The Minns Government response to Bondi has focussed on anti-Israel protestors and hate speech but has so far ignored Nazis. Sam from AltMediaWatch investigates the Ukrainian neo-Nazi movement.
The New South Wales Government is pushing forward with its plan to crackdown on the right to protest and to ban the display of hate symbols in response to the horrific Bondi terror attack.
Premier Chris Minns has said he plans to ban the phrase “globalise the intifada” after he linked pro-Palestinian protests to the 15 people killed at Bondi Beach.
The move is clearly a political one, to appease Israeli lobbying groups who’ve tried to silence outrage over Israel’s genocide in Gaza and protests that have had success in pressuring the Australian government into recognising the State of Palestine.
Any real discussion on antisemitism in the wake of the Bondi Massacre needs to target all communities, not just those the groups lobbying the NSW government wish to silence.
One such example is the Ukrainian community groups, who the Minns government have openly supported in response to Russia’s genocide in Ukraine, but the reality is that there is a significant issue of antisemitism within these Ukrainian community groups and one that the Minns government has directly facilitated.
Da Vinci Wolves fundraiser
On the 12th of February, MP Stephen Kamper, a member of Minns government hosted a fundraiser with the Ukrainian Council of NSW screening the Ukrainian documentary about Dmytro ‘Da Vinci’ Kotsiubailo, who was awarded the Hero of Ukraine medal in 2021 and killed in 2023 while fighting Russia in the battle of Bakhmut.
Figure 1 AFOU event poster for movie screening at NSW Parliament
The event raised $6,505 with proceeds going to the 1st Separate Mechanised Battalion (Da Vinci Wolves), the Brigade which Kotsiubailo commanded up until his death.
The problem is that the Brigade is now commanded by neo-Nazi Serhii Filimonov, who previously served in the controversial Azov Battallion until it was merged with the Ukrainian Armed Forces in an attempt to purge the more extremists like Filiminov from its ranks.
Neo Nazi Serhii Filimonov shirtless (left) with a Valknut and Totenkopf tattoo and with the ‘White Boys Club’ (right)
Filimonov sports multiple neo-Nazi tattoos including the popular Valknut rune, and the Totenkopf, the insignia of Hitler’s 3rd SS Panzer Division.
He was a leader in violent Dynamo Ultras, an antisemitic group of football hooligans known as the ‘White Boys Club’. The groups emblem includes an image of Prince Sviatoslav a favourite among antisemites for destroying the Khazar empire, which they believe are ‘fake Jews’ trying to infiltrate and destroy Europe and the West.
3rd Assault Brigade fundraiser
On the February 24, the Australian Federation for Ukrainian Organisations, the peak Ukrainian body, held a rally to commemorate the 3rd anniversary of Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.
NSW Premier Chris Minns spoke at the event along with Senator Dave Sharma and several other state and federal politicians.
Premier Chris Minns speaking during the rally to commemorate the 3rd anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The rally at St. Mary’s Cathedral featured a short ‘thank you’ video to Australians from members of the Ukrainian Armed Forces including members of the 3rd Assault Brigade, which received an online fundraising campaign a month earlier hosted by the Defend Ukraine Appeal.
Video message including the 3rd Assault Brigade’s 2nd Mechanised Division
The 3rd Assault is the successor to the controversial Azov Battalion, and just like Azov it is linked heavily with neo-Nazis. Led by the former commander of the Azov Battalion, neo-Nazi Andriy Biletsky who in 2010 was quoted as saying he believed Ukraine’s mission was to:
“lead the white races of the world in a final crusade
… against Semite-led Untermenschen [subhumans]”.
A term used extensively by the Nazis to dehumanise Jews and other groups they considered inferior.
The ‘thank you’ video featured members of a medical unit in the Brigade’s 2nd Mechanised Infantry Battalion, led by well-known neo-Nazi Denys Sokur also formerly of the Azov Battalion. Sokur has an ‘88’ tattoo on his leg (a common abbreviation for ‘Heil Hitler”), and a Sonnenrad or black sun tattoo on his elbow.
Denys Sokur with the Sonnenrad tattoo on his elbow
The Sonnenrad originated from Nazi Germany, it was featured on the marble floor of Wewelsburg castle run by Heinrich Himmler, the head of the SS.
The symbol is popular amongst neo-Nazis,
it was worn by the Australian neo-Nazi
who murdered 51 people at a Christchurch mosque in 2019 and was also on the cover of the manifesto he wrote, which has been translated into Ukrainian and published by neo-Nazis in the Azov movement.
The Ukrainian translation of the Christchurch shooter’s manifesto with other books published by the Azov movement
Another prominent neo-Nazi from the 3rd Assault Brigade caused controversy last year after visiting Auschwitz concentration camp in a shirt from a neo-Nazi black metal band with the inscription ‘Where we are, there is no place for anyone else’,
a quote attributed to Adolf Hitler.
3rd Assault Brigade Soldier at Auschwitz wearing a shirt with Hitler quote and receiving a medal dressed in the brigade uniform
CYM Youth and St. Andrew’s Ukrainian Catholic Church
On March 9, the Sydney branch of the Ukrainian Youth Association (CYM) held a memorial for Nazi collaborator and war criminal Roman Shukhevych, also known by the pseudonym Taras Chuprynka.
CYM Sydney Facebook post in memory of Nachtigal Commander Taras Chuprynka aka Roman Shukhevych.
CYM Sydney, which is part of the 22 organisations that make up the Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations (AFUO) holds regular memorials in honour of Shukhevych, who is the Youth group’s patron.
Shukhevych was the commander of the Nachtigall Battalion, a subunit in Nazi Germany’s special forces that participated in the murder of Jews in Lviv during the German Holocaust.
Holocaust survivor and former Chairman of Yad Vashem, The World Holocaust Remembrance Center, Joseph Lapid noted of Shukhevych and his Battalion:
“In a terrible pogrom the Nightingale Battalion of the Ukrainian legion participated in the murder of 4,000 Jews from Lviv between June 30-July 3, 1941. The Ukrainian commander of the battalion at that time was Roman Shukhevych, a Ukrainian nationalist.
“The units he commanded, supposedly fighting for Ukrainian independence, committed large scale murder during the war. He was a war criminal.”
After the Nachtigall Battalion was dissolved, Shukhevych became deputy commander of the Auxiliary Police, which was sent to Belarus where it fought against Soviet partisans and is believed to have participated in the murder of more Jews.
Auxiliary Police leaders with Roman Shukhevych (sitting, second from left), 1942.
During the memorial, members of CYM Sydney also displayed a flag for the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Galician), a mostly Ukrainian division which was part of the military wing of the Nazi Party and led by the head of the SS, Heinrich Himmler. The flag was gifted to the Youth Group in 2007 by members of the UPA who served in the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division and immigrated to Australia after WW2.
These memorials were held at St. Andrew’s Ukrainian Catholic Church in Lidcombe; The Sydney Ukrainian community has a commemorative plaque dedicated to members of the 14th Waffen SS who “gave their lives for the freedom of Ukraine”.
14th Waffen SS Grenadier Division Commemorative Plaque reads: TO THE ETERNAL GLORY OF THOSE WHO FELL FOR THE FREEDOM OF UKRAINE ETERNAL GLORY TO ALL WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR THE FREEDOM OF UKRAINE BROTHERHOOD OF COLLEGE SOLDIERS 1 UD UNA STATION SYDNEY 1995
The Ukrainian church store frequently sells patches for both the 14th Waffen SS and the neo-Nazi Azov Battalion featuring the Sonnenrad symbol, the shop’s patron even participated in a parade in Ukraine in patches of the SS Battalion.
Neo-Nazi Azov Patches and 14th Waffen patches for sale in the St. Andrew’s Ukrainian Church Shop
The NSW Department of Health under the Minns government promotes both the Sydney Ukrainian Youth Group and the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Lidcombe as support organisations for “Communities Impacted by the Invasion of Ukraine” on their Transcultural Mental Health Centre Website despite the groups open support for Nazi Battalions and commanders.
NSW Health’s Transcultural Mental Health Centre Website.
Minns response for Israel lobby, not antisemitism
The News South Wales premier’s response to the Bondi Massacre has so far focused only on the interests of Israeli lobbying groups. It highlights and blames only those who have voiced their opposition to Israel’s genocide and doesn’t address antisemitism evenly across Australian society.
Independence In My Heart rally, Sydney, NSW, Australia, August 2023
When it comes to hate there is no difference between displaying ISIS flags at protests or the Azov flag which features the same neo-Nazi symbol worn by the Australian terrorist who he killed 51 people attending Mosques in Christchurch in 2019.
While we have seen strong condemnations from the government on the former display of hate, we are yet to see any on the later despite Ukrainian community members displaying the Azov flag at many of their protests, including at the Opera House just a few weeks prior to widely condemned pro-Palestine rally from October 9th 2023.
Hate affects us all, not just those communities with lobbying groups equipped to pressure the government into prioritising their own interests above all Australians and any approach that selectively highlights antisemitism and ignores displays of hate across society is doomed to fail.
“Absolutely devastating”. Israel bans aid orgs from Gaza, publishes Aussie antisemites list
Sam from AltMediaWatch is an antifascist researcher of far-right extremism in Australia who prefers to remain anonymous for safety reasons but is known to MWM. His work can be found on X @AltMediaWatch