There are Nazis in Ukraine, see the Azov Battalion for example. There have been several instances where western media has picked up pictures of Ukranian fighters and readers have pointed out Nazi symbols on their uniforms.
That said, I don't think even the Russians thought this war was about "De-nazification" despite that being the official line. Their focus has been on taking over the Donbas region and securing utilities for Crimea (another stated purpose of the war).
Also, it's worth pointing out that we in the west think of Nazis as primarily being anti-semitic, but Russians think of them as primarily anti-Russian, so claiming to be fighting Nazis is a good line to get popular support in Russia.
While the Azov Batallion is definitely a concerning and real thing, it's worth noting that Ukraine's president is Jewish. It's a particularly twisted sort of irony to talk of "de-nazifying" a country while also trying to assassinate its Jewish president.
Yeah, they call themselves the Azov Battalion. They're open about it. Whether or not that's an actual concern of Russia is debeatable but the nazi presence in Ukraine has been largely suppressed by our media so as to not taint the narrative of good vs. evil. As you can imagine it's a very inconvenient truth.
And there aren’t any White Supremacist or Nazi groups in Russia that have influence? Or the US? Or Poland, France? Should they all get invaded? It’s a smokescreen, dude.
The Azov Battalion is an officially sanctioned ukranian military unit that has been directly involved in fighting pro-russian forces and potentially been involved in war crimes documented by the UN.
They absolutely don't justify the invasion of Ukraine and are a smokescreen, but that doesn't mean that they aren't problematic. There is a reason the US blocked military aid to them in 2018.
Like many things, the reaction can both be understandable and completely wrong. Russia has many reasons to invade, but that doesn't make it moral or right.
Meanwhile, there were stories about the Ukrainian rampant Neo-Nazi problem right up until the past few months when everyone is now suddenly supposed to be okay with the idea.
Remember, the Ukrainian Nazis had their own SS divisions (around 90k troops) and butchered countless Jews, Poles, Russians, etc. The US snuck out the Nazi leadership ahead of Russia's takeover because the US had made a deal with the devil in an attempt to counter the USSR under Stalin.
While the Nazis were punished and reviled in every other country you can name, they were never purged or hated the same way in Ukraine where they wrapped themselves up in Nationalistic "freedom fighter" rhetoric. If they ever gain power, they'll be just like ISIS or Nazis of old going around butchering dissenters and undesirables of all kinds.
The enemy of my enemy isn't necessarily my friend.
I didn't suggest otherwise or express any interest in the justification for invasion. Merely noted that it's real and that out of convenience is ignored to drive a narrative. The same media will ignore nazis in Ukraine while simultaneously declaring that white nationalism is the greatest threat to democracy in America.
Propaganda is used heavily by all sides and the only thing you can do is recognize that and hopefully see through it.
... so I'm missing something here, what's wrong with the name "Azov battalion"? I assumed that was just in reference to the Sea of Azov, is there something more insidious there I did not know about?
That said, I don't think even the Russians thought this war was about "De-nazification" despite that being the official line. Their focus has been on taking over the Donbas region and securing utilities for Crimea (another stated purpose of the war).
Also, it's worth pointing out that we in the west think of Nazis as primarily being anti-semitic, but Russians think of them as primarily anti-Russian, so claiming to be fighting Nazis is a good line to get popular support in Russia.