Ukrainian Morale/Unit Patches

[RSW]

In my experience, sympathy for the Russians in the Ukrainian war is dangerously misplaced. Not only are Russians the aggressor but their skilled and ongoing use of cyber warfare in attempting to destabilize Ukraine is well documented; similar Russian campaigns presently target the EU, various EU member states individually, Britain, the US, Ukraine and elsewhere with varying degrees of success. On the other hand, such extensive Russian intelligence disinformation can make it difficult to understand what the reality of the war in the Ukraine really is and who the participants are.

While the AZOV Battalion (and later regiment if memory serves) was a haven for fascists and neo-Nazis, it has not seen combat in years and I believe it was only made operational because at that time the Ukrainian government was desperate to avoid being overrun by Russian invaders; the AZOV also fought well so its use was seen as justifiable and politically expedient. While the Ukrainian state had been guaranteed their borders against foreign aggression in exchange for giving up the nuclear weapons abandoned there by the Soviet military when it collapsed (including 1,000+ ICBM's), in practice Ukraine was left on its own by the West when Russia invaded years later (memories of Poland during 1939). A result were groups like AZOV being used in the war.

Meanwhile, the idea of a Ukrainian unit named after Oskar Dirlewanger is nothing more than a continuation of Russian disinformation warfare, which claimed as justification for its invasion that fascists run the Ukrainian government and so Ukraine is a threat to Russia; regardless of the fact that a only tiny percentage of the Ukrainian population support fascism or totalitarianism and no far-right political party has any seats in their parliament. The Russians have also claimed that Jews are the ones endangering Russia through their control of Ukraine and the US; different lies tailored to be palatable to different audiences.

It is for reasons such as these that collecting Ukrainian morale patches (and other items) can be a minefield just as much as collecting TR can be. TR materials can be for faked for profit while Ukrainian materials can faked to support Russian disinformation claims. So taking such things at face value can be a mistake.

My intent is not to discuss politics here. However, without an understanding of the political motivations involved it is impossible to understand the background of things like (in this instance) Ukrainian morale patches. Did AZOV use some NS and racist imagery? Yes. Is everything being made available to collectors genuine? No.

[ollar]

Let me disagree with you! It's nothing personal! Everyone thinks how it is profitable!

[Gunny Hartmann]

Some really interesting points of view here, In reply to RSW after looking on line i can find no photographic evidence of the Aidar Battalion wearing the Oskar Dirlewanger patch. If the patch has been a Russian separatists propaganda item i still think it's an interesting collectable.
As the forum rules state there should be no political posts i will close this thread if requested.