem.
Centura is affiliated with the Azov movement, which as of 2014 is an official regiment of the Ukraine’s National Guard.
One reason the Canadian military may be reluctant to address its support for Ukrainian neo-Nazis is there seems to be quite a few Canadian Forces members who share their ideology.
In others news …
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Edited by Scott Schmidt