The Revival of Ukrainian Radicalism
As an incurable pacifist, my assessment and comment on the Russian military operation following the announcement of Russia’ president Vladimir Putin on the recognition of the independence of the so-called People’s Republic of Luhansk and People’s republic of Donetsk can be nothing else than deep negative criticism. I am terrified as Russian army-corps (the so-called ’peacekeepers’) cross the borders of my motherland. As it turned out, it was only the beginning of a full-scale invasion, launched with the aim of ’demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine’. I do not want to justify the Russian Federation. People seeking shelter at metro stations during air-raids… Offensive actions throughout Ukraine and rocketing civilian infrastructure… Nothing and no one can explain it. It is unforgivable. At the same time, in addition to the Russian military aggression, or more precisely, in parallel with it, I am more and more concerned about the possibility that the situation in Ukraine will anyway develop towards the revival of political extremism.
Absolutely not sharing Putin’s idea of ’denazification’ of Ukraine, I consider that, as a general rule, extremist views are characteristic of Ukraine as well as radical behaviour and decisions are not alien from the political elite. In a word, both those who aspire to power and the ruling political actors are ready to subject everything to the short-range political goals of opportunism including not only political good sense but even human credit. Though just thinking about them gives me the creeps, the organization which wanted to act in the name of the regular army called UPA and Stepan Bandera should be mentioned in this context as infamous actors of the 40s of the 20th century.
Although more than eighty years have passed, the same bad feelings are sneaking slowly along in my heart and mind today, amid the Russian aggression when I think about the National Corps and its so-called Defence HQs. Observing the development of the situation, I sadly noted that the radical tendencies in the country have been showing an upward even by mere spreading of information on possible invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
Up to the beginning of the escalation of the crisis between Russia and Ukraine, the popularity of the biggest nationalist political group called National Corps of Andrey Biletsky was stable moderate and, at certain regions, even insignificant. This right-wing group has attracted some tens of thousands of people across the country. It was just one of the numerous organizations of the extreme right such as the Right Sector and others. The radicalism genie still was kept in the bottle at that time, although sometimes it was deliberately let out for political reasons, such as organizing demonstrations against Petro Poroshenko and ethnic minorities.
On the threshold of a possible Russian attack on Ukraine, the situation has changed. The fact that the Kyiv leadership ignored both the threat of war and the necessity of preparation of the people for self-defence led to a rapid increase in the popularity of nationalist organizations including paramilitary ones. Thus, in parallel with the appearance of mass demand for self-defence, the national radicalism genie was let out of the bottle by Ukrainian authorities motivated by mere political goals.
After some time, the so-called Defence HQs organized by Biletsky’s movement began to attract more and more people to the so-called ’vyshkoli’ meaning kind of military schools. In addition to organizing training exercises for civilians, these defence circles started to establish de facto voluntary territorial defence forces. And, it should be noted that in Ukraine all it happens in accordance with the Law of Ukraine on The basis of the National Resistance’. With their campaign ’Do not panic! Get ready!’ they attracted a lot of people, and the sympathy of voters for them has increased significantly. Unfortunately, this trend is accompanied by the fact that in the spirit of the mentioned radicalism comments are spreading including such key messages of propaganda like ’UPA to revoke!’, ’Glory to Bandera!’, ’Nationalism is Ukraine’s future’ and ’Even the Poles can now take their Lemberg!’.
However, compared to such comments I consider it much more dangerous that these nationalists seem to have really won the hearts of Ukrainians. In a situation when it would be essential to concentrate on how to avoid violence, which, by the way, would be beneficial to proclaim as an ’all-Ukrainian’ interest, the authorities allowed the National Corps and Defence HQs to return to the worst traditions of Ukrainian ’self-defence and also to militant rhetoric. Territorial defence forces were announced to join the Ukrainian Armed Forces. They put machine guns into civilian hands to protect their homes. For me, it is as unforgivable as Russian aggression.
The current situation also threatens that the radicals who remained the only political force interested in the survival of Zelenskiy would be allowed to the ’Premier League’ of Ukrainian politics or they themselves would gain enough support to enter there. In case Ukraine succeeds in stopping the Russian invasion with the help of Western weapons and sanction, completely new political circumstances may take shape.
In case radicalism turns into an everyday phenomenon out on the streets it may be followed by extremist views and actions of the ruling political circles given that it is widely known that there is no way out of the street of radicalism — it is a one-way street. This is very well known to our politicians, as well as the fact that in the absence of results and also in order to quickly achieve success, all the energy and frustration of the national radicals soon can be directed against ethnic minorities.
That is the reason why I am deeply concerned about the national minorities of Ukraine, including, first of all, Russian speakers in the Southeast and all around Ukraine, as well as representatives of other minorities both in Kyiv and Western Ukraine. In the chaotic situation which is evolving now in Ukraine in our very eyes, I am really afraid that these communities will face a double danger.
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