Why Putin calls Ukrainians 'neo-Nazis in a created country'
"Ukraine must be denazified to end the genocide in eastern Ukraine." Russian President Putin uses very strong words to justify the invasion of Ukraine. What exactly does he mean by the allegations? And what are they based on?
We present five of Putin's claims to historian Marc Jansen, author of
Borderland, a history of Ukraine . Putin's quotes come from two recent speeches and an article he wrote. You can read those texts at the bottom of this article.
1. "The Ukrainian government is russophobic"
Ukraine has tried in recent years to strengthen Ukrainian unity and limit influences from Moscow, including through a new language law. "Education should be given in Ukrainian and newspapers should be published in Ukrainian." Such measures may be at the expense of Russian, but do not mean the 'elimination' of Russian, says Jansen.
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2. "Neonazis rule Ukraine"
For the Nazi indictment, we have to go back to the Ukrainian nationalist Stepan Bandera, who sided with Nazi Germany in World War II and whose movement contributed to the mass murder of Jews and Poles. "He did this in the hopes of proclaiming an independent Ukrainian state, which, incidentally, failed." In Western Ukraine in particular, Bandera enjoys cult status as a 'resistance fighter', much to Moscow's horror.
"There are far-right, anti-Semitist parties in Ukraine, but they play no significant role in national government." However, they were prominent in the Maydan revolution of 2014 and there are neo-Nazi militias that have been active in the fighting in eastern Ukraine, such as the Azov battalion, which is part of the Ukrainian armed forces.
That in no way makes Zelensky's government 'neo-Nazis', Jansen emphasizes. On the contrary: President Zelensky has a Jewish background, relatives were murdered during the Holocaust.
In Ukraine, an estimated seven million people were killed during WWII, the highest death rate of the total population after Belarus and Poland.
3. "Ukraine commits genocide against 4 million Russians"
Unfounded propaganda, according to Jansen. Eastern Ukraine has been at war for eight years between the Ukrainian army and pro-Russian separatists, with many displaced. "But that's different from genocide." Putin does not substantiate the genocide charge with concrete examples.
Putin also says that Ukraine wants to "destroy" Russian Orthodox churches under the Moscow Patriarchate. Although Kiev has had its own patriarch since 2018,
who is separate from Moscow , there are no signs that Ukraine is opposing the Russian Orthodox Church, according to Jansen.
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4. "Modern Ukraine was invented by Russia"
In Putin's over an hour speech
last week , he said it after just one minute: Lenin created Ukraine. That is correct in a sense, says Jansen, because it was Lenin who gave Ukraine sovereignty. "He was afraid that the Soviet Union would become too Russian when he had just dealt with the tsarist Russian Empire." Later, the present territory of Ukraine took shape, when Stalin added parts of Poland (Lviv and environs) to the Soviet Republic and was 'handed over' Crimea by Khrushchev. That does not mean that Ukraine only came into existence then. Historians go back to the late Middle Ages.
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Russian invention or not: Ukraine is now a united, autonomous nation, according to Jansen. "It is precisely because of the war in eastern Ukraine, which has been raging since 2014, that Ukraine has become a largely united country. Putin has done more for Ukrainian nation building than anyone else."
5. "Ukraine Is Working To Develop Nuclear Weapons"
"This too is a figment of the Russian propaganda", says the historian resolutely. Ukraine had nuclear weapons at its disposal after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, but these were given to Russia, partly under pressure from the West, in exchange for recognition of the Ukrainian borders. "This 1994 agreement turned out to be worthless 20 years later, when Russia annexed Crimea."
Zelensky
likes to recall this broken promise , but there are no signs that the country is actively developing nuclear weapons at the moment. "Maybe they want it, but you don't have just any nuclear weapon."
Truth or not: the above claims are believed by a significant part of the Russian population, says Jansen. "That is the power of propaganda: Russians have been hearing on state television for eight years that there are Nazis in power in Kiev, and they must be stopped."
Waarom Poetin Oekraïners 'neonazi's in een gecreëerd land' noemt
️50 Russian diplomats including their family members return to Moscow from New York City, CNN reports citing RIA news agency. 
