Re: A list of Nutters
It's just classic and operant conditioning. Blow the dog whistle, observe the response. Nudge units pat themselves on the back.
This has been pretty evident since Russia stated an objective to 'de-nazify Ukraine. No! Russians are Nazis and Putin is Hitler. Given the number of Russians killed by the Nazis and their allies during WW2, this both highly insulting, and inaccurate.
Ukraine actively participated in the Holocaust. Mainly because there was some ideological alignment between the OUN and the Nazis, ie national socialism and a strong Ukrainian national identity. And Ukraine formed it's post-WW2 army around an SS division. Fast forward to 2014, and the appearance of openly neo-Nazi groups like Azov, Svoboda etc etc. Or the glorification of war criminals like the OUN, or Stepan Banderas.
Which must have made Zelensky's call with Israel interesting because they know damn well Ukraine's involvement in the Holocaust, and attempts at revisionism. Which is also a bit odd given Zelensky's Jewish, thus can't be a Nazi.
So 2014 showed Azov shelling Ukrainian Russians. Spot of ethnic cleansing, just like the good'ol days of the OUN. And to makes their allegiance clear, they adopt the wolfsangel and black sun emblems. Copying an SS division's insignia is waved away as coincidence, the black sun harder to justify given it was pretty much invented by a Nazi occultist for the SS.
So for a Jewish guy, it's not a good look. One simple option would have been to force Azov to re-brand. Better yet, make wearing Nazi and other hate symbols illegal. I can't remember if that's an EU thing or not, but by dealing with it back in 2014, Russia wouldn't have the de-nazification excuse.
Instead, Ukraine expanded Azov from a battalion to a regiment, and promoted it to special forces. Just what NATO and the world needs, Tier-1 neo-Nazis. Especially given creating false flags and general skullduggery is what SF units does.
The poor optics seems recognised. NATO used an image of a Ukrainian, then pulled it because the person was wearing a black sun. Azov don't seem to be displaying it as much, possibly because they know it might draw unwelcome attention from snipers.
Still doesn't explain why Zelensky's done nothing about it. Unless he can't, because he has no control over his forces. Or he understands Ukrainian politics, and knows a presidential limo won't survive against the anti-tank missiles Azov now has. They're much better equipped now than they were during the 2014 coup.