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Russia’s Goal in Ukraine Isn’t Military Victory – But a Horrific Extermination

Russian military 305th Artillery Brigade's exercise. 2S5 self-propelled cannon.
Russian military 305th Artillery Brigade's exercise. 2S5 self-propelled cannon.

In an opinion piece titled “What Should Russia Do With Ukraine?”, Russian intellectual Timofey Sergeytsev suggested that the country should be “cleansed of Nazi elements.” The essay was published by the RIA Novosti state-run news agency in the wake of horrifying reports of torture, mass murder, and brutality in the suburbs of Kyiv.

Sergeytsev, a political scientist who previously worked for pro-Russia former President of Ukraine who was ousted in 2014, argued that so-called “Ukronazism” is a bigger threat to the world than Nazi Germany. His comments echoed propaganda shared by the Kremlin and Russian President Vladimir Putin alluding to the allegedly overwhelming Nazi influence on the Ukrainian government and society.

Rather than addressing the fact that Ukraine has a truly small population of neo-Nazis and white supremacists – smaller than Russia’s population of neo-Nazis and white supremacists – Sergeytsev argued that even regular Ukrainian citizens uninvolved in politics are still “passive Nazis” and “accomplices of Nazism,” and claimed that they are “also guilty.

The pro-Kremlin political scientist even argued that the majority of Ukrainian citizens should be subject to the hardships of war and that their experiences should serve as a “historical lesson and atonement for their guilt.”

His words mean that, rather than cleansing Ukraine of alleged Nazi influence, the Russian Federation has decided that Ukraine should be annihilated, and its people wiped out in the name of “cleansing” the territory of Nazism.

Putin’s Narrative Is Causing Damage

This narrative is already being rewarded, as shocking as that is, with soldiers reportedly committing atrocities in Ukraine in the name of defeating Nazism, and far-right pro-Russian soldiers even being rewarded for their service.

Video footage shared by Storyful shows a pro-Russian fighter of Somalian background, Lieutenant Roman Vorobyov, being awarded the St. George’s Cross II award by Denis Pushilin, the Putin-backed head of the Donetsk People’s Republic. Lieutenant Vorobyov was rewarded for fighting “Nazis” in Ukraine but appeared to be wearing far-right insignia on his own uniform.

Patches on Vorobyov’s arm appeared to show a skull and crossbones emblem known as a “Totenkopf,” which was used by Nazi Germany, as well as the “Odin’s Knot.” The knot emblem is commonly used by neo-Nazis in the West but comes from Norse mythology.

While Russian President Vladimir Putin’s claims of “denazifying” Ukraine were likely used as somehow a way of strange and sick way of appealing to Western liberal sensibilities as he searched for a pretext to invade Ukraine, the effects have been tragic, with Russian soldiers committing atrocities in the name of defeating perceived evil.

Reports Say Russians “Branded” Russian Women with Swastikas

Ukrainian Member of Parliament Lesia Vasylenko claimed over the weekend that Russian soldiers were mutilating the bodies of innocent Ukrainians, and burning swastikas into the skin of girls and women raped by the same soldiers.

Sharing a series of tweets that included photographs of these atrocities, Vasylenko said that children had been left with wounds from serious sexual assaults and described swastika-shaped burns on other victims.

“Russian soldiers loot, rape and kill,” she wrote. “10 y.o. girls with vaginal and rectal tears. Women with swastika-shaped burns. Russia. Russian men did this. And Russian mothers raised them. A nation of immoral criminals.”

Jack Buckby is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalization, and reports on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society.

Written By

Jack Buckby is 19FortyFive's Breaking News Editor. He is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalization, and reports on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society.

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