NP: On the Ukraine thread

[Mark Kohut]

Armed Forces of Ukraine - Wikipedia
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armed_Forces_of_Ukraine>

The total Ukrainian military deployment around the world as of 1 August
2009 was 540 servicemen participating in 8 peacekeeping missions. The first
battle of a regular formation of the Ukrainian Armed Forces happened on
April 6, 2004, in Kut, Iraq, when the Ukrainianpeacekeeping contingent was
attacked by militants of the Mahdi Army. The ...

   - Active personnel: 405,000 (2022)
   - Reserve personnel: 250,000 (2022)


As many as 1100 BAD GUYS sez Newsweek or

.OO244 %.....
That sounds like Martin's "not that important' to me....
Thomas,
               Can you not see what you are doing? Really not see?
Mark


On Sun, Feb 13, 2022 at 1:43 PM Thomas Eckhardt via Pynchon-l <
pynchon-l at waste.org> wrote:

> I take your points. I note, however, that your comment is full of those
> "nifty details" that you deem irrelevant when the subject turns to the
> Minsk Agreement and Debaltseve or the Nuland-Pyatt phone call.
>
> I might be forgiven if I continue to see a combat unit that sports a
> Wolfsangel (i.e. Swastika) and a Black Sun (consisting of Swastikas) in
> its banner as neo-Nazis. In Germany, you would be laughed out of the
> room if you claimed that some of the people assembled under those
> symbols are not neo-Nazis.
>
> In fact, you would not be laughed out of the room but thrown out. At
> least I hope so.
>
> But, of course, the Ukraine is not Germany. Different yardsticks apply.
>
> You argue that the Azov Battalion is not really that important. Newsweek
> disagrees and says that the problem runs much deeper:
>
> "A year after the deadly riot that ensued when mostly far-right
> protestors descended on the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to overturn the
> presidential election, white supremacists and other like-minded radicals
> see fertile ground to recruit and train abroad in war-torn Ukraine."
>
> "'Since the 2014 Maidan revolution, the government, military and
> security forces have institutionalized in its ranks former militias and
> volunteer battalions linked to neo-Nazi ideology,' Kuzmenko told
> Newsweek. 'Without screening for extremist ties or views, their
> integration has not led to depoliticization and/or dissolution once
> incorporated within the larger body of the government military and
> security forces.'
>
> He cites as a prominent example the Azov Special Operations Detachment,
> also known as the Azov Battalion or Azov Regiment. It was established by
> the Ukrainian Ministry of the Interior after the conflict broke out in
> 2014, and was later transferred to the National Guard. Kuzmenko calls
> the regiment 'a highly-capable and heavily armed unit reportedly
> numbering 1100 or more fighters that is also the military wing of the
> internationally active Azov movement.'
>
> 'Via Azov's political wing – the National Corps party; described by
> researchers as neo-Nazi,' Kuzmenko added, "the movement has gone
> international on multiple fronts with known contacts in Germany's
> neo-Nazi Third Path (Der Dritte Weg) party, America's Rise Above
> Movement, Italy's Casa Pound, etc.; but also with less-scrutinized
> international contacts via other branches of the movement that draw less
> attention but may carry equally dangerous implications."
>
> Note in particular:
>
> "'Apparently deradicalizing the Ukrainian military and security forces
> of far-right elements is simply not on Washington's wish-list. The same
> applies to other Western governments supporting Ukraine.'"
>
> "Kuzmenko called on the U.S. and Western allies 'to treat neo-Nazis and
> the far-right in Ukraine's military and elsewhere in the same fashion
> they treat them in other Western militaries.'"
>
>
> https://www.newsweek.com/ukraine-war-draws-us-far-right-fight-russia-violence-home-1665027
>
> I have forwarded these quotes before and would still be grateful for
> your comments.
>
> --
> Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>