Regrettably, Putin’s characterization of the nature of the EuroMaidan Revolution in Ukraine that toppled Viktor Yanukovych as president on Feb. 21 is still being bought by gullible journalists in America and Europe.

Take for instance, the Pulitzer-prize winning columnist Eugene Robinson, who penned a terribly misinformed piece for the Washington Post this week in which he wrote that “several far-right ultra-nationalists have such prominent roles in Ukraine’s new government.”

He targets Oleksandr Sych, who is a member of the nationalist Svoboda party and a deputy prime minister. He likens him to a neo-Nazi by association – because Oleh Tiahnybok, its leader, once said many years ago that Ukraine was being controlled by a “Muscovite-Jewish mafia.” Svoboda has since moved from the far right closer to the mainstream on the political spectrum since winning seats in parliament.

More nationalistic than Svoboda is the Right Sector led by Dmytro Yarosh, the Kremline’s poster boy for “neo-Nazism.” But Yarosh is no fascist. He disavows xenophobia, anti-Semitism and other extremism in his bid to win the presidency on May 25. Yarosh does have radicals in his militant ranks, but even they consider Armenian Serhiy Nihoyan and Belarussian Mykhailo Zhyznievsky, two protesters killed by gunshot wounds after a police assault on demonstrators on Jan. 22, as heroes.

There is no threat to ethnic minorities in Ukraine. And, specifically, there is no threat to ethnic Russians and Russian speakers, as Putin claims. There has not been a single case of an ethnic Russian who has been attacked or killed in Ukraine because of their ethnicity in recent memory and certainly not since the beginning of anti-government protests on Nov. 21. 

But don’t take our word for it — come to the streets of any city in Ukraine to find out. Or listen to Olexiy Haran, a political science professor at National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy and a critic of the nationalist Svoboda party. He calls the “neo-Nazi” accusations from Russia “greatly exaggerated.” Furthermore, Ukraine’s head rabbi Moshe Reuven Azman said “there is no anti-Semitism in Ukraine.”
“We should draw a distinction between nationalism and Nazism. Nationalism is loving one’s own people, and Nazism hates others,” the rabbi said.

This is why we think it’s time for a reality check – for Putin and Western correspondents alike.