In the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the Russians put forth a couple of reasons to justify the military operation, and one of these reasons was the "de-nazification" of Ukraine. At that point in time, it sounded like a really weird idea coming from Putin's mouth.
However, over the last two years of conflict, some cracks in the wall started to appear, and by the looks of them, the claim is not completely baseless. One of the hot topics was the so-called Azov Brigade, which in 2014 (so before the conflict - bias removed) was described as:
Azov fighters are Ukraine's greatest weapon and may be its greatest threat.
Azov Brigade is a battalion formed by far-right volunteers, like for example this Dmitry (not his real name)
Dmitry claimed not to be a Nazi, but waxed lyrical about Adolf Hitler as a military leader, and believes the Holocaust never happened.
The Azov causes particular concern due to the far right, even neo-Nazi, leanings of many of its members....Many of its members have links with neo-Nazi groups, and even those who laughed off the idea that they are neo-Nazis did not give the most convincing denials.
A lot more interesting information about this group here.
However, this article is not about them. It's about Denis Kapustin.
Who is Denis Kapustin, you might ask?
Let's quote directly from an article on politico.eu.
German authorities say Kapustin — sometimes known as Denis Nikitin — is “one of the most influential neo-Nazi activists” on the European continent and his role in the war is a double-edged sword for Kyiv.
We’re the bad guys but fighting really evil guys (D.Kapustin)
He runs a far-right apparel line of T-shirts and caps emblazoned with white nationalist and xenophobic imagery as well as the Nazi symbol 88 — the eighth letter of the alphabet twice being a not-so-subtle code for “Heil Hitler.”
When we are on the territory of Ukraine — we are servicemen of the Ukrainian army... When we go to the territory of Russia — we are no longer Ukrainian servicemen, we are Russian citizens who have taken up arms.
Short biography of Kapustin, coming from the same source:
The 40-year-old Kapustin was born in Moscow. He moved with his parents at the age of 17 to Cologne, Germany.
He quickly established a fearsome reputation as a street-brawling white-power skinhead always up for a punch-up with everyone.
He’s long been prominent on the European football hooliganism and far-right martial arts fight club scene.
After he moved to Kyiv, Germany cancelled his residency in 2019 and imposed a Schengen-entry ban.
He has links with American neo-Nazi groups.
Throughout my life, I [D.Kapustin] always wanted to be the Hollywood-style bad guy. Darth Vader is my ultimate inspiration.
How Denis Kapustin defines himself?
“Definitely conservative, definitely traditionalist, definitely right wing-ish,”
"I consider myself a big part of the right-wing movement" [he also tries to explain what right-wing means, but actually he only states what is not... ]
... a Russian nationalist, hence fighting for Ukraine because Russian nationalists should be against Putin.
Quotes of wisdom
For Kapustin, Putin’s regime is not nationalistic enough. He complains: “You can have a French National Football Association in Russia … But you can never have a truly Russian one. Whenever you say, I want to start a Russian national club for something you get told, ‘Your grandfather was fighting against Nazis and now you are a neo-Nazi!'”
One of your colleagues tried to corner me recently and asked if we would take a Black, or homosexual or transgender who wanted to join the corps. And I said: ‘No, because he wouldn’t feel comfortable around us, and we would not feel comfortable around him.’”
The article is absolutely mind-blowing. I encourage you to read it in its full form.
