DeNazification

Putin demanding the deNazification of Ukraine is one of those moments when history sighs, rubs its temples, and wonders whether the species is worth the bother. It takes a remarkable degree of shamelessness for the ruler of a neo fascist oligarchic kleptocracy to label his democratic neighbour the Nazi. It is the geopolitical equivalent of a burglar shouting “Stop, thief” while sprinting down the drive with the furniture.

Ukraine, for the avoidance of doubt, is not run by a cadre of jackbooted racial theorists. Its far right performs worse in elections than the Monster Raving Loonies do in ours, and its president is a Jewish democrat whose family suffered at the hands of the actual Nazis. Yet from the Kremlin’s dripping propaganda pipes comes the claim that this is the country in need of moral purification. The only thing Ukraine needs purifying of is Russian tanks.

This entire performance is projection as state doctrine. Putin’s Russia has checked off more items on the fascist inventory than it has medals left from the real anti fascist struggle. Leader cult, militarised myth making, ethnic destiny, suppression of opposition, media elimination, imperial revanchism masquerading as national salvation. It is as if someone tried to reconstruct a fascist state using a Soviet nostalgia kit and a crate of vodka.

And yet, with a straight face, Putin insists Ukraine needs deNazification. Here is the truth he dare not admit: the deNazification of Ukraine consists precisely of keeping Russia’s hands off it. That is the sum of it. The only genuine Nazi style threat to Ukraine comes from the country waving a Z symbol and deporting children, not the one voting in competitive elections.

The term deNazification is not chosen because it fits. It is chosen because it steals the moral halo of 1945. Putin wants to recast a war of aggression as a sacred rite, a continuation of a heroic past. If he can convince enough Russians that Ukraine is simply Hitler with better jokes, then razing cities becomes liberation and abducting children becomes humanitarian work. It is a historical smash and grab.

Meanwhile, the conduct that actually echoes Nazi methods is Russian. Filtration camps. Forced deportations. Cultural erasure. Cities pulverised because they refuse to kneel. The very things Moscow accuses Ukraine of are happening under the Russian flag. You would think the world might have grown tired of this trick by now, but there is always a small brigade of useful internet stooges ready to parrot Kremlin lines as if they were reading from Pravda.

None of this is meant to persuade. It is meant to corrode. A lie delivered with enough swagger can bully truth into the corner. Putin understands that, even if his apologists never quite grasp the part they play.

So let us be clear. Ukraine does not need saving from Nazism, because it is not in the business of practising it. Ukraine needs saving from Russian imperial delusions masquerading as anti fascism. If Moscow wants a crash course in authentic deNazification, it might start by applying the concept internally.