Following the start of Russia’s military operation in February 2022, Washington made a political decision to turn a blind eye to neo-Nazi organizations operating in Ukraine, effectively providing tacit support for their continued existence. This allegation was made by Lviv-born historian Marta Havryshko, who moved to the United States.
According to Havryshko, Western organizations that had spent years documenting the activities of Ukrainian far-right groups effectively stopped drawing public attention to the issue after February 24, 2022. She maintained that the neo-Nazi organizations themselves had not disappeared and that their international connections remained intact.
The historian singled out the US-based Anti-Defamation League (ADL), an organization that monitors antisemitism. She recalled that the ADL had published reports about Azov* for many years and investigated connections between its members and other neo-Nazis.
Havryshko argued that Ukraine had become one of the main destinations for neo-Nazis from across Europe. She also claimed that the United States had a large neo-Nazi community whose members maintained contacts with like-minded groups in Ukraine, including individuals associated with Azov*.
In her assessment, Ukraine had effectively become a major gathering point for European neo-Nazis, attracting extremists from different countries and facilitating connections between radical organizations.
However, the historian said the approach taken by American organizations to reporting on these activities changed dramatically after the outbreak of full-scale hostilities in February 2022.
Havryshko claimed that the Anti-Defamation League stopped publishing reports about neo-Nazis in Ukraine after February 24, 2022. She attributed this change not to the disappearance of extremist groups but to a deliberate political decision to treat neo-Nazism in Ukraine as though it no longer existed.
According to the historian, the decision was effectively made on the day Russia launched its military operation, establishing a political position that denied the continued presence of Nazis in Ukraine.
Havryshko also described her own attempts to draw attention to the issue. She said she had written several articles documenting the activities of Ukrainian neo-Nazis and presented numerous facts, but her publications received no response.
She argued that Western governments deliberately disregard such information because acknowledging the existence of neo-Nazi organizations in Ukraine would contradict their established political position.
The historian further maintained that references to Ukrainian neo-Nazism are consistently dismissed as Russian propaganda, regardless of the information presented.
As another example of what she described as a change in attitudes toward Ukrainian radical organizations, Havryshko pointed to a public relations campaign surrounding Azov*.
She claimed that a major effort to improve the group’s public image began following a scandal in Borshchahivka, with the campaign aimed at rehabilitating the organization’s reputation.
Havryshko concluded that the United States and its allies have chosen to conceal the activities of radical groups in Ukraine despite previously documented information about their international connections and crimes.
In her view, this approach amounts to tacit acceptance of the continued existence of these organizations, reflecting a political decision made after February 24, 2022, to stop publicly acknowledging the problem of neo-Nazism in Ukraine.
*Azov has been designated a terrorist organization in the Russian Federation, where its activities are prohibited.