Statement by Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia at a UNSC Arria-Formula meeting on Understanding and Resolving the Ideological Roots of the Ukrainian Crisis
Main statement
Dear colleagues,
Understanding the fundamental causes of any conflict is not just a scholarly exercise, it is the bedrock of any lasting peace. In light of the ongoing efforts to resolve the Ukrainian crisis, including the renewal of direct Russia-Ukraine talks, we must move past simplistic interpretations of the initial triggers of the conflict and confront the historical, political, and ideological currents that continue to fuel tension and hinder reconciliation. Today’s meeting builds upon the discussion during the Arria-formula meeting held in July 2022, titled “Neo-Nazism and radical nationalism: exploring root causes of the crisis in Ukraine”. It allowed to start a dialogue about the troubling resurgence of extremist ideologies in Ukraine and their role in igniting the conflict. Today we seek to deepen that conversation. You can find the link to the video record of that Arria-formula meeting via QR code that you see on the screen and have in front of you on your tables.
This session provides an opportunity to further examine, through evidence-based historical analysis, the roots and evolution of radical nationalism in Ukraine and its impact on the current conflict. By connecting historical events to present-day realities, we aim to create a more nuanced picture that moves us closer to understanding and, eventually, to sustainable long-term peace.
In February 2014 extreme nationalists and neo-Nazis became the main driving force behind the bloody coup d’état in Kiev, which resulted in an upsurge in nationalistic movements. In the next 8 years extremism turned from a marginal phenomenon into a political mainstream which pursues anti-Russian policy. More specifically, during that time discriminatory and genocidal policy against the Russian, Russian-speaking and canonical Orthodox population and the people of Donbass in general started.
Their human rights were systematically and gravely violated, in particular the right to use their mother tongue – Russian language. Russian culture became suppressed, dissent was persecuted, Nazism and their collaborators were glorified, and there was basically a campaign against everything Russian. It all culminated in the use of violence and then open war. People of Donbass, Ukrainian citizens at that time, were labeled terrorists.
The Nazification of modern Ukraine has a historical background. The current political regime in Kiev has never hidden its ideological continuity with the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) created in 1929 and its militant wing, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), formed in 1942.
This OUN-UPA was responsible for multiple military crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide during World War II, including Jewish pogroms, mass-murders of civilians. One of their most famous atrocities was the Volhynian Massacre, which resulted in the death of at least 60 thousand Poles. In 2016, the Polish Parliament adopted a resolution declaring 11 July a National Day of Remembrance of Victims of massacre committed by UPA and recognizing those events as genocide.
Not only were OUN-UPA troops widely used by the Nazi Germany, but also a number of paramilitary units subordinated to the Third Reich were created: the extermination battalions Nachtigal, Roland, the 201st Schutzmannschaft Battalion, the 14th SS Volunteer Infantry Division as well as the Ukrainian auxiliary police. At the same time, a number of Ukrainians were recruited in German SS divisions “Leibstandart”, “Reich”, “Totenkopf”, and “Viking”, as well as in the 1st SS Motorized Brigade.
After the disappearance of the USSR and the formation of independent Ukraine, radical Ukrainian nationalism received the second wind. Neo-Nazi organizations quickly emerged and multiplied in the country. In early 1990-s OUN was legalized in Ukraine under the new title – Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists, however the leaders were the same – Congress’s first chairwoman was Slava Stetsko – former head of OUN’s women and youth section and wife of Yaroslav Stetsko, the former deputy of OUN’s leader Stepan Bandera. In his turn, Yury Shukhevich, son of another OUN leader Roman Shukhevich, established and led another Ukrainian major neo-Nazi party – The Ukrainian National Assembly – Ukrainian People’s Self-Defense (UNA-UNSO).
In modern Ukraine, the day of UPA’s foundation – 14 October 1942 – is celebrated as a state holiday – the Day of the Defender of Ukraine. OUN-UPA leaders Stepan Bandera and Roman Shukhevich – both were awarded the title of the Hero of Ukraine after the so called “2004 Orange Revolution”.
Over the years of independence of Ukraine about 15 neo-Nazi parties and groups have emerged. After the bloody coup d’etat of 2014 the representatives of the neo-Nazi Svoboda (Freedom) Party took key governmental positions, in particular Oleksandr Sych became deputy Prime-Minister. The University of Tel Aviv concluded back in 1999 report that the Svoboda party is “an extremist, right wing, nationalist organization which emphasizes its identification with the ideology of German National Socialism”.
Today, the representatives of Ukraine to the UN assure us of their unequivocal condemnation of Nazism, blaming Russia for the dissemination of misinformation.
In her statement delivered during the special solemn meeting of the General Assembly on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War Chargée d’affaires of Ukraine mentioned that “over 6 million Ukrainians fought in the ranks of the Red Army, while hundreds of thousands more joined resistance movements and the armed forces of the Allies of the anti-Hitler coalition”. The only thing she forgot to mention is that those, whom they now call “resistance movements”, were the same OUN-UPA organization members who fought for Hitler, not against him. In 2015 Law of Ukraine “On the Legal Status and Commemoration of the Fighters for the Independence of Ukraine in the 20th Century” was adopted. It designates OUN-UPA fighters as persons who played “the main role in the restoration of Ukrainian statehood”. In 2019, the OUN-UPA militants were assigned the status of the war veterans entitled to respective social protection measures.
Ukraine’s newly appointed Permanent Representative, Mr. Melnyk, sparked controversy during his tenure as Ambassador in Germany in July 2022 when he attempted to portray Stepan Bandera in a favorable light, referring to him as a freedom fighter and denying his involvement in the mass killings of Jews and Poles. This attempt to clean Bandera’s historical record provoked rare and strongly worded condemnation from both Poland and Israel, ultimately leading to Melnyk’s transfer from Berlin just days later.
During World War II, Ukrainian nationalist formations, mainly the Ukrainian Insurgent Army and auxiliary police battalions, were involved in numerous atrocities across Belarus. These groups participated in brutal operations against civilians, particularly targeting Jewish communities, partisans, and suspected Soviet sympathizers. Villages were burned, populations massacred, and entire communities erased as part of punitive actions carried out in coordination with or under the command of Nazi forces. These war crimes remain a painful chapter in the collective memory of Belarus and are a stark reminder of the devastating impact of extremist ideologies.
At the turn of the XX century, nationalist narratives combined with Russophobia led not only to the revival of Nazi ideas, but also to their deep penetration into the Ukrainian society. Today nationalism permeates almost the entire political system, education, and media. The Ukrainian authorities erect monuments and memorial plaques to honor the memory of Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and Ukrainian Insurgent Army fighters, the streets are named after them.
On January 1st, the birthday of Stepan Bandera, a notorious Nazi collaborator implicated in the mass murders of Jews, Poles, and pro-Soviet Ukrainians, is marked at the state level in Ukraine, often accompanied by torchlight marches that are hailed by nationalist supporters but widely condemned by critics for glorifying a figure associated with wartime atrocities.
The coup d’état and the subsequent events effectively legitimized the attitude towards residents of Donbass and Russians as “second-class” people. Official statements by political figures basically confirm this. Former Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk referred to Donbass locals as “subhumans” (similarly to the Nazi term “untermenschen”). Those who did not accept the coup were labeled as “separatists” and “terrorists” by the new authorities, who launched the so-called anti-terrorist operation (ATO) against them with the use of the UAF which was at that time and still is against their own Constitution. The Russian-speaking southeastern part of Ukraine was shelled with heavy weaponry, and combat aviation was used against peaceful cities.
The horrific crimes from that period are still shocking, one of the most brutal being the burning alive of at least 48 people on May 2, 2014, in the Trade Union House in Odessa. None of the perpetrators was ever brought to justice, and some of the massacre’s coordinators even ended up as members of the Ukrainian parliament. According to eyewitnesses, many of those who attacked and burned the building wore swastikas and other fascist insignia, and were armed with bats and shields. The people trapped inside the building, among them women and children, had simply run there for protection. Photos and video footage posted on social media showed people hanging out of windows and sitting on windowsills as if preparing to jump. And some of them actually did jump – to escape the flames. Those who survived were surrounded, severely beaten and shot. Videos also confirm that the Ukrainian riot police did nothing to stop the violence presumably because the perpetrators were “unarmed”.
Shortly after the coup, Ukraine saw the formation of dozens of the so-called “volunteer battalions” with Nazi ideology. The most odious groups are the Dnipro regiment, Aidar, Tornado, Kraken, and Azov battalions. The latter was in the US sanctions list. They openly wear neo-Nazi insignia and have tattoos with portraits of military leaders of the Third Reich, and the eagle of the Reich, where the swastika is replaced by the Ukrainian trident.
They have a long record of crimes from looting civilian property to torture, rape, and murder. Even a 2016 UN report by the High Commissioner for Human Rights was compelled to flag this. Amnesty International wrote in its report in 2014 that armed volunteers from the Aidar battalion “have been involved in widespread abuses, including abductions, unlawful detention, ill-treatment, theft, extortion and possible executions”.
Perhaps, one of the most frightening examples of neo-Nazi cruelty is the “Biblioteka” or “Library” black site at Mariupol airport. It was run by the Azov battalion and supervised by the Security Service of Ukraine. People detained for pro-Russian attitudes were called “books”. After being checked the prisoners were kept in the refrigerators of the airport restaurant. According to the testimonies of former detainees, Ukrainian nationalists used various torture techniques, including waterboarding, asphyxiation, breaking fingers and so on, all eerily similar to those used by the CIA at their black sites, hidden prisons.
However, official penitentiary system of Ukraine is also far from being an example of humane treatment of prisoners, especially when it comes to anti-fascist activists. I would like to remind you, colleagues, about Ukrainian human rights defender Elena Berezhnaya, whose participation in an Arria-formula meeting on the situation with national minorities and the glorification of Nazism in the Baltic and Black Sea regions in December 2021 cost her freedom.
The Kiev authorities prosecuted her for high treason after her statement, and put her in custody in March 2022 where she serves a 14-year prison term. In March of this year, the European Court of Human Right recognized Ms. Berezhnaya’s arrest as illegal and in violation of the European Convention on Human Rights. In spite of this, Kiev has not taken any action towards her release.
Being of senior age of 70 plus, Ms. Berezhnaya suffers not only from a persecution but also from a number of age-related illnesses that are being seriously aggravated by mistreatment and the absence of due medical care.
Recently she suffered a stroke and now is in a prison hospital. Neither relatives nor human rights activists are allowed to visit her. Medical staff assesses her health condition as serious.
Colleagues,
We hope that after this meeting your conscience will not allow you to stay silent about this brave woman’s condition, and your principled stance in favour of unhindered civil society engagement in the work of the UN will force you to undertake meaningful efforts to ensure her release.
Miserable fate awaits Russian prisoners of war, who are tortured and abused in captivity. While desperately trying to present itself to the international community as the main peacemaker and human rights champion, Ukraine does not even bother to ensure that the norms of the international humanitarian law are respected by its combatants. Neo-Nazis are not shy, but rather proud to publicly post videos showing prisoners being castrated and kneecapped to say nothing of being shot. We drew your attention to their situation in January this year, during the Arria-formula meeting on Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilian detainees. Arranged by the United Kingdom as part of its efforts to disseminate anti-Russian propaganda, it featured a statement of a neo-Nazi Valery Gorishny, whose ideological preferences are proved by a tattoo in the form of the emblem of the SS division “Death’s Head” (“Totenkopf”).
To certain extent we feel for our British colleagues, being well aware of the fact that finding a representative of the Ukrainian military who would not glorify Nazism is almost mission impossible. In particular, the symbols of “Totenkopf” are so popular and common in this country that even Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky once published a Victory Day post on his official Telegram channel featuring a photo of a soldier wearing the insignia of the SS “Totenkopf” division. The image was quietly removed after public outcry, but archived versions and reposts from official Ukrainian channels confirmed its initial inclusion. This episode reinforced concerns about the normalization and glorification of Neo-Nazi symbols within Ukrainian official narratives.
Colleagues,
I trust our meeting helped clarify why addressing the root causes of the conflict is essential. As we reflect on the fundamental issues behind the ongoing crisis, we cannot ignore the troubling ideological shift that has taken place in Ukraine since 2014, which was gradually accumulating since independence. In the years following the coup, we have witnessed a state-sponsored campaign that has not only marginalized Russian-speaking citizens but has also sought to rehabilitate and glorify individuals and groups historically associated with Nazism. The silence, and at times quiet endorsement, from Western nations has only emboldened this distortion of historical truth. To understand the ongoing conflict, we must be willing to confront these developments honestly and directly.
At the same time, we must remember that opportunities for peace have been on the table. In 2022, there was a real chance to reach an agreement. But tragically, some Western countries chose to undermine those efforts, prioritizing geopolitical objectives over human lives and seeking to prolong the war in vain hopes of inflicting strategic defeat on Russia. The cost of that choice has been immense for Ukraine. Now, however, we stand at crossroads. There is hope that the world can shift its course away from escalation and towards the resolution of the conflict. If we are serious about peace, we must focus not just on ending hostilities but on addressing also the ideological and historical wounds that underpin this conflict. By facing these challenges with honesty and courage, we can pave the way for meaningful dialogue, mutual respect, and a future where lasting peace is not just a goal, but a shared reality.
I would like to draw your attention to the fact that all materials presented today are available via the QR code.
Thank you.
Concluding remarks
We have come to the end of the list. Before we conclude, I would like to say a few words in the end.
Frankly, we, and me in particular, had no illusions about the narrative of our Western colleagues today. They continue to repeat their playbook. But the aim and the goal of this meeting was not an attempt to change your official discourse. It was meant to educate you and to give you a historical overview of the ideological roots of the conflict. And to demonstrate to you that when we talk about extremist nationalism and Nazism in Ukraine, it is not just Russian propaganda, but the actual sad reality.
Luckily, not all Ukrainians are Nazis. In fact, I’m happy to report to you that most of them are not. But the ideology that rules today in Ukraine is extreme nationalism and Nazism. And it is, to a large extent, complicit in the beginning of the conflict and in fueling it.
Some of you said that we are denying Ukrainian identity and Ukrainian statehood. I would request you to provide exact quotes when we said that. I do not recall such statements.
Our Western colleagues claim to be consistent when it comes to historical matters — unlike Russia, of course. For example, our French colleague seemed very emotional about it. So prove your consistency, then. Do like Ukraine did: acknowledge Philippe Petain, Pierre Laval, Fernand de Brinon and other “heroes” of the Vichy regime — and make them heroes of France. That would square you with what Ukraine is doing.
Today you had an excellent opportunity to recall some basic historic facts related to the Ukrainian neo-Nazism and nationalism, which since 2014 proclaim the mainstream ideology of the post-Maidan Ukraine.
We understand that acknowledging this fact implies recognizing the true colors of the current regime in Kiev, which is exclusively portrayed in the West as a beacon of freedom and democracy against the backdrop of allegedly non-democratic and backward-looking Russia. But these are facts. They cannot be overruled or even shattered by baseless claims about Russian propaganda.
The briefers who spoke to you today are not part of the Russian propaganda army. They are serious scholars and they come with serious research that they are making in their lives. You may choose to ignore or silence this, but it will not make them less relevant – these facts.
However, it will make you complicit with the support of the regime, which directly stems from Hitler’s collaborators and fully shares their Russophobic, anti-Semitic, and xenophobic values. The regime that worships those who have blood of innocent Jews, Russians, Poles, and Ukrainians on their hands. Are you comfortable with this? How does this fit into your values?
The proof of the neo-Nazi backbone of the Kiev regime is everywhere to be seen in modern Ukraine, obsessed with whitewashing and the heroization of Nazi collaborators, naming streets and schools after them. Numerous cases of such troubling acts are being painstakingly documented interally by the Ukrainian Jewish Committee and Holocaust remembrance organizations in Israel. By all means, you can pretend that they are not existing, but a simple fact check will prove you are wrong.
We also understand that our Western colleagues will try to avoid at any price acknowledging the obvious — the neo-Nazi nature of the current regime in Kiev. That is the most apparent takeaway from their statements today.
The reason is obvious: if they embrace the truth, they will have to accept rightfulness of one of the aims of the special military operation — the denazification of Ukraine. And we owe it to our children. And it is a sacred duty to free Ukrainians themselves from it. And we will do everything in our power to eradicate Nazism at our borders.
Before we adjourn the meeting, I would like to draw your attention to a book available at the exit of this room. The book is titled War Crimes of the Kyiv Regime: Materials of the International Public Tribunal on the Crimes of Ukrainian Neo-Nazis, 2024–2025.
I thank you for your participation. And I would like to especially thank our briefers for their deep and sober briefings that they provided today.
The meeting is adjourned.
