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The violence on the streets of the Ukraine is far more than popular anger against a government. Instead, it’s merely the latest example of the rise of the most insidious form of fascism in Europe since the fall of the Third Reich. Recent months saw regular protests by the Ukrainian political opposition… protests ostensibly in response to Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich‘s refusal to sign an association agreement with the EU that many saw as the first step towards European integration. The protests remained largely peaceful until 17 January, when protesters armed with clubs, helmets, and improvised bombs unleashed violence on police, storming government buildings, beating anyone they suspected of having pro-central government sympathies, and generally wreaking havoc on the streets of Kiev. However, who are these violent extremists and what’s their ideology?
The political faction is Pravy Sektor (Right Sector), essentially an umbrella organisation for a number of ultra-nationalists (read fascist) rightwing groups, including Svoboda (Freedom), Patriots of the Ukraine, Ukrainian National Assembly-Ukrainian National Self Defence (UNA-UNSO), and Trizub. They share a common ideology; they’re all vehemently anti-Russian, anti-immigrant, and anti-Jewish, amongst other things. In addition, they share a common reverence for the so-called “Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists” of Stepan Bandera, an infamous Nazi collaborator, who actively fought the USSR, who engaged in some of the worst atrocities committed by any side in World War II.
Whilst Ukrainian political forces, opposition and government, continue to negotiate, a very different battle goes on in the streets. Using intimidation and brute force more typical of Hitler’s “Brownshirts” or Mussolini’s “Blackshirts” than a contemporary political movement, these groups managed to turn a conflict over economic policy and political allegiances into an existential struggle for the very survival of the nation that these so-called “nationalists” claim to love so dearly. The images of Kiev burning, Lvov streets filled with thugs, and other chilling examples of the chaos in the country, illustrate beyond a shadow of a doubt that the political negotiation with the Maidan (Kiev’s central square and centre of the protests) opposition is now no longer the central issue. Rather, the issue is Ukrainian fascism… should one support it or reject it?
For its part, the USA strongly came down on the side of the opposition, regardless of its political character. In early December, members of the American Establishment such as John McCain and Victoria Nuland were at the Maidan, lending support to the protesters. However, as the character of the opposition became clear in recent days, the American and Western ruling class (and its media machine) did little to condemn the fascist upsurge. Instead, their representatives met with members of Right Sector, deeming them “no threat”. In other words, the USA and its allies gave tacit approval for the continuation and proliferation of violence in the name of their goal… régime change.
Attempting to pry the Ukraine out of the Russian sphere of influence, the US/EU/NATO alliance allied itself, not for the first time, with fascists. Of course, for decades, fascist paramilitary forces in Latin America armed and supported by the USA murdered thousands and many more “disappeared”. To destabilise the USSR, the USA created and financed the Afghan Mujahideen, who were also extreme ideological reactionaries. Later, they transmogrified into al-Qaeda. Of course, there’s the painful reality of Libya and, most recently, Syria, where the USA and its allies finance and support extremist jihadists against a government that refused to align with American and Israeli interests. There’s a disturbing pattern here not lost on keen political observers… the USA always makes common cause with rightwing extremists and fascists for geopolitical gain. The situation in the Ukraine is deeply troubling because it represents a political conflagration that could very easily tear the country apart less than 25 years after it gained independence from the USSR. However, there’s another equally disturbing aspect to the rise of fascism in that country… it isn’t alone.
The Fascist Menace Across the Continent
One can’t view, let alone understand, the Ukraine and the rise of rightwing extremism there in isolation. Rather, one must look at it as part of a growing trend throughout Europe (and, indeed, the world)… a trend that threatens the very foundations of democracy. In Greece, savage austerity imposed by the troika (European Commission, European Central Bank, and the International Monetary Fund) crippled the economy, leading to a depression as bad, if not worse, than the Great Depression in the USA. Against this backdrop of economic collapse, Golden Dawn became the third-most-popular political party in the country. Espousing an ideology of hate, Golden Dawn… in effect, a neo-Nazi party promoting anti-Jewish, anti-immigrant, and anti-women chauvinism… is a political force the government in Athens labelled a serious threat to the very fabric of society. This threat led the government to arrest the party’s leadership after a Golden Dawn Nazi fatally stabbed an anti-fascist rapper. Athens launched an investigation into the party, although the results of this investigation and trial remain somewhat unclear.
What makes Golden Dawn such an insidious threat is that, despite their fundamental Nazi ideology, their anti-EU anti-austerity rhetoric appeals to many in economically devastated Greece. As with many fascist movements in the 20th Century, Golden Dawn scapegoats immigrants, Muslim and African primarily, for many of the problems facing Greeks. In dire economic circumstances, such irrational hate becomes appealing; it’s an answer to society’s problems. Indeed, despite Golden Dawn’s leaders being in prison, other party members are still in parliament, still running for major offices including Mayor of Athens. Although an electoral victory is unlikely, another strong showing at the polls would make eradicating fascism in Greece that much harder.
Were this phenomenon confined to Greece and the Ukraine, it wouldn’t constitute a continental trend. Sadly, however, we see the rise of similar, albeit slightly less overtly fascist, political parties all over Europe. In Spain, the ruling pro-austerity People’s Party proposed draconian laws restricting protest and free speech, empowering and sanctioning repressive police tactics. In France, the National Front of Marine Le Pen, which vehemently scapegoats Muslim and African immigrants, won nearly 20 percent of the vote in the first round of presidential elections. Similarly, the Party for Freedom in the Netherlands… a promoter of anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant policies… grew to be the third-largest in parliament. Throughout Scandinavia, once-completely irrelevant and obscure ultranationalist parties are now significant players in elections. To say the least, these trends are worrying.
Besides this, one should note too that, beyond Europe, the USA supports a number of quasi-fascist political factions. In their seemingly endless quest to suppress leftists in Latin America, Washington tacitly and/or overtly supported rightwing coups that overthrew the governments of Paraguay and Honduras. Of course, one should also remember that Aleksei Navalny and his nationalist followers, who espouse a virulently anti-Muslim racist ideology viewing immigrants from the Russian Caucasus and former Soviet republics as beneath “European Russians”, spearheaded the protest movement in Russia. These and other examples paint a very ugly portrait of an American foreign policy that attempts to use economic hardship and political upheaval to extend American hegemony around the world.
In the Ukraine, the “Right Sector” took the fight from the negotiating table to the streets, attempting to fulfil the dream of Stepan Bandera… a Ukraine free of Russians, Jews, and all other “undesirables”, as they see it. Buoyed by continued support from the USA and the EU, these fanatics represent a more serious threat to democracy than Yanukovich and the pro-Russian government ever could. If the EU and the USA don’t recognise this threat in its infancy, by the time they finally do, it might just be too late.
29 January 2014
Eric Draitser
Counterpunch
http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/01/29/ukraine-and-the-rebirth-of-fascism/
Voices from Russia 
Genprokuratura Claims Right Sector Terrorist Muzichko Accidentally Shot Himself… Let’s Look for the Crack Pipe… What a Buncha Maroons
Tags: Grozny, North Caucasian Federal District, political commentary, politics, Rada, Russia, Russian, Sashko Bily, Ukraine, Ukrainian National Assembly – Ukrainian National Self Defence, UNA-UNSO
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Deputy General Procurator Aleksei Baganets claimed before a Rada investigative commission probing the death of Right Sector terrorist leader Aleksandr Muzichko (AKA Sashko Bily, “White Al” in peasant dialect) that Muzichko accidentally shot himself whilst resisting police arrest. During the evening of 25 March, Muzichko’s body was found near the village of Barmaki (not far from Rovno) with gunshot wounds near the heart . On the same day, the MVDU stated that Sokol MVDU spetsnaz fatally wounded Muzichko during an attempt to arrest him in Rovno Oblast. After an internal investigation, on 2 April, the MVDU concluded that the actions of its personnel during Muzichko’s attempted arrest were lawful.
Demands of the Right Sector
The Right Sector claims that MVDU spetsnaz “intentionally shot” Muzichko; they believe that junta “Interior Minister” Arseny Avakov is guilty of ordering his death. The Right Sector demanded Avakov’s immediate resignation and the arrest of everyone involved in Muzichko’s death. Right Sector chieftain Dmitri Yarosh threatened to take vengeance for Muzichko’s death. On 28 March, more than 500 people gathered in front of the Rada building demanding Avakov’s dismissal. Most of the mob was from the Right Sector. The junta called the rally a provocation.
Russian Accusations against Muzichko
Investigators from the SK RF in the North Caucasian Federal District opened a criminal case against Muzichko under Article 209 Part 1 of the UKRF for forming and heading a gang to attack Russian citizens. Muzichko and others from the “Ukrainian National Assembly-Ukrainian National Self-Defence” (UNA-UNSO) took part in battles against Russian troops during the storm of Grozny and brutally tortured captives, killing them afterwards. He was responsible for murdering no less than 20 Russian soldiers. A former UNA-UNSO member testified that in 1994-95, Muzichko and other UNA-UNSO members participated in battles with RF forces during the storm of Grozny. In January 1995, the witness repeatedly witnessed Muzichko brutally torturing captive servicemen and then killing them. During these sessions, Muzichko broke fingers, put out eyes, pulled out nails and teeth with pliers, cut throats, and shot others dead.
Editor:
The junta comes out with another baldfaced lie. As for me, I believe that it’s impossible to pin down who rubbed out Muzichko. Too many parties wanted him dead. It’s so murky that we’ll never know the truth of the matter. However, I’ll be willing to say this… Muzichko didn’t off himself, no way, no how. Hell, even Langley and Tyagnibok wanted his ass “swimming with the fishies”. Of all the possible perps, the junta’s the least probable one. Having said that, the list of probable hit men is so long that it isn’t only pointless to name them, it’s pointless to even speculate on who did it. He’s dead… that’s a fact. That’s the ONLY thing that you can put in the bank from all of this.
BMD
22 April 2014
ITAR-TASS
http://en.itar-tass.com/world/729068