Of course, none of these developments validate Putin’s claims that the war is about “denazifying” Ukraine. Forget about Zelensky’s Jewish background: It’s an ironic claim for Putin to make, since he gives safe haven to individuals such as Rinaldo Nazzaro, who was until recently the leader of the Base, a largely American cell-based neo-Nazi organization whose members have been linked to terrorist plots. Nazarro appears to have lived in Russia since at least 2018. Putin has also given haven to the Russian Imperialist Movement, which the State Department describes as giving “paramilitary-style training to white supremacists and neo-Nazis in Europe.” Putin gives these entities haven to help “aggravate societal fissures in the West,” a declassified U.S. intelligence report from last year suggested. Whatever sparse kernels of truth Putin is picking at regarding groups like Azov, it was he who invaded a sovereign country and created a new extremist breeding ground.
