More than 50% of eligible voters either voted against Zelensky, or didn't vote for him. Even in the second round run-off election, Zelensky only received 45% of potential votes. Some landslide.

• When given a wide choice of 39 candidates, just 30% of voters supported Zelensky; if you include those who were eligible to vote but didn't, it was only 19% of the eligible voting population who preferred him: 81% of voters preferred somebody else.
• In the second round of voting, when asked to choose between only incumbent president Petro Poroshenko and Zelensky, 73% choose Zelensky; if you include those who chose to stay away and not vote at all, that was only 45% of eligible voters.
• And a year later, his popularity had plummeted to just 10% approval rating as the Ukrainian people discovered that Zelensky was even more corrupt than the crooks he replaced, and was completely incapable of either bringing the far-right under control or ending the civil war.

Quote: "With no previous political experience, Mr Zelensky's campaign focused on his difference to the other candidates rather than on any concrete policy ideas. ... Analysts believe Mr Zelensky's informal style and vow to clean up Ukrainian politics resonated with voters who are disillusioned with the country's path under Mr Poroshenko." Kinda like Trump, don't you think?

So to summarise: Zelensky, a professional actor who was very popular, managed to fool 19% of eligible voters in the first round of the election, which was enough to get into the second round. Poroshenko, already widely disliked, lost the election to somebody even more dirty and corrupt who could put on a better false face.

Ergo very few are nazis.

You're probably right. If I was to take a wildly unscientific stab in the dark, my guess is that probably only about 2% of Ukrainians are hard-core far right extremists, and only a fraction of those are specifically obsessed with THE JOOS like Hitler was. And? What's your point? 2% of 44 million is a lot of people.

Nazism is more than just antisemitism, and its not solely the true believer extremists that are the problem. Its the thousands more of more moderate right-wing fellow travellers who are associated with them, and the millions of easily-lead followers who go along with the true believers out of patriotism, or fear, or greed, or because they're just following orders. Even in Nazi Germany, most Nazis were not raging antisemites who wanted to exterminate all the jews -- not at first. Even Hitler himself originally planned to just expel the Jews from Europe.

There is little or no chance that the extreme right will take power in Ukraine through democratic and fair elections but that's not how the extreme right takes power. The far right never takes over by convincing 51% of the voters to support death camps.

They take power by challenging the state's monopoly on violence, and gaining support and protection from fellow-travellers and sympathisers in positions of power. In 1920s Italy, the government and the king caved to threats from Mussolini's fascist minority and gave him power. In 1930s Germany, the establishment political elite made Hitler Chancellor thinking that they could control him like a puppet, that he would do their dirty work for them and allow them to keep their hands clean.

In Ukraine, far right paramilitary operates with impunity, often with the open support of police and military. They are funded and supported by wealthy oligarchs. Far right terror attacks and even murders are rarely investigated and even more rarely prosecuted. Nobody has been charged for the Maidan murders, or the burning alive of protesters in Odessa, or the attacks against Gypsies.

Azov was so powerful that the Ukrainian government simply integrated them with their military, without making any attempt to weed out the extremists.

Ukraine is officially unapologetic for the murder of tens of thousands of Poles, Hungarians and Ukrainian Jews at the hands of the Banderites during WW2. Even during this war, with Russophobic Poland champing at the bit to fight Russia, there is a certain amount of diplomatic tension between Ukraine and Poland every time the Ukrainians name another street or public arena after a genocidal murderer or celebrate their birthday as a national holiday. Until 2022, all of Ukraine's neighbours agreed that Ukraine has a deep seated problem with neo-Nazis. Until 2022, there was bipartisan recognition in the USA that Ukrainian neo-Nazis were a problem. Obama refused to send them weapons for that reason.

Now the narrative is "bUT tHEy'Ve ChANgEd thEIr WayS aND aREn't NazIS AnYMoRE!" even as they zeig heil on camera.

Azov was formed during the Euromaidan protests.

No, Azov officially was formed after the Euromaiden protests.

Azov Battalion's official creation by Andriy Biletsky was in May 2014. The Euromaiden protests ran from 21 November 2013 to 22 February 2014, so Azov didn't form until three months after the Euromaiden protests and the violent insurrection that removed democratically elected President Viktor Yanukovych from power.

Russia was already trying to set up Ukraine as a puppet state

Nonsense on stilts. That's pure American propaganda and not based on any reality at all. In 2014 Russia was still satisfied for Ukraine to remain politically and militarily neutral and Yanukovych frequently went against Russian interests to move Ukraine economically closer to the EU.

And the irony is that after the so-called "Revolution of Dignity" coup, it was the Americans (specifically that poisonous toad Victoria Nuland) who choose the senior Ukrainian government ministers, from people who didn't even have Ukrainian citizenship at the time and had to quickly apply for citizenship to make their new position legal. And you think that it was Russia who was turning Ukraine into a puppet state??? 🙄

like Belarus.

Belarus has more independence from Russia, despite their infinitely closer cultural and ethnic ties, than Germany or the UK has from the USA.

• Russia and Belarus have partial economic integration? "BeLArUs iS A pUPPeT sTaTE!"
• Western European have much stronger and more complete economic, legal and taxation integration? "That just makes good economic sense."
• Russia and Belarus have partial military integration? "BeLArUs iS A pUPPeT sTaTE!"
• Most of Europe has a much stronger and more complete military integration, dominated by the USA? "That just makes good military sense."
• Russia has two military bases in Belarus? "BeLArUs iS A pUPPeT sTaTE!"
• The US has at least four military bases in Australia, plus free access to at least six other ADF bases? "That's for the protection of Australia."
• The US has forty military bases in Germany? "That's for the protection of Germany."
• The US has eight military bases in Italy? "That's for the protection of Italy."
• The US has six military bases in the UK? "That's for the protection of the UK."
• The US has another 700 military bases in at least 80 countries? "That's for their protection."

Everything that the US claims Russia does, is what the US actually does.