There’s Nothing Wrong With Neo-Nazis…That Shooting At Them Won’t Aggravate
Many have pointed out that Putin’s Special Operation has unified NATO, not divided it. I’d like to point out that this same operation isn’t weakening Putin’s so-called neo-Nazi groups. It’s overwhelming them with new recruits.
And some will pack their bags with bombs and head to Moscow.
Contrary to what Putin claims, these are not neo-Nazi groups like those from WWII. (If anyone is a Hitler type, it’s Putin). Rather, they are essentially “nationalist” groups. Young conservatives. They might be racists, but without a desire to exterminate anyone (far as I know).
They’d rather pick up a gun than live under Putin’s rule.
This is not new. Russia’s push into into Eastern Ukraine legitimized the Azov Battalion in the first place. There are other groups too, like Dnipro-1, the AtomWaffen Division, C14, and so on. All with their own special operations.
(This story assumes you have some understanding of the Donbas region’s conflict since 2014).
How will Russia escape blow-back? Recall Chechen terrorists who stormed a Moscow theater in 2002 and more than 170 people ended up dead after the Russians pumped it with gas and stormed it.
Putin has declared a call-to-arms for all fringe para-military groups, in and around Russia, which has 195 nationalities. Some of them are not Slavic and will not forget their kids sent as canon fodder to Ukraine. And let’s not forget Belarus and the Uzbeki- and other -stans.
An irony is that one of Putin’s arguments for the war is proximity. Ukraine is 300 miles from Moscow so Russia can’t tolerate a West-friendly and armed Ukraine. Here again, the very problem Putin has tried to prevent Putin has created. Russia must now worry about a West-leaning Ukraine military AND terrorist revenge groups.
A young person joining a small militia enjoys growing status and growing power. Now they have shoulder-fired missiles. A day’s drive to the Kremlin can bring the war right to the Russian public. It’s just a matter of time.
The West may lose interest in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Ukrainians won’t. They, and others, won’t rest until Putin is dead and gone.
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I so hoped the war would be over by now. I still believe Putin won’t survive long. Russians don’t want to go back to economic suicide. But it takes time to organize a coup. Putin is already arresting members of his regime. The rest understand they need to act before they’re scapegoated too. Time is running out. It seems like it will take forever, but forever will come.
