A number of far right parties and individuals were elected to the Ukrainian Parliament (Rada) in the recent elections on October 26 in the lists of different parties or standing in single-mandate constituencies. Some are now part of the government majority and many have been elected to different positions in the parliamentary commissions.
The main far right party in the previous Rada, Svoboda (Freedom) went down in votes and elected members: from 2.1 million votes for the party list and 37 Rada members down to 740,000 votes and only 6 members elected in single-mandate constituencies.
However, the whole political spectrum moved to the right, with the “mainstream” parties of president Poroshenko (Block Poroshenko) and the prime minister Yatseniuk (Peoples Front) all pandering to radical right wing reactionary nationalism and having far right individuals in their lists or supporting them in single-mandate constituencies. To give an example, president Poroshenko declared October 14 the day of the defender of Ukraine in commemoration of the founding of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) which during World War Two collaborated with the nazis and carried out atrocities against the Polish population. Poroshenko also declared that the UPA should be regarded as heroes and and example to be followed.
The main beneficiary of Svoboda’s decline was the right wing populist Lyashko’s Radical Party. Lyashko had spent most of the initial phase of the so-called “anti-terrorist operation” dressed in black paramilitary fatigues, participating directly in capturing, threatening and torturing “terrorists” in the East. He had also made an alliance with a section of the neo-nazi Social-Nationalist Assembly, with some of its members being elected to the Kyiv City Council on the Radical Party list.
Igor Mosiychuk, deputy chair of the parliamentary committee on law enforcement
Lyashko’s Radical Party list, which received 1.17 million votes and elected 22 members, can be considered as a whole as far right, and includes particularly nasty neo-nazi elements like Igor Mosiychuk. Mosiychuk has a long past in neo-nazi organisations, having been part of the UNA-UNSO in the 1990s. The Ukrainian National Assembly – Ukrainian People’s Self-Defense was a violent fascist organisation which predates most contemporary far right organisations in Ukraine today. After the collapse of the UNA-UNSO in 1998, he joined the Social National Party of Ukraine, an openly neo-nazi organisation which later on in 2004 changed its name, toned down a bit its public rhetoric and became Svoboda. Mosiychuk then joined those who disagreed with the “moderate” turn of the SNPU to form the Social Nationalist Assembly, a hard line neo-nazi group. In 2011 he became a member of the executive of the SNA and acted as its press secretary. Mosiychuk spent time in jail as one of the defendants in the case of the Vasilokovsky terrorists. He was only released from jail after the victory of the Euromaidan. During the Euromaidan movement, the SNA was part of the violent Right Sector. After the victory of the Euromaidan the SNA went on to form the infamous Azov Battalion of volunteers to fight against the uprising in the Donbas. They then became part of the Ministry of Interior Forces, but maintained their own command, composed exclusively of members of the SNA. Mosiychuk became a deputy commander in charge of press relations for the Azov Battalion. At the same time he became close to far right populist Oleg Lyashko. A number of SNA members stood in the Kyiv local election on Lyashko’s Radical Party list. Mosiychuk was elected as a Kyiv councillor. At the beginning of August he resigned from his position in the Azov Battalion so that the Battalion would not be too closely associated with Lyashko.
Complete story at - The far right in the new Ukrainian Parliament | Solidarity with the Antifascist Resistance in Ukraine
The main far right party in the previous Rada, Svoboda (Freedom) went down in votes and elected members: from 2.1 million votes for the party list and 37 Rada members down to 740,000 votes and only 6 members elected in single-mandate constituencies.
However, the whole political spectrum moved to the right, with the “mainstream” parties of president Poroshenko (Block Poroshenko) and the prime minister Yatseniuk (Peoples Front) all pandering to radical right wing reactionary nationalism and having far right individuals in their lists or supporting them in single-mandate constituencies. To give an example, president Poroshenko declared October 14 the day of the defender of Ukraine in commemoration of the founding of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) which during World War Two collaborated with the nazis and carried out atrocities against the Polish population. Poroshenko also declared that the UPA should be regarded as heroes and and example to be followed.
The main beneficiary of Svoboda’s decline was the right wing populist Lyashko’s Radical Party. Lyashko had spent most of the initial phase of the so-called “anti-terrorist operation” dressed in black paramilitary fatigues, participating directly in capturing, threatening and torturing “terrorists” in the East. He had also made an alliance with a section of the neo-nazi Social-Nationalist Assembly, with some of its members being elected to the Kyiv City Council on the Radical Party list.
Igor Mosiychuk, deputy chair of the parliamentary committee on law enforcement
Lyashko’s Radical Party list, which received 1.17 million votes and elected 22 members, can be considered as a whole as far right, and includes particularly nasty neo-nazi elements like Igor Mosiychuk. Mosiychuk has a long past in neo-nazi organisations, having been part of the UNA-UNSO in the 1990s. The Ukrainian National Assembly – Ukrainian People’s Self-Defense was a violent fascist organisation which predates most contemporary far right organisations in Ukraine today. After the collapse of the UNA-UNSO in 1998, he joined the Social National Party of Ukraine, an openly neo-nazi organisation which later on in 2004 changed its name, toned down a bit its public rhetoric and became Svoboda. Mosiychuk then joined those who disagreed with the “moderate” turn of the SNPU to form the Social Nationalist Assembly, a hard line neo-nazi group. In 2011 he became a member of the executive of the SNA and acted as its press secretary. Mosiychuk spent time in jail as one of the defendants in the case of the Vasilokovsky terrorists. He was only released from jail after the victory of the Euromaidan. During the Euromaidan movement, the SNA was part of the violent Right Sector. After the victory of the Euromaidan the SNA went on to form the infamous Azov Battalion of volunteers to fight against the uprising in the Donbas. They then became part of the Ministry of Interior Forces, but maintained their own command, composed exclusively of members of the SNA. Mosiychuk became a deputy commander in charge of press relations for the Azov Battalion. At the same time he became close to far right populist Oleg Lyashko. A number of SNA members stood in the Kyiv local election on Lyashko’s Radical Party list. Mosiychuk was elected as a Kyiv councillor. At the beginning of August he resigned from his position in the Azov Battalion so that the Battalion would not be too closely associated with Lyashko.
Complete story at - The far right in the new Ukrainian Parliament | Solidarity with the Antifascist Resistance in Ukraine
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