...Sorry I can’t support nazis...
That's easy to say. But consider this...
Your government has become corrupt financially and oppressive to its people, and then, your president ignores the will of the people and the vote of its parliament and decides all on his own to align with Russia instead of the EU (search Euromaidan and the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement). You, mere citizens, not in control of the military or the police, decide to protest and ultimately revolt and throw that president out of office. Just as you likely would in Australia, you would welcome the assistance of your fringe neo-nazi movement, because they have weapons and the desire to fight (see Azov Batallion, a group of around a thousand militants in a population of 40 million at the time). As they say, the enemy of my enemy is my friend...
With the help of this small group, you are successful in overthrowing your government and ousting the corrupt president. Russia invades in the East, so you send that same group (Azov Battalion) to fight in the east. And yes, there are all kinds of reported human rights violations due to this group as they slog it out with the Russian invaders, but again, a blind eye is given, they are doing your dirty work (war itself is a human rights violation). And yes, the west supported these neo-nazis as well, as they were willing to fight. But what would you do if Russia invaded a portion of your country, took Crimea and your offshore oil and gas?
So now, two democratically elected presidents later, the majority of the people still want to align with the EU, and are still trying to weed out the corruption that had become so common place. You are, however, somewhat between a rock and hard place with regard to your neo-nazis. You want to once again minimize their influence and make them the fringe element they once were, but hey, they fought for you, they feel they deserve more.
So yes, there is a neo-nazi presence in Ukraine (as well as in many other countries, including the USA and Australia). Today, they estimate that somewhere around 10-20% of the Ukraine military espouse to be neo-nazi, although that designation is more often associated with white nationalist extremists (this is an issue with the large military organizations of many countries).
The number of people in the military in Ukraine makes up less than 1% of their population, and 10-20% of that 1% espouse to be neo-nazi. There are also neo-nazis that are not in the military, but all in all, they represent a very small portion of the population, and their views are not the views of the majority of that population. To say you can't support Ukraine because you don't support nazis is a bit simplistic and condemns an entire country because of a fringe element that had become a necessary evil at one time.
Supporting the majority of the people of Ukraine in their fight for independence and the elimination of corruption within their government, does not have to mean you support nazis...
PW
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