Photo: Print Screen of video

This article was first published by Truthmeter.mk (North Macedonia), within the framework of Western Balkans Anti-Disinformation Project.

The United Nations Charter does not permit Russia, or any other state, to invade another country “under the pretext of eradicating Nazism.” The Charter only allows military force to be used by a UN member state against another in one specific instance: when the country itself is attacked. Despite this, Kremlin propaganda frequently repeats the “denazification” narrative, even though Russia has never provided evidence of “Nazism flourishing in Ukraine.” Nazi groups that exist in modern Ukraine, as well as in other European countries, have no influence in Parliament, hold no governmental power, and cannot serve as justification for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

We analyze a Facebook post which shares video material and claims:

Russia, the United States, and the United Kingdom have the right to engage in military action or aggression against another state over Nazism without notifying the other two parties.

In the video, Dušan Dunđer claims “it is manipulation to say that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has disrupted its territorial integrity,” and that “the 1946 United Nations Charter requires that the Russian Federation is entitled to intervene on any territory of Nazism.”

Now you see that Nazism is growing not only in Ukraine but also across Europe and the world, being created just as it was from 1938 to 1941, the situation is identical, he says in the video of the post.

 

The Kremlin’s propaganda often repeats the “denazification” narrative despite the fact that Russia has never provided evidence that “Nazism is flourishing in Ukraine”, write fact-checkers at “Delfi.”

The essence of the UN Charter is to ensure the peace and sovereignty of states.

The right to use armed force against another state without consulting the UN is outlined in Article 51 of the Charter, but only in the case of a country defending itself from an attack by another state.

Article 51 reads as follows:

Nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defense if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations, until the Security Council has taken measures necessary to maintain international peace and security. Measures taken by Members in the exercise of this right of self-defense shall be immediately reported to the Security Council and shall not in any way affect the authority and responsibility of the Security Council under the present Charter to take at any time such action as it deems necessary in order to maintain or restore international peace and security.

Putin is misusing the term “denazify,” pointing out that denazification refers to a particular moment in time in the post-war era, and that Putin’s use of the term is propaganda aimed at his fears about the current democratic government in the Ukraine. There’s a very specific historical meaning [to denazification], which is the process undergone in Germany after the Second World War, says Timothy Snyder, an expert on Ukraine and author of “The Road to Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America, “ for Time Magazine.

On 25 October 2018, the European Parliament expressed concern over the growing normalization of fascism, racism, and xenophobia, calling on all EU member states to ban neo-fascist and neo-Nazi groups. It was also proposed that EU member states create programs to help individuals involved in violent neo-fascist and neo-Nazi groups to disengage from and leave them.

Taking all of this into account, we assess the post as untrue.