US comedian Jon Stewart (left), Ukrainian neo-nazi Ihor Halushka (center), and a person in cartoon costume (right) at the US Department of Defense Warrior Games 2022 in Disney World, Florida, USA. Photo composition: The Grayzone.
By Alexander Rubinstein ā Aug 31, 2022
Defense Department-sponsored āWarrior Gamesā featured liberal comedian Jon Stewart awarding a member of Ukraineās neo-Nazi Azov Battalion at Disney World. The Pentagon refused to tell The Grayzone whether US taxpayers funded the foreign competitorsā travel.
This August, during the Department of Defenseās annual Warrior Games at Disney World in Orlando, Florida this August 19-28, liberal comedian Jon Stewart awarded a Ukrainian military veteran named Ihor Halushka the āHeart of the Teamā award for āinspiring his teamā with his āpersonal example.ā
Halushka happens to have been a member of the neo-Nazi Azov Battalion, which has been armed by the US and integrated into the Ukrainian National Guard. The award-winning ultra-nationalist wore a sleeve over his left arm as he accepted the prize, presumably to cover up his tattoo of the Nazi Sonnenrad, or Black Sun.
The pair are part of a team of forty Ukrainian veterans participating in the Warrior Games. They were joined at the ceremony for this yearās competition by Darius Rucker, the formerĀ vocalistĀ for the glorified bar band Hootie & the Blowfish, and liberal comedian Jon Stewart.
During the closing ceremony, Stewart awarded the Azov Battalionās Halushka with the āHeart of the Teamā award. The announcer proclaimed that Ihor āinspires his team with his personal example and his unique sense of humor. Sgt. First Class Ihor Halushka embodies the spirit and determination that is the heart of Team Ukraine.ā
Stewart triumphantly bellowed āIhor!ā as the Nazi was presented with his trophy.
Prior to Russiaās invasion of Ukraine in February of this year, mainstream outlets from theĀ Daily Beast to Vox to Foreign Policy, and even the US government propaganda outletĀ Voice of America, have each acknowledged the Azov Battalionās embrace of Nazism. Right Sector group has beenĀ similarly identifiedĀ as a fascist organization. Since the invasion, however, Western corporate media hasĀ downplayedĀ the presence of Nazis in the Ukrainian armed forces as groups like Azov have taken on prominent front-line roles.
Reached by phone, Warrior Games communication director Travis Claytor would not tell The Grayzone who covered the travel expenses of Team Ukraine and other foreign competitors. Claytor merely stated that the Department of Defense is ānot responsibleā for their costs. However, he noted that āthe relationship with each team is different.ā Ukraine and Canada are the only foreign teams participating in this yearās competition.
While promising this reporter a more complete response by email, Claytor has so far failed to deliver.
AĀ videoĀ on the DoD Warrior Games YouTube channel entitled āFamily Night at Magic Kingdomā shows some members of Team Ukraine enjoying a night out at the world-famous theme park.
This yearās Warrior Games are taking place at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort. Competitions include shooting, wheelchair rugby, cycling, powerlifting, indoor rowing, wheelchair basketball, field, golf, track, swimming, sitting volleyball and archery.
This is theĀ first yearĀ Team Ukraine has participated in the Warrior Games. Its athletes came away with at least 18 gold medals.
Ukraineās team is composed of the same veteran-athletes that participated in the Invictus Games, a similar competition of wounded veterans founded by Prince Harry after the English royal attended the Warrior Games. Ukraineās Invictus Games team and Warrior Games team are bothĀ led byĀ Oksana Gorbach, according to the Ukrainian Ministry of Veterans Affairs.
āThe organizational team of the Warrior Games in Ukraine includes the Ministry of Veterans Affairs of Ukraine, the Center for Strategic Communications StratCom Ukraine, the NGO Invictus Ukraine Games, the Strongman Federation of Ukraine, the Come Back Alive,ā the Ministry of Veterans Affairs website states. StratCom Ukraine, like the Ministry of Veterans Affairs, is a governmental body, while the others appear to be Ukrainian NGOs.
As the GrayzoneĀ reported, the head of Ukraineās veterans affairs agency attended a 2019 neo-Nazi black metal concert featuring several antisemitic metal bands, and promoted the event on Facebook.
According to aĀ deleted articleĀ from 2017 on an Azov Battalion website, at least three members of the notorious ultranationalist fighting force have participated in the Invictus Games. Because Azov identified the competitors by their call signs, and therefore did not disclose their real names, it is not possible to determine whether they also competed in the 2022 Warrior Games.
While the team page on the Invictus Games website merely states that Ihor Halushka was a member of Ukraineās National Guard, an expandedĀ bioĀ on the website makes it clear he was a member of Azov.
An unlisted YouTubeĀ video by the Invictus Games on YouTube offers a close-up of Halushka working out, with Nazi Black Sun symbol tattooed on his left elbow clearly visible. Halushka opted to cover the fascist symbol during photo ops at the Warrior Games.
Halushka has never been shy about his ties to the Azov Battalion. During the Invictus Games this April, heĀ whipped outĀ an Azov flag as he accepted a gold medal, which was hosted in The Hagueāwhere war criminals are normally tried, not awarded. Likewise, in Orlando, Haluskha wore an Azov Battalion t-shirt as he accepted a gold medal for indoor rowing. He was honored days later as the āheartā of his team.
āSymbol of Ukrainian braveryā was member of fascist Right Sector
Perhaps the most famous Ukrainian Warrior Games participant is Yulia Palevska, who the New York Times has dubbedĀ āa symbol of Ukrainian bravery and self-sacrifice.ā
Palevska gained international recognition this March when she handed off footage she had filmed in Mariupol to a journalist with the Associated Press. The video showed Palevska evacuating Azov Battalion soldiers from the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol when she was captured by Russian forces. Three months later, she was released.
Palevskaās release by Russia was such a notable event in Ukraine that President Zelensky personallyĀ remarkedĀ on the development.
The Associated Press downplayed her links to the Azov Battalion,Ā writingĀ āRussia has portrayed Taira as working for the nationalist Azov Battalionā¦ But the AP found no such evidence, and friends and colleagues said she had no links to Azov.ā
However, Palevska was a member of another neo-Nazi formation similarly incorporated into the Ukrainian militaryāa fact not mentioned by mainstream media outlets that vaulted her to war hero status this March.
A 2019 Bloomberg BusinessweekĀ report identified Palevska as āa former member of Right Sector.ā (āThereās no such thing as ex-Right Sector,ā she claimed). After leaving the group āamid infighting,ā she organized a team of combat medics named after her World of Warcraft character, āTairaās Angels.ā
Bloombergās correspondent met with Palevska in Mariupol, which was then controlled by the Azov Battalion. Palevskaās medic group āruns through about $20,000, half of it from abroad, in cash, fuel, and medical supplies every month,ā he reported.
āEveryone I talk to describes [Palevska], dappled with Buddhist tattoos and sporting dyed blue hair, as motivated purely by patriotism,ā he added.
In a photo posted by the official Facebook page for Ukrainian Warrior Games team, Palevskaās tattoo of the ultranationalist slogan āGlory to Ukraine, Glory to the Heroesā is clearly visible.
Another member of Palevskaās media group was āwearing a T-shirt from the neo-Nazi apparel company Sva Stone and an Iron Cross ring,ā according to Bloomberg.
Nazi salutes litter Team Ukraineās Facebook page
It is difficult to believe that Palevska and Halushka are the only members of Team Ukraine that have belonged to neo-Nazi groups.
A photo posted on the teamās official Facebook page show five team members performing a fascist salute in front of a Warrior Games banner.
In other photos, a member of the team wearing a Warrior Games t-shirt can be seenĀ holdingĀ a Right Sector flag; and seven veterans associated with the teamĀ bear the flagĀ of the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the Schutzstaffel (SS), a WWII-era Nazi military formation made up of Ukrainian nationalists.
American taxpayers have already forkedĀ $60 billionĀ over to Ukraine since the war broke out in 2014. They are therefore entitled to know whether the Department of Defense paid Team Ukraineās travel expenses.
Video from the Department of Defense shows the Ukrainian team deboarding on the tarmac at MacDill Air Force Base. Did they even pass through Customs?
The Pentagonās Warrior Games has refused to answer these questions and stonewalled The Grayzone ever since.
While the presence of neo-Nazis within Ukraineās fighting forces may come as little surprise to critical observers of NATOās conflict with Russia, their invitation to Disney World by the Department of Defense is without a doubt one of the weirdest episodes in the Ukraine proxy war.
The Hill has covered Alex Rubinsteinās report for The Grayzone:
Alexander Rubinstein
Alexander Rubinstein is a staff writer for MintPress News based in Washington, DC. He reports on police, prisons and protests in the United States and the United States' policing of the world. He previously reported for RT and Sputnik News.
