It’s not that there’s been a shortage of Nazi insignia in Ukraine since the 2014 coup, but after all those swastika tattoos on Azov Brigade soldiers were revealed in 2022, it has been customary to look the other way. However, over the last week, in two major instances, advocates of Nazi insignia have said out loud what for the twelve years was thought best to keep to oneself.
Last week, in an interview with attack dog ‘influencer’ Laura Loomer, Ukrainian neo-Nazi Andriy Biletsky openly defended the swastika image that he used for founding his Azov Brigade by explaining that, just because Hitler used the swastika, that doesn’t make it a bad thing.
A few days later, the ‘ultranationalist’ Dmitry Korchinsky posted that Ukrainians should be inspired by the “beautiful Art Deco designs” of Nazi Germany. This should take precedence over any “painful associations some people” might have over such images. He stated: “We should borrow the achievements of not only good people, but also bad ones.” Korchinsky then offered an example, posting an image where Ukraine’s trident symbol was merged into the Nazi eagle.
Korchinsky has a long history of such provocative behavior, but of particular note is role in deploying 300 members of his Bratstvo (Brotherhood) operation into the early, non-violent days of Kiev’s 2013 Euromaiden protests and turning the whole affair into violent confrontations—no later than the first week or two. The Bratstvo was famous for attacking the presidential administrative building.
Even more curious than the actions of Biletsky and Korchinsky in launching their ‘let’s get friendly with the swastika’ campaign are the strange actions of two Jews, Loomer and a rabbi from the non-traditional Chabad-Lubavitch grouping, Moshe Azman. In June, when Ukraine’s Israeli Embassy had denounced the Brotherhood because they had “chanted Nazi slogans and performed Nazi salutes” in a Kiev demonstration, Azman defended them. He made a video with Korchinsky, expressed his support, and declared Israel’s criticism stemmed from a “misunderstanding.”
Azman, an Israeli citizen, served as the military rabbi in Israel’s 5th Special Forces battalion and moved to Kiev in 2005, where he is one of the two claimants to the title of Rabbi of Ukraine. Over the years, he has met repeatedly with Netanyahu, and, in 2023, he made a special trip to visit Boris Johnson in London, where he pushed for tighter UK-Ukraine ties. It was the same Azman who bonded with Loomer last week, sharing a kosher meal at his Chabad synagogue, as she planned to spend a day with Biletsky, including the bizarre interview.
