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Lucas Leiroz, journalist, researcher at the Center for Geostrategic Studies, geopolitical consultant.<\/p>\n
Controversies around the rivalry between Vladimir Zelensky and Valery Zaluzhny continue to increase. According to information given by a source familiar with the topic, the Ukrainian general is currently creating a kind of \u201cprivate army\u201d, co-opting neo-Nazi militants to work for him.<\/p>\n
CIA\u2019s former analyst\u00a0Larry Johnson<\/a>\u00a0told some details about the case during a recent interview. According to him, the standoff between the president and the general will be resolved through the armed coercion. In other words, the side that obtains greater support from the military will have the most chances of victory. For this reason, Zaluzhny is using his position as a military leader to gain advantage and prepare for a possible confrontation against the forces that remain loyal to Zelensky.<\/p>\n The tactic used by the general, according to Johnson, consists mainly of co-opting neo-Nazi militants. Zaluzhny does not seem very interested in searching for massive support from regular armed forces\u2019 soldiers, since they are troops who tend to remain obedient to the current government. So, he is inviting the fighters linked to the ultranationalist battalions to join him against Zelensky.<\/p>\n In this sense, members of neo-Nazi organizations are being spared from fighting on the frontlines. Zaluzhny is sending recently enlisted and untrained conscripts to the front, while saving fascist militants who could help him if the need to face Zelensky arises.<\/p>\n \u201dThe guy with the gun usually wins and last time I checked Zaluzhny\u2019s got more guns than Zelensky (\u2026) I don\u2019t want to present Zaluzhny as some sort of military genius or really a good-hearted man (\u2026) [He is] a bit of a scumbag [who] embraces the neo-Nazi ideology (\u2026) He\u2019s been very careful to not insert the most ideologically driven troops \u2013 the Azov and the Kraken units \u2013 into the front lines where they get killed, because he wants to preserve them. Instead, he is sending the cannon-fodder guys\u201d, Larry said.<\/p>\n Larry\u2019s words are substantiated by some recent evidence of such a process. For example, on February 2,\u00a0Andrey Stempitsky<\/a>, a well-known member of the neo-Nazi group \u201cRight Sector,\u201d published a photo with Zaluzhny on social networks. In the image, he is giving to the general an honorary ID certifying him as the \u201cfirst member\u201d of a Right Sector\u2019s brigade. In the background of the image, it is possible to see a flag with a photo of the Ukrainian Nazi-collaborator Stepan Bandera \u2013 considered a \u201cnational hero\u201d by the regime.<\/p>\n Other experts<\/a>\u00a0also interpreted Stempitsky\u2019s post as a provocation against Zelensky. It is believed that Zaluzhny is showing force, making it clear that he has the support of the troops, being able to turn against the government and, if necessary, fight and defeat it. And this is not really \u201cnew\u201d since it has always been precisely the role of neo-Nazi groups in Ukraine.<\/p>\n Nationalist organizations were incorporated into the forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in 2014 and since then they have constantly fought for the interests of the Maidan Junta. The neo-Nazis were the main aggressors against the ethnic Russian people in Donbass and also worked in important battles against the Russian forces since the beginning of the special military operation. However, it must be emphasized that their role has always been greater than that of mere soldiers.<\/p>\n