Inside the chilling rise of the far right in Ukraine

CHANTING mobs brandishing burning torches and red paint thrown over Soviet-era monuments are just some of the sights seen in Ukraine as presidential elections draw near.

Tensions are growing among far-right groups as President Petro Poroshenko prepares to run for a second five-year term at the end of March.

Earlier this month, thousands of far-right activists took to the streets and marched against the President’s plans to run for office again.

Outside the administrative headquarters, they threw funeral-style bouquets and toy pigs as they chanted over the alleged corruption.

Ultra-nationalists have been seen fighting police at campaign rallies, assaulted LGBT and women’s rights gatherings and stormed Holocaust lectures.

Nationalists were seen carrying torches to mark the birthday of Stepan Bandera, the founder of the rebel army that fought against the Soviet regime.

While other members of nationalist group Sokil, the youth wing of the Svoboda party, chanted and held flares during a concert in Kiev.

In October 2018, nationalists attended a rally marking Defender of Ukraine day in Kiev, and pictures show them weawring their logo and masks while marching in unity.

The government has lost control over radical nationalists.

Andriy Yermolayev, the head of the New Ukraine independent thinktank

Pictures also show teenage members of the ultra-right groups which are encouraged by veterans to train with weapons and practice martial arts.

Andriy Yermolayev, the head of the New Ukraine independent think-tank, said the government in the past had turned a blind eye to the rise of nationalist groups.

He said: “The well-organised and aggressive nationalism in Ukraine is a child of the government.

“The government has lost control over radical nationalists. Poroshenko has lost that game.”

Ultra-nationalist groups have been growing steadily since 2014, when they began protesting over President Vicktor Yanukovych and were able to remove him from power.

A growing nationalist wave has taken hold in Europe, especially in Hungary and Poland, making nationalists a prominent topic of conversation in Eastern Europe.

Director of the Institute of Global Strategies Vadim Karasyov said: “The government’s games with the ultra-right are extremely dangerous, because those groups quickly spin out of control and start dictating scenarios and rules of the game.” The Kiev-based independent think-tank leader added: “To bolster their appeal, the ultra-right are using not just war, but also actions against Roma, Muslims and Gay people.”

Thousands of Ukrainian nationalists headed east, forming volunteer groups for the Ukrainian forces in the rebel regions.

Members of the ultra-right groups practice martial arts and have learned how to handle weapons.

During rallies they chant: “Death to traitors of Ukraine” and during one protest, red paint was thrown over a memorial to a Red Army general killed in WW II.