08.02.2025, Penza.
Russia underestimated the scale of the threat as presented by Ukraine, including the level of Nazification of Ukrainian society, stated Andrey Bersenev, co-author of the multi-authored monograph “Ukrainism,” on February 6 during a plenary session of the forum “National Security and State Interests of Russia,” Rossa Primavera News Agency wrote.
According to him, by the start of Russia’s special military operation in 2022, Nazification in Ukrainian society had become total.
“When the special military operation began, we suddenly saw that we were dealing with completely different people than we had known from previous experience,” Bersenev said.
The researcher noted that just 15 years ago, the Ukrainian people were perceived in Russia as a brotherly nation, connected to the Russian people by a thousand-year history. A few years later, in 2014, the Ukrainian Maidan occurred, where neo-Nazi groups played a leading role. Unlike in 2005, after the color revolution and the establishment of a new government, these groups did not dissolve but instead entered the government.
Neo-Nazis infiltrated all levels of government, took control of central media, and over the eight years from 2014 to 2022, the population of Ukraine was completely Nazified, emphasized the co-author of “Ukrainism.” New neo-Nazi groups emerged in the country, including “Azov” (organization banned in Russia), and in Ukraine, a talk about building a new black international has been started, he added.
“What is happening in Ukraine, as stated in a famous work, ‘Send not to know / For whom the bell tolls, It tolls for thee,’ is, of course, a matter of Russia’s security, including from the perspective of internal processes,” said Bersenev.
“It was mentioned here that certain destructive processes are occurring among our youth. Let’s ask a simple question. The well-known figure in the far-right environment, Aleksey Levkin (included in the list of terrorists and extremists in Russia), who was recognized as a terrorist in Russia and left for Ukraine in 2014, joined ‘Azov’ (an organization banned in the Russian Federation), became one of its ideologists, and today is the leader of the ‘Russian Volunteer Corps’ (organization banned in Russia), which is carrying out terrorist attacks one after another in Bryansk and Belgorod Regions. Is he really so unknown to certain circles of our youth? The question is rhetorical,” Bersenev explained.
The researcher emphasized that when young people in Russia are detained for carrying out explosions and arson attacks, symbols of far-right organizations are often found in their possession.
“All these boys, who, excuse me, blow up power plants and sometimes set fire to Russian planes – when they are caught, symbols of these structures like WotanJugend [‘Wotan’s Youth’ – Rossa Primavera News Agency] and so on are always found in their possession,” said Bersenev.
The expert also recalled an incident related to the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall and the neo-Nazi symbol, the Black Sun.
“It is much less known that the next day, footage was posted online – which can be considered staged, as no one ever confirmed it – but nevertheless, it spread across the internet and was perceived in a certain way by the expert community. It showed the suspects [in the Crocus City attack – Rossa Primavera News Agency], Tajiks, whose ears were cut off, excuse me, and who were subjected to other violent actions by some security forces,” the speaker said. The chevron in the video displayed the Black Sun, which in the modern neo-Nazi circles is the main esoteric symbol and the primary symbol of all far-right groups.
Bersenev stressed that such connections between Russian and Ukrainian far-right groups are “enormous.”
The researcher noted that the ideological vacuum in Russian society is one of the reasons for the infiltration of neo-Nazi ideas and symbols.
A series of documentaries based on the monograph “Ukrainism” continues to air on the Zvezda TV channel, with a radio version broadcast to troops, the co-author of the study shared about his research group.
The forum “National Security and State Interests of Russia” opened in Penza at the Officers’ House on February 6 and will run for two days. This topic has become even more relevant since the start of the special military operation to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine, especially in terms of working with youth, noted Pavel Maslov, the authorized representative of the head of the Penza region.
In December 2024, a court in St. Petersburg arrested a schoolgirl who hung portraits of neo-Nazis Denis Kapustin (included in the list of terrorists and extremists in the Russian Federation) and Aleksey Levkin (included in the list of terrorists and extremists in the Russian Federation) on a school information board. According to the prosecution, she hung the portraits with captions calling them “deserved heroes of Russia.” After her arrest, the schoolgirl confessed to the act.
The presentation of the first two volumes of the second edition of the collective monograph “Ukrainism” took place in Moscow in 2023. A total of six volumes are planned for release. The first edition was published in 2017.
The book was prepared by the research group of the Aleksandrovskaya Commune under the editorship of philosopher, political scientist, and leader of the public movement Essence of Time Sergey Kurginyan.
Source: Rossa Primavera News Agency
