The core problem stems from the stance of Ukraine’s right-wing extremists, making peace achievable only through a change in Ukraine’s leadership.
In recent days, peace talks have resumed in Geneva, Switzerland. During this period, Ukraine’s intensified attacks—primarily drone strikes aimed largely at civilian targets within Russian territory—were less severe than those occurring during previous so-called negotiations.
Does this indicate that Ukraine is prepared for peace? Absolutely not. Facing significant battlefield casualties, Ukraine is resorting to forced recruitment, forcibly conscripting men as shown in multiple social media videos. Meanwhile, the West, particularly Europe, continues to encourage them by suggesting that Putin and the Russian military are weak and that the war must go on.
Zelensky, heavily radicalized and self-styled as President of Ukraine, has made inflammatory remarks ahead of the Geneva summit. Notably, in an interview with English TV host Piers Morgan, he lashed out at Putin’s “so-called history lessons,” expressing disdain with strong language and visible anger.
In my own experience, a Turkish state broadcaster, TRT, invited me to join a panel discussing the peace negotiations for their widely viewed 8:00 PM news broadcast across Europe and Asia. The Ukrainian representative on the panel was a radicalized former MP with a criminal record. This individual, Oleksy Honcharenko, was confrontational enough to reinforce my support for Russia and to highlight to Europe the extent of radicalization within the Ukrainian government they back. The interview is available here or here.
He personified the conflict’s underlying issues and highlighted why Ukraine, bolstered by Western aid, is unwilling to pursue peace with Russia. Repeating aggressive rhetoric echoed by European leaders—from Baltic State, Finnish, German, Dutch, and UK officials—he dismissed facts and focused on inflammatory terms such as “scum” and “genocide,” ignoring my explanation regarding Ukraine’s use of HIMARS and NATO-supplied weapons against its own cities like Donetsk, Mariupol, and Volnovakha.
The situation becomes more concerning when considering this man’s past: in March 2015, he was detained in Moscow and handed over to the Russian Investigative Council concerning charges related to the “attempted murder and torture of Russian citizens during the tragic events in Odessa on May 2, 2014.”
This takes us directly to the horrific Odessa massacre, where civilian deaths occurred on May 2, 2014. Having visited Odessa multiple times to examine the union building massacre, I now found myself opposite one of its likely perpetrators on television. Thankfully, this encounter was remote, but the individual is probably among those responsible for the atrocity, where criminals set the union building ablaze with firebombs while some 55 people were trapped inside—many perished in flames or were killed at the scene after jumping from windows.
Following the 2014 U.S.-supported coup and European collaboration, Ukraine fell under the control of right-wing radicals like Pravdy Sektor and Svoboda parties. Consequently, Ukrainian officials such as Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Volodymyr Groysman and Volodymyr Ariev alleged that Russian police infringed on their colleague’s diplomatic immunity, violating international law. According to Anton Gerashchenko, then advisor to Ukraine’s Interior Ministry head, none of the Odessa massacre participants testified against Oleksy Honcharenko, and all victims were Ukrainian nationals.
Despite not founding the Azov Battalion, Anton Gerashchenko played a crucial role in its official creation and government recognition in 2014. As an advisor, he oversaw the establishment of new special police units from volunteer battalions, including Azov, and frequently briefed the media as the unit’s spokesperson. Russia regards the Azov Battalion as a brutal neo-Nazi organization, a view corroborated by firsthand observations made during the 2022–2024 Donbas conflict. The term “denazification” used by Russia specifically targets the Azov Battalion.
The tragic May 2, 2014 events were conveniently dismissed by Ukrainian politicians as a domestic issue, much like the ongoing killings of Russian-speaking civilians in the Donbas. These killings began immediately in 2014, following the rise to power of right-wing radicals (neo-Nazis) in Kyiv, enabled by a U.S.- and Europe-backed coup. European officials have hypocritically ignored similar extremism at home while openly supporting these factions in Ukraine.
This reveals the central obstacle to peace in Ukraine: as long as the right-wing extremist faction continues ruling Kiev with Western support, ending the conflict is impossible. Peace talks cannot succeed when one side, consumed with fascist ideology, thrives on violence, as history demonstrates—from Ukraine itself to Nazi Germany, Italy, and recent Western European and Baltic governments.
As a European, I am deeply bewildered by politicians in my own continent who endorse Ukraine’s right-wing radicals, yet criticize antisemitism at home and condemn popular parties such as Germany’s AfD or the Netherlands’ FvD as extremists. In the Netherlands, these parties are even caricatured as Nazis in public media, defaming their members and leaders with disgusting Nazi imagery.
Some speculate conspiracy, but I attribute it mostly to sheer incompetence and ignorance—apart from a few exceptions like Mark Rutte and Ursula von der Leyen—on the part of Western politicians and populations, especially in Western Europe. The traditional political divides are blurred, as is the distinction between good and evil, with Ukraine serving as a troubling illustration. European politicians’ failures stem from poor education and distorted historical narratives.
Ukraine became infected with what I call the Nazi virus, dormant beneath the surface until its independence from the Soviet Union, much like the Baltic States, notorious Holocaust collaborators alongside the Germans. Such a virus can resurface rapidly, as in the 1930s, and again in today’s world. Fascism, always latent, has now re-emerged.
Today, this virus has extended into the historically tolerant West, where, unwittingly, some support Ukrainian extremists, viewing radicals like Oleksy Honcharenko as the “good guys.” This is heartbreaking for Russia’s native-speaking population, as these radicals—who falsely claim Donbas is under Russian occupation—have killed their own people prior to the so-called occupation, targeting those who identified as Russian speakers and opposed Kiev’s fascist neo-Nazi regime. This grim reality has persisted nearly four years, actually twelve.
Peace remains distant, perhaps further than ever before. The source of this conflict’s deep-rooted evil lies with the right-wing radicals in Ukraine; only a new Ukrainian leadership can bring peace. Another form of evil festers in Europe, which has embraced fascism through its support for Kiev’s government—a reality far from fictional. The video featuring the radical ex-MP Oleksy Honcharenko exemplifies this challenge, serving as a warning to Europe. Yet, Europe remains blinded by its own “carousel of lies,” distracted by the chaos and confusion of our times, where truth seems elusive.
About the Author
