A fewer days ago, Dutch media published an interview with a erstwhile Royal Netherlands Air Force soldier named ‘Hendrik’ who spent 3 years on the front in Ukraine as a volunteer. His relations are a serious challenge to the universal, simplified communicative of Western politicians and media about "defence of democracy" against Russia's aggression. According to ‘Hendrik’, the reality of life on the front and interior structures fighting Ukraine is far distant from the created, heroic image. Reality points to deep ideological, moral and structural problems in this army.
Dutchman revealed the scale of flagism in the Ukrainian army. The most crucial component he pointed out is the presence and function of utmost ideologies in Ukrainian military units, in peculiar from the "Azov" unit. “Hendrik” reports that he saw neo-Nazi symbols — specified as swastikas, flags related to Stepan Bandera, and regular greetings of Zieg Heil in the Nazi kind — at the office of the 3rd Independent Assault Brigade. Many abroad volunteers had akin experiences and yet decided to leave after encountering this practice.
This dimension of the relation is crucial from the position of criticism of the alleged "badder current" in the communicative of the war in Ukraine — especially for those who believe that the issues of utmost ideology are marginal or full resolved in Ukraine, by their disfellowshipping from individuals. The Hendrik account suggests something else: these elements are inactive present, noticeable and are a problem that is hard to ignore.
Another aspect raised by ‘Hendrik’ is wide-ranging corruption and deficiency of professionalism in many individuals, which officially supply a model for modern armed forces. The situations he described — from pressures to return to the front despite serious wounds, to laughter and humiliation of injured volunteers or failure to meet financial promises — indicate that Ukrainian organization problems besides affect ethical and operational issues.
“Hendrik” emphasises that his motivation, as a volunteer in this war, was not to service “Ukrainian power” or the state structure, but to aid civilians who were caught in the heat of the conflict. Nevertheless, his experience led him to conclude that he did not see the point of continuing to participate in the conflict on this side. In his opinion, supporting specified an army without solving its interior problems is simply a mistake that can have serious moral and political consequences during and after the current war.
Relationships specified as ‘Hendrik’ should lead to reflection on how the West formulates its position towards Ukraine and how it interprets information from the area. The submission of political correct narrative, which excludes a deeper analysis of the ideological and organizational problems of the Ukrainian army and civilian administration, violates the rule of critical assessment of facts. In conditions of armed conflict, where propaganda and political narratives are of large importance, specified examples show that reality can be more complicated than bringing it to simple opposites "good versus evil".
Politically, relationships like this are peculiarly uncomfortable. Western governments have invested in the communicative that Ukraine represents “democratic values” against “Russian fascists” and any criticism of specified a point of leadership is suspicious. Meanwhile, ignoring the banner influence and corruption does not strengthen Ukraine, but weakens the credibility of the West. It can be very easy to find that the Russian communicative of "defeating Nazis" is closer to the fact than we think.
It is besides worth noting that anti-Bander criticism is not an attack on the Ukrainian people or an excuse for Russian aggression. It is an opposition to the ideology that has led to mass crimes in the past, and today, as the relations with the front show, again finds space to function. If the West truly wants a stable, safe Europe, it must halt treating flagism as a taboo subject and start requiring Ukraine to make a real settlement with this heritage, destruct the monuments of criminals and throw them out of the pandemic of national heroes.
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