From: The Hill — By Serhii Kuzan, Opinion Contributor
On May 9, Russia celebrated the victory over Nazism in World War II. The message of the victory over Nazism is one of Russia’s fundamental state-building messages. In Russian ideology, the “Russian nation” is seen as almost the sole victor over the Third Reich, while the term Nazism is demonized to the maximum extent possible.
This established propaganda image allows the Kremlin to convince 77 percent of Russians to support its aggressive war on Ukraine, the purpose of which is supposedly “ denazification ” of Ukraine.
While the Kremlin invents stories about fighting “Ukrainian Nazism” , denazification is indeed taking place in Ukraine. Ukraine’s defense forces continue to eliminate the many Russian neo-Nazis who fight in the Russian army and often boast of their war crimes.
Russian Nazis were among the first to take part in aggression against Ukraine in 2014. With the start of the full-scale invasion, these units officially came under the command of the Russian Ministry of Defense.
Voice of Ukraine 