Quadcopter drone footage released to the internet shows the harassment of Russian armor with drone dropped munitions. Halfway through the video, it cuts to the drone destroying a second disabled tank with the hatch left open.

For the purpose of context, this video shows a Ukrainian quadcopter pilot harassing a Russian tank. The quadcopter then destroys a disabled and abandoned Russian tank in the second half of the video. Now, let's get to the hard part of this blog post.

Going to call a spade a spade on this one. It will probably be an unpopular statement, but it is a statement of fact, regardless of how anyone feels about it.

If the Ukrainians are at all wondering how or why it is easy to sell the Russian populace on the "Ukraine is a Nazi state" propaganda, they need to take an internal look at some of the footage their own units are releasing. Aside from the fact that it is extremely easy to find white supremacist content and slogans amongst Ukrainian troops' individual Instagram profiles, we're going to go ahead and take a look at this video right here.

You'll probably have noticed in this video there's a massive watermark in the center of this video. That watermark, which is KARA1488, is a direct callout to a numeric hate symbol that is internationally recognized. 14 is a reference to a white supremacist 14 word slogan "We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children," and 88 is a direct reference to the numeric callout for "Heil Hitler," with each 8 representing the 8th letter in the alphabet, which is H.

The numbers 1488 are commonly used by members of the Aryan Brotherhood in graffiti, tattoos, and even in screen names and e-mail addresses. This numeric hate symbol can be referenced as 1488, 14/88, or 8814. Another commonly used tactic with this number is to set the price of CDs and merchandise to $14.88 as another reference point for white supremacist merchandise and content. Unlike the meme-worthy white power hand signal of the okay sign, this hate symbol has actually been around for a very long time, and one doesn't have to look too far into white supremacist culture to find dozens of references to this hate symbol.

Now, let me make myself perfectly clear. Me writing this and calling a spade a spade does not make me a Russian sympathizer. It doesn't mean that I support the invasion of Ukraine or believe that the Ukrainian people don't have the right to defend themselves from a foreign invasion. What it does mean is that I will call out actual white supremacist slogans and individuals who hold those beliefs in Ukrainian perspective content when I see it. It does mean that I will refuse to compromise my own integrity as a writer by knowingly spreading these slogans. I will always point this type of content out when I see it.

If Ukraine wants the support of NATO, they absolutely need to get this kind of nonsense in check, even if it is a fringe minority of their troops that support and hold these beliefs. Believe it or not, this is the exact kind of thing that makes it very easy for Russia to sell their citizens on the belief of Ukraine being a "Nazi state." If this is somehow a cultural misunderstanding, then someone needs to go ahead and inform and educate the Ukrainian people on the realities of organizations like the Aryan Brotherhood.

Thanks for coming to my TedTalk. You can tweet your hate and discontent at me over at @F530Josh on Twitter. I'll be hearing complaints from actual white supremacists who are mad that I pointed them out as shit-bags for at least the next 0 minutes.

About the Author

Josh Brooks

Josh is an American writer and former USMC machine gunner with eight years of experience in ground combat arms throughout the GWOT. He is currently based in Texas and specializes in combat footage analysis and digital marketing.Follow Josh at OfficialJoshBrooks.com