Awaiting Invasion

A military trainer with Ukraine’s 112th Territorial Defense Brigade works with civilians during a military exercise outside Kyiv on February 5. The Ministry of Defense created defense brigades in Ukraine’s main cities because of the risk of invasion by Russia, which is amassing troops at the border. 

Celestino Arce/NurPhoto via Getty Images

"We created this unit in 2014. Today, we are helping these civilians get basic training for a situation that could very easily occur soon."

"My first war [against Russia] was in the 1990s, in Abkhazia. My father was a general, so we were on the front lines together in that war, defending Georgia."

"We were taken prisoner and I spent three months in Russian captivity. My family history is entirely about fighting Russian imperialism."

"We have an arrangement with the Ukrainian military; once [an invasion] begins, [the Georgian Legion] will sign a contract and deploy to the front."

"Russian imperialism is a threat against the whole world. We fought it for the last 30 years in Georgia. I hope we will end it here."

Mamuka Mamulashvili, commander, Georgian Legion unit

"Right now we're teaching [the volunteers] to conduct a raid. We divide them into three groups. We show the first group how to do the exercise, then the next two groups can see where they made mistakes and improve on that."

"I served in the Georgian army for ten years. My first combat experience was 2008, when Russia invaded [Georgia during the South Ossetia War]. I also served in Afghanistan [with U.S. and NATO forces combating the Taliban]."

Levan Pipia, 32, member, Georgian Legion

A volunteer battalion from the Caucasus republic of Georgia trains Ukrainian civilians in urban combat tactics somewhere on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine. Photo by Neil Hauer

 

Over 150,000 Russian soldiers are known to be massed on the borders with Ukraine -- in Belarus to the north; the Russian-backed Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics to the east in Ukraine's Donbas region; and in the Russian-annexed Crimean peninsula. With thousands of military vehicles; tanks, artillery, infantry fighting vehicles and attack helicopters, Ukraine is under virtual siege, awaiting an invasion that now seems inevitable.

Simultaneously to NATO and the United States' ongoing warning of an imminent attack in the offing, volunteers from a battalion out of the Caucasus republic of Georgia have committed to being in Ukraine for the purpose of training Ukrainian civilians in the techniques and tactics involved in defending themselves in Ukraine's capital city, Kyiv who know nothing about urban combat tactics. The common enemy of the sovereign autonomy of both Ukraine and Georgia is one and the same, as former Soviet satellites.

Georgia has lost two of its territories to Russia's destabilizing interference, and Ukraine now is in danger of entirely losing its sovereignty to a Russia relishing returning it to the Soviet-era fold embraced by the Russian Federation, championed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, anxious to establish his legacy project with the reunification of reluctant eastern European nations. 

 

February has seen the months-long military buildup encircling Ukraine unabated. Russia's military units from as far away as the Pacific Ocean have been shifted to take part in war exercises. It is estimated that up to 60 percent of Russia's total combat strength now lies along three sides of Ukraine. Moscow released an announcement several days back of completed manoeuvres which would return some forces to their bases. To which NATO cautions evidence of such withdrawals are nowhere to be seen.

The Georgian Legion composed primarily of fighters from the former Soviet nation, a 200 personnel-strong group, sees the situation as yet the latest move by Russia in a simmering war they have faced for over a decade. The group of trainees consists of about fifty Ukrainian citizens being trained in urban warfare by a half-dozen Georgian instructors. Most of the Georgian fighters received their training in combat, facing off to Russian forces in their own country.

Levan Pipia, 32, a native of the Abkhazian town of Ochamchira, was a refugee at age four, when Abkhaz separatists backed by Russia captured his hometown. In a typical drill, the Ukrainian volunteers are taught to lob dummy grenades. The results of which appear none too encouraging when poorly tossed grenades barely cover a few metres, reflecting the trainees' combat capacities. Women, on the other hand, aren't particularly known for their throwing style and capabilities.

 

The Georgian Legion boasts a small, but growing, contingent of foreigners from outside the Caucasus region in its ranks. Photo by Neil Hauer

 

Most of the Georgian fighters are from the Caucasus region. Even so, the Georgian Legion has in its midst a small, and growing contingent of foreigners in its ranks from elsewhere. A 24-year-old American among them, charged with helping the lead group of volunteers in a building-storming exercise. "I was in the French Foreign Legion, but I never deployed. They're pulling out of Mali, they're pulling out of central Africa, all deployments were halted", he confides.

His more recent presence in Ukraine? "Fighting against communism, fighting against the Russians [messing] around in everyone's country. Here is where the action is, and I think the Georgians can handle it", he says.  Western intelligence is convinced that Kyiv would represent a major target of any Russian offensive, so the training that the Georgian Legion is offering could prepare the city's residents for living in a battlefield.

Should an invasion commence, Mamuka Mamulashvili envisions his fighting group back on the front lines, familiar to them from their initiation into combat with Russia eight years previously -- this time in Ukraine.

Most of the Georgian Legion fighters have firsthand experience fighting Russian forces in their own country. Photo by Neil Hauer

See No Evil

Members of Azov battalion attend a rally on the Volunteer Day honouring fighters, who joined the Ukrainian armed forces during a military conflict in the country's eastern regions, in central Kiev, Ukraine (credit: GLEB GARANICH/REUTERS)

"If Canada is going to be providing military training to foreign forces, then it is our responsibility to know we are not training neo-Nazis"

"It is our obligation to our Canadian veterans who sacrificed so much defeating fascism in Europe."

Jaime Kirzner-Roberts policy director, Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center

"[Our group's members serve at present as officers in Ukraine's military and] have succeeded in establishing co-operation with foreign colleagues from such countries as France, the United Kingdom, Canada, the U.S.A. Germany and Poland."

"[We support] right patriots, nationalists, conservatives and Christians currently defending the streets of Kyiv from [Kyiv Pride event] perverts from the LGBT movement and their left-liberal sympathizers."

Ukraine fascist militia, Centuria

 

"White supremacy and neo-Nazism are unacceptable and have no place in our world. I am very pleased that the recently passed omnibus prevents the U.S. from providing arms and training assistance to the neo-Nazi Azov Battalion fighting in Ukraine."

"The State Department should pressure Kiev to dissociate itself with this group and investigate whether any of our weapons or training have already been provided to them,"

"This is just one of many reasons why lawmakers should be concerned about channeling huge amounts of weapons into this volatile conflict zone."

U.S.Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.)

"Evidence uncovered in this paper suggests that since 2018, the Hetman Petro Sahaidachny National Army Academy (NAA), Ukraine’s premier military education institution and a major hub for Western military assistance to the country, has been home to Centuria, a self-described order of 'European traditionalist' military officers that has the stated goals of reshaping the country’s military along right-wing ideological lines and defending the 'cultural and ethnic identity' of European peoples against 'Brussels’ politicos and bureaucrats'. The group envisions a future where 'European right forces are consolidated and national traditionalism is established as the disciplining ideological basis for the European peoples'."

"The group, led by individuals with ties to Ukraine’s internationally active far-right Azov movement, has attracted multiple members, including current and former officer cadets of the NAA now serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Apparent members have appeared in photos giving Nazi salutes and made seemingly extremist statements online."

Illiberalism Studies Program

A new report from an American university says far-right extremists in Ukraine’s military have bragged they received training from the Canadian Forces and other NATO nations. ANATOLII STEPANOV / AFP/GETTY IMAGES

George Washington University in Washington, D.C. recently published a study out of one of its institutes where social media accounts of the far-right group Centuria in Ukraine were tracked, documenting the fascist group's Ukrainian military members with Nazi salutes as they engage in the promotion of white nationalism, praising Nazi SS units' members. Nostalgia for another time and place where fascism threatened the world order and committed the gravest atrocities against humankind in the mid-20th Century during a time of a global-churning world war.

 

The Ukrainian nationalists militia group Centuria has been active since 2018 at the Hetman Petro Sahaidachy National Army Academy in Ukraine, according to the George Washington University's Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies. Members of Centuria have left their handprint on social media, claiming to have received military training from the Canadian military, as well as having taken part in military exercises with Canada.

This is hugely disturbing news to institutions dedicated to vigilance for the appearance of fascist groups as threats to world stability. The Canadian military was apprised of the presence of neo-Nazis within their own services in the past year and speedily made efforts to root them out, claiming it has no tolerance for fascists operating within its ranks. Organizers with Centuria boasted on social media of their members currently serving as officers in Ukraine's military establishment.

The University of Washington report on their study has been widely read and was of huge interest to the Simon Wiesenthal Center dedicated to fighting fascism in memory of the institutional state obliteration of six million Jewish lives during the Holocaust years taking place within the theatre of the Second World War. The Center for Holocaust Studies wrote to the Acting Chief of the Canadian Defence Staff, General Wayne Eyre and to Canada's Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan asking them to launch an investigation.

It is the Simon Wiesenthal's position that the Canadian Forces should conduct an investigation to determine whether its troops have been involved in training neo-Nazis in Ukraine and to further devise a way to make certain military instruction through Canadian Forces' auspices do not reoccur. The response from the Canadian Forces was to advise that Ukraine must vet its own security forces; the Canadian military is not proactively engaged in determining backgrounds of foreign trainees, nor do they search out support for far-right groups.

Ukraine's government denies the very existence of Centuria. The hands-off approach of the Canadian military has understandably failed to quell the unease of the protesting Wiesenthal Center. In 2015 when the decision was reached to send Canadian troops to Ukraine, the then-Canadian defence minister was aware of the likely presence of far-right extremists in the Ukraine military and discussions were led on avoidance in training extremists.

The decision was reached to stipulate that units of the Ukrainian National Guard exclusively would be trained, avoiding the training opportunities that some ad hoc militias that had appeared in Ukraine at that time, seeking to take opportunities for themselves would be avoided. The Canadian defence critic MP Jack Harris however, gave warning that far-right groups were integrating themselves into the Ukraine military and the difficulty that would ensue attempting to isolate extremists.

A new report from an American university says far-right extremists in Ukraine’s military have bragged they received training from the Canadian Forces and other NATO nations. Photo by ANATOLII STEPANOV /GETTY

Training Ukrainian Neo-Nazis

"The Ukrainian military's failure to check Centuria activities suggests a level of tolerance on its part for the apparent proliferation of far-right ideology and influence within the Armed Forces of Ukraine."

George Washington University study

"[We support] right patriots, nationalists, conservatives and Christians currently defending the streets of Kyiv from perverts from the LGBT movement and their left-liberal sympathizers."

Centuria statement

"The Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces are strongly opposed to the glorification of Nazism and all forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, intolerance and extremism."

Lt.-Cmdr.Julie McDonald, spokeswoman, Canadian Armed Forces

"Clearly Canada has a responsibility when it comes to who it trains."

"It's not good enough just to leave it to the Ukrainians. The end result is the fact that Canadian troops may have trained Ukrainian Neo-Nazis."

Bernie Farber, head, Canadian Anti-Hate Network

A new report from an American university says far-right extremists in Ukraine’s military have bragged they received training from the Canadian Forces and other NATO nations. Photo by ANATOLII STEPANOV /GETTY

A newly-released study from an institute within George Washington University in Washington, D.C tracked social media accounts of the Centuria far-right group, revealing that the extremists brag of having received military training from the Canadian Forces, along with other NATO-aligned national militaries. The study documented members of the Ukrainian military giving Nazi salutes, promoting white nationalism, and giving praise to members of Nazi SS units.

Active since 2018 at the Hetman Petro Sahaidachny National Army Academy, the far-right group has ensconced itself in the country's military through the country's premier education institute, which is also a major hub for assistance from western military sources in the country, Canada included, according to the report from George Washington University's Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies.

Through social media, members of Centuria revealed their training from the Canadian military along with participation in military exercises with Canada. Centuria organizers informed their following that their members served as officers in Ukraine's military, and "have succeeded in establishing co-operation with foreign colleagues from such countries as France, the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States, Germany and Poland", reports the Institute.

At the United Kingdom's royal Military Academy Sandhurst, one group member graduated in 2020 after receiving officer training, while another Centuria member in 2019 attended the German Army Officer Academy in Dresden. Centuria publicly supported a rally held by Ukrainian far-right groups in countering the "Kyiv Pride" LGBTQ event.

The National Army Academy, in communication with the university researchers denied Centuria operated within its ranks, noting it has no tolerance for extremism in denial of the report's photographs of NAA cadets giving Nazi salutes and promoting far-right materials. The United Jewish Community of Ukraine accused a NAA cadet of acting as a firearms instructor for a far-right group, and of spreading viral anti-Semitic propaganda.

Lt.-Cmdr McDonald of the Canadian Forces explained that it doesn't perform background checks on those assigned to train with its forces from abroad; its expectation is that Ukraine would check its own security forces' allegiances. Should Canadian military personnel, on the other hand, view first-hand any evidence of extremism,they would refuse training for those involved. They do not actively search out signs of support for far-right causes.

The university researchers were informed by Ukraine's Ministry of Defence that neither does it screen those entering the military or military cadets for extremist views and ties, stating concerns about Centuria were baseless; there was no such organization. In 2015 when Canada as part of NATO facing down Russian expansionism in Ukraine, sent troops to the area, concerns relating to such training were raised when Canadian military leaders discussed how they might avoid training extremists.

They decided to stipulate that only Ukrainian National Guard and army units would be trained not including any of the ad hoc militias that had appeared at that time in the country. One Canadian Member of Parliament had warned of the integration of far-right groups into the military and that being the case it would be difficult to identify extremists with a view to eliminating their presence during training sessions. 

The ultra-nationalist Azov Battalion movement with its links to the far right and Neo Nazis was the subject in 2018 of the U.S. Congress banning the use of U.S. funds to provide arms, training and other aid to them. At the same time, Centuria has firm ties to the Azov movement.

A new report from an American university says far-right extremists in Ukraine’s military have bragged they received training from the Canadian Forces and other NATO nations. Photo by ANATOLII STEPANOV /AFP/Getty Images