Cathy Young on Russia, Where the Real Fascists Are
The claim that last month's democratic revolution in Ukraine was actually driven by ultra-right extremists, fascists, or even "neo-Nazis" has been a staple of Kremlin propaganda. It is also echoed by Western pundits who think that Vladimir Putin is getting a bum rap and the United States is backing the bad guys in this conflict. It is true that far-right nationalists are a troubling, though by no means dominant, presence on Ukraine's political scene and a potential problem for the new leadership's quest for European integration. But the cries of "fascism" from Moscow and its apologists are breathtakingly hypocritical, writes Cathy Young, considering the Putin regime's entanglement with far-right, ultranationalist and, yes, fascist elements at home and abroad.