DISINFO: Western Ukraine is home of Ukrainian Nazism
SUMMARY
It was not in vain that the Americans first moved their embassy to the city of Lviv. Western Ukraine is the home of Ukrainian Nazism, it is a state within a state, with a different mentality and history.
RESPONSE
A recurrent pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about Nazi Ukraine, presented as justification of Russian military aggression against Ukraine, which started on 24 February 2022.
The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on 14 February that the decision to move the embassy's operations from the capital Kyiv to the western city of Lviv - roughly 50 miles (80 km) from Ukraine's western border with Poland - “was taken out of concern for the safety of the staff” and “due to the dramatic acceleration in the buildup of Russian forces”.
The myth of Nazi-ruled Ukraine became a cornerstone in pro-Kremlin disinformation since the very beginning of the 2013-14 Euromaidan protests, when it was used to discredit the pro-European popular uprising in Kyiv and, subsequently, the broader pro-Western shift in Ukraine's foreign policy.
In 2015, Ukraine issued a ban on Nazi and Communist ideologies. On top of that, far-right groups had a very limited presence during the protests and have suffered defeats in every national election after that.
Learn more about the reasons behind the Kremlin's obsession with framing Ukraine as a Nazi state in the EUvsDisinfo analysis titled "Why does Putin portray himself as the tamer of neo-Nazism".
This article contains another claim that Russia has not changed authorities in Ukraine.
Read similar cases alleging a NATO-Labelled Laptop used by the Neo-Nazis proves that Ukraine was about to invade Donbas and Crimea; or that Ukraine was is ruled by the Nazis, or that Ukrainian authorities introduced Nazi laws to oppress Russian speakers, and that Ukraine is a Neo-Nazi state.
See our guide to deciphering pro-Kremlin disinformation around Putin's war.
See our account of the Kremlin's intention of annihilation of Ukraine here.