Ignoring Ukraine’s Neo-Nazi Storm Troopers

[Karmadillo]

http://consortiumnews.com/2014/08/13/ignoring-ukraines-neo-nazi-storm-troopers/

Ignoring Ukraine’s Neo-Nazi Storm Troopers
August 13, 2014

Exclusive: You might think a story about modern-day Nazi storm troopers attacking a European city without mercy would merit front-page coverage in the U.S. press, but not when the Nazi paramilitaries are fighting for the U.S.-backed Ukrainian government and are killing ethnic Russians, writes Robert Parry.

By Robert Parry

The U.S.-backed Ukrainian government is knowingly sending neo-Nazi paramilitaries into eastern Ukrainian neighborhoods to attack ethnic Russians who are regarded by some of these storm troopers as “Untermenschen” or subhuman, according to Western press reports.

Recently, one eastern Ukrainian town, Marinka, fell to Ukraine’s Azov battalion as it waved the Wolfsangel flag, a symbol used by Adolf Hitler’s SS divisions in World War II. The Azov paramilitaries also attacked Donetsk, one of the remaining strongholds of ethnic Russians opposed to the Kiev regime that overthrew elected President Viktor Yanukovych last February.

Yet, despite this extraordinary reality – modern-day Nazi storm troopers slaughtering Slavic people in eastern Ukraine – the Obama administration continues to concentrate its criticism on Russia for sending a convoy of humanitarian supplies to the embattled region. Suddenly, the administration’s rhetoric about a “responsibility to protect” civilians has gone silent.

This same hypocrisy has permeated nearly everything said by the U.S. State Department and reported by the mainstream U.S. news media since the Ukraine crisis began last year. There was fawning coverage of the Maidan protesters who sought to overthrow Yanukovych and then an immediate embrace of the “legitimacy” of the regime that followed the Feb. 22 coup. As part of this one-sided U.S. narrative, reports about the key roles played by neo-Nazi activists and militias were dismissed as “Russian propaganda.”

more...

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

1. Are there images or video of these events online, perhaps on twitter?

That actually show 'Nazi Stormtroopers' storming into Ukrainian towns and slaughtering Russians under Nazi flags?

[joeybee12]

3. No, there aren't...POS Parry is pulling crap

out of his ass again.

[Comrade Grumpy]

9. You were saying?

"Ukraine Crisis: The Neo-Nazi Brigade Fighting Pro-Russian Separatists"

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ukraine/11025137/Ukraine-crisis-the-neo-Nazi-brigade-fighting-pro-Russian-separatists.html

Kiev throws paramilitaries – some openly neo-Nazi - into the front of the battle with rebels

<snip>

As Ukraine’s armed forces tighten the noose around pro-Russian separatists in the east of the country, the western-backed government in Kiev is throwing militia groups – some openly neo-Nazi - into the front of the battle. The Azov battalion has the most chilling reputation of all. Last week, it came to the fore as it mounted a bold attack on the rebel redoubt of Donetsk, striking deep into the suburbs of a city under siege.

In Marinka, on the western outskirts, the battalion was sent forward ahead of tanks and armoured vehicles of the Ukrainian army’s 51st Mechanised Brigade. A ferocious close-quarters fight ensued as they got caught in an ambush laid by well-trained separatists, who shot from 30 yards away. The Azov irregulars replied with a squall of fire, fending off the attack and seizing a rebel checkpoint.

<snip>

The military achievement is hard to dispute. By securing Marinka the battalion “widened the front and tightened the circle”, around the rebels’ capital, as another fighter put it. While Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, prevaricates about sending an invasion force into Ukraine, the rebels he backs are losing ground fast.

But Kiev’s use of volunteer paramilitaries to stamp out the Russian-backed Donetsk and Luhansk “people’s republics”, proclaimed in eastern Ukraine in March, should send a shiver down Europe’s spine. Recently formed battalions such as Donbas, Dnipro and Azov, with several thousand men under their command, are officially under the control of the interior ministry but their financing is murky, their training inadequate and their ideology often alarming.

The Azov men use the neo-Nazi Wolfsangel (Wolf’s Hook) symbol on their banner and members of the battalion are openly white supremacists, or anti-Semites.

<snip>

[joeybee12]

10. Try a post from a paper that is not a right-wing rag...

Amazing what some "liberals/progressives" will post and believe if it fits in with their undying adulation for Putin and his fascist assholes and their preconceived notions.

yeah, I was saying, and I'll continue to call out robert Parry for garbage he invents now

[Comrade Grumpy]

19. Set aside the insults and name-calling for a moment and address the substance.

Is the Kiev government using the Azov Battalion as part of its armed forces?

Are they operating in Marinka?

Are they neo-Nazis?

[stevenleser]

28. Fine, see my #23. nt

[Karmadillo]

11. Here's a story from the New York Times.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/10/world/europe/ukraine.html?ref=world&_r=1

<edit>

The fighting for Donetsk has taken on a lethal pattern: The regular army bombards separatist positions from afar, followed by chaotic, violent assaults by some of the half-dozen or so paramilitary groups surrounding Donetsk who are willing to plunge into urban combat.

Officials in Kiev say the militias and the army coordinate their actions, but the militias, which count about 7,000 fighters, are angry and, at times, uncontrollable. One known as Azov, which took over the village of Marinka, flies a neo-Nazi symbol resembling a Swastika as its flag.

In pressing their advance, the fighters took their orders from a local army commander, rather than from Kiev. In the video of the attack, no restraint was evident. Gesturing toward a suspected pro-Russian position, one soldier screamed, “The bastards are right there!” Then he opened fire.

[djean111]

2. Well, see, it is okay because PUTIN. nt

[zappaman]

4. What happened to Robert Parry?

He used to be a great journalist, but this is just more crap from him.
Did he hit his head or something?

[11cents]

5. Most probably he was never a "great journalist"

A "great journalist" doesn't turn into a bullshit-mongering shill for a reactionary regime.

He just happened to write things years ago that accorded with our own opinions and agendas. There's a tendency to accord excessive credibility to anyone who's once done something that we approve of. See: Cindy Sheehan.

[sabrina 1]

12. Nothing happened to him, he is still one of this country's best journalists and of course he isn't

alone. The question is 'why are so many great journalists suddenly being attacked on a supposed Democratic forum'? A LOT of people are asking that question.

Got any comment on the actual article?

[zappaman]

13. It's fascinating.

Although not for the reasons you might think.

[sabrina 1]

16. Yes, it's very fascinating and for all the reasons most of us think and many actually say. I wonder

why those who consistently attack actual journalists have zero to say about their actual work?

[Union Scribe]

17. Correct.

Writers who tell the truth eventually fall out of favor when the truth becomes unfashionable or a nuisance to political ambitions.

[sabrina 1]

20. True, historically journalists and others who insist on telling the truth are always the first to be

attacked by governments with a whole lot to hide. If I had nothing to hide and someone was writing lies about my policies or my allies, it would be far easier to discredit those lies. When you are telling the truth you have nothing to hide.

The problem with Ukr is there is no way to defend the Kiev Govt's use of neo nazis in order to first topple the govt and now apparently to set them loose against their own people. There are just too many witnesses.

Not to mention some of our own Senators and members of the State Dept posing for photos with their Party members.

Hard to deny those photos and tapes. So when a journalist like Parry publishes those facts, the ONLY way to deal with it is to attack the messenger. THAT'S how you know they are hiding something.

[malaise]

21. From Murdoch's Telegraph

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ukraine/11025137/Ukraine-crisis-the-neo-Nazi-brigade-fighting-pro-Russian-separatists.html

[sabrina 1]

24. Even Murdoch can't deny the facts because they are so obvious. It's all over the place, yet here we

have a few people attempting to deny reality for some reason.

[Tace]

27. Sabrina1: I Concur Re. Parry

I'm a veteran news wire service editor with more than 30 years experience. I agree that Parry is one of our best journalists. His detractors are either ignorant or malevolent. --Tace

[sabrina 1]

29. Thank you. We have been subjected to attacks, on this forum of all places, against some of our most

credible journalists who from my reading of them have not changed one bit but continue to report facts as they find them.

The goal appears to be to try to hide the facts by slamming the messenger. Which is why I make it a point to state the facts about those under attack, in case other people reading are not familiar with their excellent records as journalists, such as Parry.

Funny though how Parry was sought out as a source throughout the Bush era. I don't recall a single attack on him on DU, although on Right Wing forums he wasn't very popular.

Telling the truth is not easy when there are things to hide by powerful people.

Which is all the more reason for us to support those like Parry, who has the courage to continue telling the truth.

[Tace]

33. It's Heartening To See You Speaking Up

Solidarity! --Tace

[sabrina 1]

34. You too, Tace, thank you!

[Comrade Grumpy]

6. This story from the Telegraph appears to support Parry:

"Ukraine Crisis: The Neo-Nazi Brigade Fighting Pro-Russian Separatists"

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ukraine/11025137/Ukraine-crisis-the-neo-Nazi-brigade-fighting-pro-Russian-separatists.html

Kiev throws paramilitaries – some openly neo-Nazi - into the front of the battle with rebels

<snip>

As Ukraine’s armed forces tighten the noose around pro-Russian separatists in the east of the country, the western-backed government in Kiev is throwing militia groups – some openly neo-Nazi - into the front of the battle. The Azov battalion has the most chilling reputation of all. Last week, it came to the fore as it mounted a bold attack on the rebel redoubt of Donetsk, striking deep into the suburbs of a city under siege.

In Marinka, on the western outskirts, the battalion was sent forward ahead of tanks and armoured vehicles of the Ukrainian army’s 51st Mechanised Brigade. A ferocious close-quarters fight ensued as they got caught in an ambush laid by well-trained separatists, who shot from 30 yards away. The Azov irregulars replied with a squall of fire, fending off the attack and seizing a rebel checkpoint.

<snip>

The military achievement is hard to dispute. By securing Marinka the battalion “widened the front and tightened the circle”, around the rebels’ capital, as another fighter put it. While Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, prevaricates about sending an invasion force into Ukraine, the rebels he backs are losing ground fast.

But Kiev’s use of volunteer paramilitaries to stamp out the Russian-backed Donetsk and Luhansk “people’s republics”, proclaimed in eastern Ukraine in March, should send a shiver down Europe’s spine. Recently formed battalions such as Donbas, Dnipro and Azov, with several thousand men under their command, are officially under the control of the interior ministry but their financing is murky, their training inadequate and their ideology often alarming.

The Azov men use the neo-Nazi Wolfsangel (Wolf’s Hook) symbol on their banner and members of the battalion are openly white supremacists, or anti-Semites.

<snip>

[sabrina 1]

18. So they used neo nazis in a European city to attack their own people??

Neonazism is on the rise in Europe but has been somewhat contained, although Austerity has given them a foothold that never should have been allowed. But THIS situation is beyond the pale, actually giving them POWER is unconscionable.

[malaise]

22. LOL

[Purveyor]

30. I have a thread going with this article.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/101699800

Of course it is mostly quiet since scat-balls aren't being thrown at the credible source.

[SidDithers]

7. Parry. LOL...

he must be angling for a gig at RT.

Sid

[sabrina 1]

14. He's doing what he has always done, 'angling' to tell the truth which he continues to do

as he has always done. Got any comment on the substance of his article, anything to refute it?

Parry, one of America's best and most credible investigative journalists, attacked viciously during the Bush era, but right as always which some of them now have had to concede.

[jakeXT]

8. Once they turn on Kiev it could get interesting

There are also growing fears in Ukraine that Azov and other far-right militias could ultimately turn on its new rulers, whom they see not as representatives of the revolution but of a venal oligarchy that has dominated the country for decades.

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/foreigners-join-far-right-militias-in-ukraine-s-fight-against-rebels-1.1868779

[sabrina 1]

15. Good source, thank you. Over there they understand what went on in Ukr. I see that the Kiev Govt

IS having a hard time now disarming the neo nazis they used to topple the government. They are not going away easily. It's going to hard to continue to attack your own people in the southeastern part of the country AND find yourself under assault from your 'former' allies in the Western part of the country.

[stevenleser]

23. Most of Eastern Europe has rampant anti-semitism and neo-Nazi groups. This is disengenuous

This is only an issue for some folks now because they want to excuse Putin's invasion of Crimea and other aggressive moves in Ukraine.

[zappaman]

25. He's dreamy.

[sabrina 1]

26. Kiev is using neo nazi paramilitary troops to attack their own people. Period. That is the topic. It

is not just Parry reporting this, although he is one of the more credible journalists we have in this country.

Are you excusing this, denying it, what? And Putin did not invade Crimea. At least THEY have so far, escaped the invasions of the neo nazis sent to kill their own people by the Kiev Govt.

Crimea chose not to be a part of what they saw coming. Very excellent decision by them.

[Comrade Grumpy]

31. Most of Eastern Europe doesn't have armed neo-Nazis taking part in military struggles.

Or integrated into their national militaries.

Your post is what's disingenuous.

[stevenleser]

32. Most of Eastern Europe doesnt have a military struggle going on. Almost a nice try. But not. nt

[sabrina 1]

35. Neither does Ukr, or wouldn't had the Kiev IMF controlled Govt not sent in their neo nazis

to attack and kill Ukrainians for absolutely no reason at all.

[Dems to Win]

36. Why not? US media, govt ignored the black-hooded snipers in Kiev during the putsch

Robert Parry, Greg Palast, and Amy Goodman are three journalists I trust and always read their work.

No, Robert Parry hasn't changed. He's still doing his best to report the truth as he finds it.

I truly don't understand why Obama and Kerry and the entire Washington press corps are supporting a fascist putsch in Kiev and seem to be on this 'Get Putin' drive that is scarily reminiscent of the 'Get Saddam' frenzy of 2002-3.

This situation is even scarier than the Iraq disaster.