Quoting from your post: "We are carrying out a special military operation against nationalists to protect the people of Donbass"
Is there any credence to the claim, anything at all that is credible?
Hmm, before Euromaidan and the revolution they had a pro-Russia government in place, after this they had a pro-EU government in place.
Given the makeup of the Ukrainian population, I would certainly say that not everyone was happy with this, the South Eastern areas of Ukraine are largely Russian or Ukrainian-Russian.
The discontent with the overthrow of Yanucovych (in my opinion) had lead in part to the annexation of Crimea which lead to the protests and the separatist groups that formed in Donetsk and Luhansk (Donbass) which is where Yanukovych was from, his support base. I feel like these areas were likely wanting to follow in the same route as Crimea or atleast have an opportunity to have their own say in the way that things progressed. This lead to the war in Donbass as we have seen it since 2014.
During the start of this war, there formed such volunteer groups such as:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Azov_Battalion
The Gaurdian did an article in 2014 which adds more context to their activities and provides one members account of involvement. It also mentions that they had been doing much of the frontline fighting in Ukraine's war with pro-Russia separatists:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/10/azov-far-right-fighters-ukraine-neo-nazis
They are cited by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights as being connected to war crimes such as mass looting, unlawful detention, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence which you can read about in the in their reports:
www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/UA/Ukraine_13th_HRMMU_Report_3March2016.pdf
www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/UA/Ukraine_14th_HRMMU_Report.pdf
There are numerous articles that cite members of this group having participated in the fighting against the Russian separatists of the Donbass region right up till the invasion of Ukraine by Russia as we see it today.
How was that war actually going though?
Citing the most recently available report by the UN on civillian casualties of the war and their stats from 2018-2021:
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Any idea which side of the conflict has been suffering the most civilian casualties? What types of things have caused these deaths?
From 1 January to 31 December 2021, OHCHR recorded 44 civilian casualties caused by active hostilities (shelling, SALW fire and UAV strikes): seven killed (six men and one woman) and 37 injured (26 men, nine women, one boy and one girl), a 37.1 per cent decrease compared with 2020 (eight killed and 62 injured).
You can read more about it in the UN report here:
Are the people of Donbass under threat by nationalist groups? I can't say for sure but I do know that Azov is not the only group that exists in Ukraine with an affinity towards nationalism. See my previous post and personal experience having talked with someone who had lived in the region since childhood:
I will cite the above wikipedia article:
In 2018, a provision in an appropriations bill passed by the U.S. Congress blocked military aid to Azov on the grounds of its white supremacist ideology; in 2015, a similar ban on aid to the group
was overturned by the Congress.
Are they being supported by the West? I am not sure, but people have been asking questions about this too:
Not only are white supremacists from across the West flocking to Ukraine to learn from the combat experience of their fascist brothers-in-arms, they are doing so openly, under the nose of a shrugging law enforcement — chronicling their experiences on social media before they bring their lessons...
thegrayzone.com
A review into how Canada approves the foreign military personnel its trains should be ready by early next year but parts of the study will need to remain secret
ottawacitizen.com
Is there even a sliver of credence to the claim, just a tiny one?
Will drop some pictures from the peaceful Euromaidan protests for illustration:
#totallynotnationalistsunlessrussiannationlists
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