Azov Brigade: Difference between revisions
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Azov formed in May 2014 as a volunteer paramilitary militia under the command of [[Andriy Biletsky (politician)|Andriy Biletsky]]. It first saw combat [[Battle of Mariupol (May–June 2014)#Government recapture of Mariupol|recapturing Mariupol]] from Russian forces and pro-Russian separatists in June 2014, and it has since been fighting [[Russian separatist forces in Donbas|Russian forces]] in the [[Donbas War]].{{R|pancevski}}{{R|Lazaredes-2015}} The until was formally incorporated into the National Guard on 11 November 2014, and its former commanders were replaced with officers from regular Ukrainian armed forces.<ref name="tab">{{Cite web|url=https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/defenders-of-mariupol-azov|title=The Defenders of Mariupol|date=18 May 2022|website=Tablet Magazine}}</ref>{{R|ngu-2015|Hume-2022|AUnian16916}} The regiment strength was estimated between 900 and 2,500 members in 2017-2022.{{R|AlJazeera-2022}}<ref name="spiegel.de" /> Most of the unit members are Russian speakers and come from the Russian-speaking regions of Ukraine, it also includes members from other countries.<ref name="tab" />{{R|Peterson-2015|Chervonenko-2018}} |
Azov formed in May 2014 as a volunteer paramilitary militia under the command of [[Andriy Biletsky (politician)|Andriy Biletsky]]. It first saw combat [[Battle of Mariupol (May–June 2014)#Government recapture of Mariupol|recapturing Mariupol]] from Russian forces and pro-Russian separatists in June 2014, and it has since been fighting [[Russian separatist forces in Donbas|Russian forces]] in the [[Donbas War]].{{R|pancevski}}{{R|Lazaredes-2015}} The until was formally incorporated into the National Guard on 11 November 2014, and its former commanders were replaced with officers from regular Ukrainian armed forces.<ref name="tab">{{Cite web|url=https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/defenders-of-mariupol-azov|title=The Defenders of Mariupol|date=18 May 2022|website=Tablet Magazine}}</ref>{{R|ngu-2015|Hume-2022|AUnian16916}} The regiment strength was estimated between 900 and 2,500 members in 2017-2022.{{R|AlJazeera-2022}}<ref name="spiegel.de" /> Most of the unit members are Russian speakers and come from the Russian-speaking regions of Ukraine, it also includes members from other countries.<ref name="tab" />{{R|Peterson-2015|Chervonenko-2018}} |
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The battalion drew controversy over allegations of [[torture]] and [[war crime]]s, as well as association with neo-Nazi ideology and symbolism.{{R|Hahn-2018|Colborne-2022}}{{R|telegraph-20220318|Jones-2022}}{{R|rbc|Driebergen|Luhn|Walker|bbc-newman|Sheerin-2022}} Some experts are also critical of the regiment role in the larger, umbrella-like "Azov Movement", and its possible far-right political ambitions despite the claims of the regiment's depolitization. |
The battalion drew controversy over allegations of [[torture]] and [[war crime]]s, as well as association with neo-Nazi ideology and symbolism.{{R|Hahn-2018|Colborne-2022}}{{R|telegraph-20220318|Jones-2022}}{{R|rbc|Driebergen|Luhn|Walker|bbc-newman|Sheerin-2022}} Some experts are also critical of the regiment role in the larger, umbrella-like "Azov Movement", and its possible far-right political ambitions despite the claims of the regiment's depolitization. Other experts argue that the regiment has evolved beyond its origins as street militia tempering its neo-Nazi underpinnings as it became part of the National Guard. Since 2014, criticism of the Azov battalion is a recurring theme of Russian politics.<ref name="Colborne">{{cite news |date=6 April 2022 |title=Right-wing Azov Battalion emerges as a controversial defender of Ukraine |work=WAPO |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/04/06/ukraine-military-right-wing-militias/}}</ref> |
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In the wake of the [[2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine]], the battalion gained renewed attention, as one of the reasons given by [[president of Russia]] [[Vladimir Putin]] for the invasion was the 'denazification' of Ukraine, to remove the alleged control of the country by far right forces such as Azov. During the [[Siege of Mariupol]] the regiment played a prominent role in the city defense, and made its final stand at Mariupol's [[Azovstal iron and steel works|Azovstal steel plant]].{{R|vhnyt}}<ref>{{Cite news |date=May 17, 2022 |title='Defenders of Mariupol are the heroes of our time': the battle that gripped the world |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/17/defenders-of-mariupol-are-the-heroes-of-our-time-the-battle-that-gripped-the-world}}</ref> Ending the siege a significant amount of regiment fighters, including its commander since 2017, [[Denys Prokopenko]], surrendered to the Russian forces on the order from Ukrainian higher command. |
In the wake of the [[2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine]], the battalion gained renewed attention, as one of the reasons given by [[president of Russia]] [[Vladimir Putin]] for the invasion was the 'denazification' of Ukraine, to remove the alleged control of the country by far right forces such as Azov. During the [[Siege of Mariupol]] the regiment played a prominent role in the city defense, and made its final stand at Mariupol's [[Azovstal iron and steel works|Azovstal steel plant]].{{R|vhnyt}}<ref>{{Cite news |date=May 17, 2022 |title='Defenders of Mariupol are the heroes of our time': the battle that gripped the world |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/17/defenders-of-mariupol-are-the-heroes-of-our-time-the-battle-that-gripped-the-world}}</ref> Ending the siege a significant amount of regiment fighters, including its commander since 2017, [[Denys Prokopenko]], surrendered to the Russian forces on the order from Ukrainian higher command. |
Revision as of 07:18, 28 May 2022
A request that this article title be changed to Azov Regiment is under discussion. Please do not move this article until the discussion is closed. |
Azov Special Operations Detachment | |
---|---|
Підрозділ спеціального призначення «Азов» | |
Logo of the Azov Regiment | |
Active | 5 May 2014 – present |
Country | |
Branch | Special Tasks Patrol Police (2014) |
Type | Infantry |
Role | Gendarmerie, national security. |
Size | 900–2500 members[1][2][3] |
Part of | |
Nickname(s) | "Men in Black", "Little Black Men"[4][5] |
Colours | Blue and gold |
Anniversaries | 5 May |
Engagements | |
Website | azov |
Commanders | |
Current commander | Denys Prokopenko (September 2017 – present)[6] |
Notable commanders | Andriy Biletsky (May–October 2014) Ihor Mosiychuk Vadym Troyan |
Insignia | |
Banner |
The Special Operations Detachment "Azov" (Ukrainian: Окремий загін спеціального призначення «Азов», romanized: Okremyi zahin spetsialnoho pryznachennia "Azov"), also known as the Azov Regiment (Ukrainian: Полк «Азов», romanized: Polk "Azov") and the Azov Battalion[a] (Ukrainian: батальйон «Азов», romanized: Bataliyon "Azov"), is a neo-Nazi[8][9][disputed – discuss] unit of the National Guard of Ukraine originally based in Mariupol in the coastal region of the Sea of Azov, from which it derives its name.[10]
Azov formed in May 2014 as a volunteer paramilitary militia under the command of Andriy Biletsky. It first saw combat recapturing Mariupol from Russian forces and pro-Russian separatists in June 2014, and it has since been fighting Russian forces in the Donbas War.[4][11] The until was formally incorporated into the National Guard on 11 November 2014, and its former commanders were replaced with officers from regular Ukrainian armed forces.[12][13][14][7] The regiment strength was estimated between 900 and 2,500 members in 2017-2022.[15][3] Most of the unit members are Russian speakers and come from the Russian-speaking regions of Ukraine, it also includes members from other countries.[12][16][17]
The battalion drew controversy over allegations of torture and war crimes, as well as association with neo-Nazi ideology and symbolism.[18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27] Some experts are also critical of the regiment role in the larger, umbrella-like "Azov Movement", and its possible far-right political ambitions despite the claims of the regiment's depolitization. Other experts argue that the regiment has evolved beyond its origins as street militia tempering its neo-Nazi underpinnings as it became part of the National Guard. Since 2014, criticism of the Azov battalion is a recurring theme of Russian politics.[28]
In the wake of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the battalion gained renewed attention, as one of the reasons given by president of Russia Vladimir Putin for the invasion was the 'denazification' of Ukraine, to remove the alleged control of the country by far right forces such as Azov. During the Siege of Mariupol the regiment played a prominent role in the city defense, and made its final stand at Mariupol's Azovstal steel plant.[29][30] Ending the siege a significant amount of regiment fighters, including its commander since 2017, Denys Prokopenko, surrendered to the Russian forces on the order from Ukrainian higher command.
History
Founding, February 2014
The Azov Battalion has its roots in a group of ultras of FC Metalist Kharkiv named "Sect 82" (1982 is the year of the founding of the group).[31] Sect 82 was (at least until September 2013) allied with FC Spartak Moscow ultras.[31] Late February 2014, during the 2014 Ukrainian crisis when a separatist movement was active in Kharkiv, Sect 82 occupied the Kharkiv Oblast regional administration building in Kharkiv and served as a local "self-defense force."[31] Soon after, a company of the Special Tasks Patrol Police called "Eastern Corps" was formed on the basis of Sect 82.[31] The ultras were joined by political activists of the AutoMaidan movement and Patriot of Ukraine organization.[5] They were led by Andriy Biletsky, a far-right politics in Ukraine activist, founder and leader of the ultranationalist organization Patriot of Ukraine. Under Biletsky's leadership, the group would go from a small militia into a full paramilitary unit.[32][5][33][31]
The battalion was originally known as the "Black Corps" (Ukrainian: Чорний Корпус, romanized: Chorny Korpus), and nicknamed by the Ukrainian media as the "Men in Black" or "Little Black Men", touted as Ukraine's version of Russia's Little Green Men due their secrecy and mystery, as well their use of all-black fatigues and masks when raiding pro-Russian checkpoints and apprehending pro-Russian fighters and sympathizers in Kharkiv and later in Mariupol.[31][4][5][31]
During March 2014, as the Security Service of Ukraine and the Militsiya pulled out from the Kharkiv, the "Black Corps" helped to protect pro-Ukrainian activists in Kharkiv and attacked pro-Russian ones. They raided the headquarters of the pro-Russian "Oplot" organization (which would later become a separatist military battalion), which became a firefight between the two groups.[32] At that time, the "Black Corps" had around 60 to 70 members and they were mostly lightly armed.[32]
During the initial phases of the War in Donbas, the Ukrainian Armed Forces suffered a number of defeats and setbacks against the separatists, as they were ill-prepared, ill-equipped, lacking in professionalism, morale, fighting spirit and with severe incompetence in the high command.[34] As a reaction, many willing civilians created militias and paramilitary groups to fight the separatists on their own initiative, known as the "volunteer battalions".[35] Although the Battalions were formed by people from diverse backgrounds, many of them were linked to various political parties and movements, mainly nationalist and far-right groups that had gained space after the Euromaidan and the Revolution of Dignity,[36] and were sponsored by Ukrainian oligarchs.[36] Volunteer battalions similar to Azov that were linked to far-right nationalist parties included the Sich Battalion, formed by Svoboda,[37] and the Ukrainian Volunteer Corps, controlled by the Right Sector.[38]
On 13 April 2014, Minister of Internal Affairs Arsen Avakov issued a decree authorizing the creation of new paramilitary forces of up to 12,000 people.[39] The former Black Corps and Eastern Corps were then sanctioned by the Ukrainian Interior Ministry as a unit of "Special Tasks Patrol Police" and became officially known as the "Azov" Battalion, which was officially formed on 5 May 2014 in Berdiansk[7][31] by Andriy Biletsky.[40] Initially, the group was mostly funded independently of the state, with a primary financier, Jewish-Ukrainian billionaire and oligarch Ihor Kolomoyskyi.[41][15] When Azov deputy commander Ihor Mosiychuk made Jew-baiting comments about Kolomoisky, he was removed.[41] Many members of the political party Patriot of Ukraine and radical ultras joined Azov.[42][31] Among other early patrons of the battalion were Oleh Lyashko, a member of the Verkhovna Rada, ultra-nationalist Dmytro Korchynsky, businessman Serhiy Taruta, and Minister of Internal Affairs Arsen Avakov.[43][31] The battalion received training near Kyiv by instructors with experience in the Georgian Armed Forces.[31]
Special Tasks Patrol Police, June 2014
The battalion had its baptism by fire in Mariupol in June 2014, where it was involved in combat during the First Battle of Mariupol as part of the counter-offensive to recapture the city from separatists.[4] Together with fellow Special Tasks Patrol Police battalion Dnipro-1, they retook key buildings and strongholds occupied by separatists, killing at least 5 separatists and destroying one enemy BRDM-2 armoured vehicle and one armored truck during battle.[44][45] Azov remained as a garrison in Mariupol for a time and was briefly relocated to Berdiansk.[46] On 10 June, the battalion dismissed deputy commander Yaroslav Honchar and distanced themselves from him after he made statements critical of looting and debauchery in the Azov battalion.[47] Igor Mosiychuk became deputy commander.[48]
On 10–11 August, 2014 the Azov Battalion, together with the Shakhtarsk Battalion, Dnipro-1 Battalion and the Ukrainian Army, supported an assault on the city of Ilovaisk spearheaded by the Donbas Battalion.[49][50] The performance of Azov was criticized by fellow members of the Donbas Battalion and by a later report by the commission of the Verkhovna Rada on the failures of the Battle of Ilovaisk, which criticized Azov of arriving undermanned and late to the battle, and failing to cover the flanks of other forces.[51][52] During the initial assault, Azov suffered heavy losses.[53] The Azov Battalion helped to clear the city of separatists and reinforce Ukrainian positions. However, in late August they were redeployed to garrison Mariupol, as a detachment of troops from the Russian Armed Forces was spotted moving into Novoazovsk, 45 km of Mariupol.[49] Later, the separatists forces in Ilovaisk were reinforced by troops from the Russian Armed Forces, which encircled the Ukrainian forces in the city and defeated them.[49] The commander of the Donbas Battalion, Semen Semenchenko, later accused the Ukrainian military and government of deliberately abandoning them for political reasons, citing the withdrawing of Azov and Shakhtarsk battalions as trying to start infighting between the volunteer battalions.[54][55]
In the Battle of Novoazovsk from 25 to 28 August, 2014 the Azov Battalion and Ukrainian forces did not fare much better, as they were pushed back by superior firepower of the tanks and armored vehicles of the separatists and Russians.[56]
On 11 August, 2014 another detachment of the Azov Battalion, backed by Ukrainian paratroopers, captured Marinka from pro-Russian rebels and entered the suburbs of Donetsk, clashing with Donetsk People's Republic fighters.[9]
With Novoazovsk captured, the separatists began preparing a second offensive against Mariupol. In early September 2014, the Azov Battalion was engaged in the Second Battle of Mariupol.[57] As the separatist forces closed in on the city, the Azov Battalion were in the vanguard of the defense, providing reconnaissance around the villages of Shyrokyne and Bezimenne, located a few kilometers east of Mariupol.[58] At the same time, Azov started to train Mariupol citizens in self-defense and organize popular militias to defend the city.[59] The separatists were able to push far into Mariupol, reaching the outer suburbs and coming within five kilometers of the city. But an overnight counter-offensive on 4 September launched by Azov and the Armed Forces pushed the DPR forces away from the city.[60]
Regarding the ceasefire agreed on 5 September, Azov commander Andriy Biletsky stated: "If it was a tactical move there is nothing wrong with it […] if it's an attempt to reach an agreement concerning Ukrainian soil with separatists then obviously it's a betrayal."[61] At this time, Azov had 500 members.[40][62] Biletsky left the battalion in October 2014 and his influence dissipated afterwards.[12]
Reorganisation and incorporated into the National Guard of Ukraine, September 2014
In September 2014, the Azov Battalion underwent a reorganisation, and was upgraded from a battalion to a regiment and enrolled into the National Guard of Ukraine.[7][42] This was part of larger policy changes by the Ukrainian government of integrating the independent volunteer battalions under either the Ukrainian Ground Forces or the National Guard into the formal chain-of-command of the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO).[63] The now-Azov Regiment was designated as "Military Unit 3057" and officially named the "Azov" Special Operations Detachment".[64]
Following its official enrollment in the National Guard, Azov received official funding from the Ukrainian Interior Ministry and other sources (believed to be Ukrainian oligarchs). Around this time Azov started receiving increased supplies of heavy arms.[42]
On 14 October 2014, Azov Battalion servicemen took part in a march to commemorate the 72nd anniversary of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) in Kyiv organized by the Right Sector.[65]
On 31 October 2014, deputy commander of the Azov Battalion Vadym Troyan was appointed head of Kyiv Oblast (province) police (this police force has no jurisdiction over the city of Kyiv).[66]
On 11 November 2014, the Azov Battalion was officially incorporated into the National Guard of Ukraine.[7] As of late March 2015, after a February ceasefire agreement, the battalion continued to defend Mariupol and fight separatists in Shyrokyne. Biletsky saw the ceasefire as "appeasing the aggressor".[42]
Battle of Shyrokyne, January 2015
On 24 January 2015, Mariupol came under an indiscriminate rocket bombing by separatists, which left 31 dead and 108 injured.[67] In 28 January, two Azov members were killed in a shelling of a checkpoint in the eastern part of Mariupol.[68] Both attacks were conducted from an area near the village of Shyrokyne, 11 km east of Mariupol, where there was significant movement of separatist troops in the region, stoking fears of a third offensive against Mariupol.
In February 2015, the Azov Battalion responded by spearheading a surprise offensive against the separatists in Shyrokyne. The objective was to create a buffer zone to prevent more bombings of Mariupol and push the separatists forces back into Novoazovsk.[69][70] The attack by the Azov Regiment was reinforced by the Ukrainian Army,[71] and Air Assault Forces,[72] as well the Donbas Battalion of the National Guard and the independent volunteer battalions Ukrainian Volunteer Corps[73] and the Chechen Muslim Sheikh Mansur Battalion.[74]
In February 2015, after breaking through Donetsk People's Republic lines, the Azov Battalion managed to quickly capture the towns of Shyrokyne, Pavlopil, and Kominternove, and began to advance toward Novoazovsk.[75] The Ukrainian forces were stopped in the town of Sakhanka, where the separatists held the line by using heavy artillery and armored vehicles.[76] By 12 February, 2015 the separatists launched an all-out counter-offensive which resulted in heavy losses for Azov.[77] Azov and the rest of the Ukrainian forces retreated from Sakhanka into Shyrokyne.[78] On 12 February 2015, the Minsk II ceasefire was signed by both parties of the conflict, and the territory around Shyrokyne was declared to be part of a proposed demilitarized buffer zone. However, the DPR rebels did not consider combat in the village itself as part of the ceasefire. The following weeks saw fighting continuing between Azov and the separatists, worrying some analysts that it could jeopardize the Minsk II agreement.[79] The situation in Shyrokyne became a stalemate: both sides reinforced their positions and built trenches. In the following weeks, Azov and the DRP forces exchanged fire and artillery bombings with a back-and-forth on the control of the frontlines and villages. The village of Shyrokyne was almost completely destroyed as a result.[80][81]
On 1 July 2015, the separatists withdrew from the Shyrokyne. Separatist leader Denis Pushilin declared they were pulling back as an "act of good will" to conform to the Minsk II agreements. However, Biletsky claimed the action was a result of the separatists suffering heavy casualties and not being able to sustain their operation.[82]
On 29 July, 2015 the Azov Regiment and the Donbas Battalion fighters in Shyrokyne were rotated out of the front and replaced with a unit of the Ukrainian Marines. The decision to pull them out from the village was met with protests from residents of nearby Mariupol, who feared that the withdrawal would lead to Russian separatists quickly retaking the village and shelling the city again.[83][84]
In August 2015, the Ukrainian government pulled all volunteer battalions, including Azov, off the front lines around Mariupol, replacing them with regular military units.[85][86] The primary base of the battalion became a seaside villa in Urzuf, a village in Donetsk Oblast. On 1 October 2015, the Azov Civil Corps joined the Blockade of Crimea. The action was started by the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People in 20 September as a massive Traffic obstruction of transport traffic going into Russian Crimea to protest the Russian annexation of Crimea. The Tartars were soon joined by other anti-Russian activist groups, such as the Azov Civil Corps.[87][88] The Azov Regiment and the Right Sector's Ukrainian Volunteer Corps paramilitaries helped provide security for the activists.[88][89]
2016-2019
On 27 April 2016, 300 troops and light-armored vehicles from the regiment were assigned to Odessa to safeguard public order after Oblast Governor Mikheil Saakashvili wrote in social media about a rash of pro-Russian "titushki" attacks on civilians.[90] In 2017, the size of the regiment was estimated at more than 2,500 members.[3]
In 2019 the Azov Battalion spent eight months on the frontline at Svitlodarsk arc, following more than three years of being withdrawn from the frontline.[91][92] In June 2019, to commemorate the five years anniversary of Ukrainian victory in the Battle of Mariupol, there was a military parade composed by members of the Azov Regiment, National Guard of Ukraine, National Police of Ukraine and State Border Guard Service of Ukraine.[93][94]
2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine
The Azov Regiment regained attention during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Before the conflict, Azov was the subject of a propaganda war: Russia used the Regiment's official incorporation into the National Guard of Ukraine as one of the proofs for its portrait of the Ukrainian government and military as under Nazi control, with "denazification" as a key casus belli.[95][96] The regiment, on the other hand, was noted for its ability to self-promote, producing high quality videos of its drone strikes and other military activities; The Daily Telegraph called it a "well-oiled publicity machine".[20] Others have noted how their participation in the war and defense of Mariupol have increased national and international notoriety and popularity of the group.[97][failed verification] The Regiment's destruction has been among Moscow's war objectives.[98]
Most of the Azov Regiment was stationed in Mariupol at the beginning of the invasion. In March 2022, Deutsche Welle reported that the battalion was the primary unit defending Mariupol in the Siege of Mariupol.[99] As the battle raged, Azov became notable for its fierce defense of the city. For example, PBS called it "a seasoned volunteer force that is widely considered one of the country’s most capable units".[100] On 19 March 2022, president Volodymyr Zelenskyy awarded a Hero of Ukraine title to Azov's commander in Mariupol, Lieutenant Colonel Denys Prokopenko.[101]
On 9 March Russia carried out an airstrike on a maternity hospital, killing multiple civilians, and justified the bombing by the alleged presence of Azov troops in the building;[102] similarly, on 16 March, the Mariupol theatre, which was holding civilians, was bombed, Russia accused Azov of having perpetrated it instead, trying to frame Russia for it.[103] As civilians fled the city, Russian checkpoints stopped men and stripped them, looking for tattoos identifying them as Azov.[104][105] Refugees in "filtration centers" were interrogated if they had any affiliation with Azov or knew someone in the regiment.[106] On 22 March, Azov's military headquarters in the northern Kalmiuskyi District were captured by Russian and DPR soldiers, although it was already abandoned.[105]
In early April, members of the Azov Regiment was also present at the Kyiv offensive at the Battle of Brovary, where the regiment and the Ukrainian Army's 72nd Mechanized Brigade ambushed and destroyed a Russian tank regiment advancing into the town of Brovary.[107]
By early April, Azov Regiment, together with other local Ukrainian forces, started to retreat into the Azovstal iron and steel works, a massive Soviet-era steel mill built to resist military attacks and bombing. The unit became prominently associated with Azovstal; its founder Andriy Biletskiy called the industrial complex "the fortress of the Azov".[98] On 11 April 2022, the Regiment accused Russian forces of using “a poisonous substance of unknown origin” in Mariupol.[108] The allegations, however, have not been confirmed by independent fact-checkers and organizations.[109][110][111][112] Later in April, remaining pockets of Ukrainian resistance inside the city, consisting of Ukrainian Marines 36th Brigade, non-Azov National Guard, and the sea port detachments of National Police and Border Guards, conducted operations to breakthrough into Azovstal, while members of Azov conducted support and rescue operations to assist them.[113][100][98]
By 21 April, most Ukrainians forces in Mariupol were based in Azovstal. In 21 April, Vladimir Putin officially stated that Mariupol was "liberated" and placed an order for his forces to not storm of the complex, but instead blockade it.[114] The following days saw bombing and shelling of Azovstal.[115] There were also civilians sheltering in the complex.[98]
On 3 May, the Russian forces in Mariupol restarted their attacks on Azovstal.[116] The following day it was reported that the Russians had broken into the plant.[117]
In early May, 2022 protests took place in Kyiv, organised by the families of Azov troops, Ukrainian marines and other soldiers.[118] Kateryna Prokopenko, the wife of Denys Prokopenko, the lead Azov commander, took a major role in these demonstrations, which were broken up by police.[119] These protests accused the Ukrainian government and the international community of failing to do enough to assist wounded soldiers currently in the Azovstal steelworks. In a statement made to the press on 8 May 2022 from the steelworks, leading figures within the regiment stated that they would not surrender. They criticised the Ukrainian government for negotiating with Russia, as well as countries who refused to supply Azov with weapons in previous years.[120] In this news conference, Svyatoslav Palamar, second in command at Mariupol, accused Ukrainian politicians of cynicism for failing to visit Azovstal.[121] He stated that the battalion could not be 100% sure all civilians had been evacuated due to lack of equipment and the fact they had not been assisted by specialist organisations. Palamar said that during the evacuation of civilians, 3 Azov soldiers had been killed and one wounded, and said that criticisms made towards the troops about the speed of the evacuation were 'extremely painful'.[122]
On 10 May, 2022 the Azov Regiment posted images on its Telegram page of what it said were its wounded soldiers in the bunkers of Azovstal.[123] These images showed severe shrapnel injuries and in some cases amputated limbs which the soldiers were unable to treat properly. They called for an immediate evacuation where these soldiers could be provided with medical assistance. In an interview with the Kyiv Post, a soldier with the Azov Regiment repeated this call, alleging that he had been tortured and witnessed killings by Russian separatists when he had been captured in a previous war.[124]
On 17 May 2022, negotiations, which included mediators from the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross, managed to end the siege of Azovstal and establish a humanitarian corridor.[125] On 16 May, the Ukrainian General staff announced that the Mariupol garrison, including remnants of the Azov regiment stationed in Mariupol, had "fulfilled its combat mission" and that evacuations from the Azovstal steel factory had begun. Following orders from the high command, over the next few days Azov members in Azovstal, including the regiment's commander Denys Prokopenko, surrendered to Russian forces among ~2.5k Ukrainian soldiers from the plant, and were taken to the Russian-controlled territory of Donetsk People's Republic. Ukrainian and Russian sources make contradicting statements on the future of surrendered combatants, from pre-arranged exchange to Russian POWs with support of international humanitarian organizations, to criminal prosecution in Russia on war crime and terrorism charges.[126][127]
Russia press secretary Dmitry Peskov said Russian President Vladimir Putin had guaranteed that the fighters who surrendered would be treated "in accordance with international standards" while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an address that "the work of bringing the boys home continues, and this work needs delicacy - and time". Prominent Russian lawmakers, Anatoly Wasserman and Vyacheslav Volodin, called on the government to deny prisoner exchanges for members of the Azov Regiment, and try them in Russia as "nazist war criminals" instead.[128][129] Leonid Slutsky in his turn suggested to lift the moratorium on death sentences in Russia to allow execution of surrendered Azov fighters.[130]
On May 24, 2022 it was reported that the regiment's commander Denys Prokopenko was able to briefly call his wife from the captivity, and according to him surrendered Azov fighters are being held in "satisfactory" conditions, with injured combatants held in a prison in Olenivka, and a small number of severly injured fighters held in a hospital of Novoazovsk. Presumably, none of the surrendered fighters had been taken to Russia so far.[131]
Leadership and organization
The regiment's first commander was Andriy Biletsky.[20] Biletsky stayed out of the public spotlight working on expanding Azov to battalion size. In summer 2014, he took command of the unit. In August 2014, he was awarded the military decoration "Order For Courage" by Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko and promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Interior Ministry's police forces.[132] After Biletsky was elected into the Ukrainian parliament in the 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election he left the battalion in October 2016 (Ukrainian elected officials can not be in the military, nor the police).[133][134]
A 16 July 2014 report placed the Azov Battalion's strength at 300.[26] An earlier report stated that on 23 June almost 600 volunteers, including women, took oaths to join the "Donbas" and "Azov" battalions.[135] The unit included 900 volunteers as of March 2015[update].[136]
Commanders
The first commander was Andriy Biletsky who led the group from the group's inception in May to October 2014 when he ran for political office in the 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election.[137] Previous Azov commanders included Ihor Mosiychuk and Maksym Zhorin.[138][when?] Since 2017, the leader is Lieutenant Colonel Denys Prokopenko.[6][139] As of May 2022 the second in command is Captain Svyatoslav Palamar.[140]
Status 20015-2022
In 2015, the Ukrainian government decided to turn all volunteer battalions—both the Territorial Defence Battalions associated with the armed forces, and the Special Tasks Patrol Police of the interior ministry—into regular units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the National Guard, respectively. Azov is one of the latter. The Ukrainian government also opted to deploy only volunteer units to the Donbas front,[141] pledging that conscripts would not be sent into combat.
In January 2015, Azov Battalion was officially upgraded to a regiment and its structures took a definite shape. A mobilization center and a training facility were established in Kyiv, in the former industrial complex "ATEK" for selection and examination. The personnel, composed of volunteers from all over Ukraine, had to pass through a screening and vetting process, quite similar to army's mobilization procedures.[142] Recruits were then assigned to the combat units of the regiments, or to support and supply units, where they undertake intensive combat drills training. Reconnaissance and Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) units were considered the élite of Azov and were manned by the most experienced personnel (typically, former Ukrainian Army special forces or similar).[142]
By March 2022, the Azov Regiment had announced the reformations of several Azov units in the Ukrainian Armed Forces:[143]
- Azov Regiment - One battalion stationed in Mariupol and one battalion stationed in Kyiv.
- Special Purpose Regiment Azov-Kyiv - Formed 9 March 2022. Stationed in Kyiv.
- 225th Reconnaissance battalion Azov - Formed 12 March 2022. Stationed in Kharkiv.
- 226th Reconnaissance-sabotage battalion Azov - Formed 12 March. Stationed in Kharkiv.
- Azov Tank Company - Formed in Kharkiv in 2022.
- 98th Battalion of Territorial Defense Azov-Dnipro - Territorial Defence Unit, currently stationed in Orikhiv.
- Azov-Prykarpattia - Volunteer battalion based in Ivano-Frankivsk
- Territorial Defense battalion Azov-Poltava - Territorial Defence battalion formed in Poltava Oblast.
Regimental HQ | 1st Commando Battalion | 2nd Commando Battalion (formation stage) | 5th Tank Battalion |
Field Artillery Battery | Reconnaissance Company | Security Company | Engineer Company |
Maintenance Company | Logistic Company | Signal Platoon | CBRN-defense Platoon |
4th (Training) Battalion
|
Foreign membership
According to The Daily Telegraph in August 2014, the Azov Battalion's extremist politics and professional English social media pages had attracted foreign fighters,[9] including people from Brazil, Italy, the United Kingdom, France, the United States, Greece, Sweden,[26][9] Spain, Slovakia, Croatia, Czech Republic and Russia.[26][144][145][146]
While the February 2015 Minsk II Ceasefire Agreement speaks of the withdrawal of foreign fighters,[147] the agreement was never fully implemented.[148] Though only about 50 Russian nationals were members of the Azov regiment in April 2015,[149] the regiment still included foreign fighters in August 2015, for example an ex-British army serviceman Chris Garrett and a 33-year-old former soldier of the Greek army and French Foreign Legion known by the nom-de-guerre of "The Greek".[150]
In late 2016, Brazilian investigators uncovered an alleged plot to recruit Brazilian far-right activists for the Azov Battalion.[151][152] American white nationalists have unsuccessfully tried to join Azov. In 2016, Andrew Oneschuk, who later joined the neo-Nazi terrorist group Atomwaffen Division, joined an Azov podcast in 2016.[153]
According to the Counter Extremism Project, the Azov Battalion made clear in 2019, that it was no longer accepting foreigners, because foreigners could only serve in the Ukrainian Army as contractors. However, during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, it once again actively recruited foreign volunteers.[154][155]
In 2019, support for the group was temporarily not allowed under Facebook's Dangerous Individuals and Organizations policy,[156] but as of 2021, the group had used Facebook to recruit far-right individuals from other countries within Europe.[157] and the Dangerous Individuals and Organizations policy this was relaxed during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[158] In 2019, the FBI had arrested a 24-year-old American soldier for a bomb plot, who had wanted to travel to Ukraine to join the Regiment.[159] In 2020, Ukraine deported two American Atomwaffen members who wanted to join the Regiment.[159]
In a March 2022 article, an expert on foreign fighters at the University of Oslo told CNN that they had only been able to recruit 20 foreign fighters since the start of the invasion.[160] Michael Colborne, journalist at Bellingcat and author of a book on Azov, said in an interview in late March 2022 that, out of several dozen foreign fighters, he would not consider all to be "far right".[161] In early May 2022, a British man who served with Azov in Kyiv's suburbs for several months said that he had to sign a regular contract with the Ukrainian armed forces before taking part in any further action.[162]
Azov movement
The Azov Battalion has created its own civilian political movement, collectively known as the "Azov movement", made up of an umbrella of organizations formed by former Azov veterans or groups linked to Azov, and with roots in the fascist paramilitary Patriot of Ukraine group led by Azov founder Andriy Biletsky and the associated far right Social-National Assembly.[133][42]
In 2017, according to Foreign Affairs magazine, "After the union [with the National Guard], the government's first act was to root out two groups within Azov, foreign fighters and neo-Nazis, by vetting group members with background checks, observations during training, and a law requiring all fighters to accept Ukrainian citizenship. Fighters who did not pass this screening were offered the chance to join civilian volunteer corps to help the war effort; these corps assisted police, cleared snow (a crucial task in Ukraine), and even worked on a public radio."[62] According to Reuters, at this time, the unit worked to depoliticize itself: its far-right leadership left and founded the National Corps political party, which works with its associated activist organization, the Azov Civil Corps. The Patriot of Ukraine websites were shut down or put under restricted access.[42]
Some experts agree with the view that that there is increasingly great separation between the Azov Movement and the Azov Battalion. Kacper Rękawek, a research fellow with the Center for Research on Extremism at the University of Oslo, told CNN that, "People always assume it [the Azov regiment and Azov movement] is one Death Star. Year by year, the connections [between the regiment and the movement] are looser."[163] Anton Shekhovtsov, an expert on Russia's connections to Europe's far-right, told the Financial Times that though it was originally formed by leadership of a neo-nazi group, "It is certain that Azov [the battalion] has depoliticised itself. Its history linked to the far-right movement is pretty irrelevant today."[164]
Other experts, however, disagree with these assessments, and point to specific cases where there have been interactions between the regiment and the broader movement. Oleksiy Kuzmenko of Bellingcat in a 2020 article, noted that soldiers from the regiment appeared together with leaders of the "National Corps" political party in a 2020 video ad for a rally, and that a 2017 YouTube video appeared to show the émigré Russian neo-Nazi Alexey Levkin giving a lecture to the regiment. Both entities have admitted to being part of the wider "Azov Movement" led by Biletsky, who worked directly with Arsen Avakov (Minister of the Interior until July 2021) on matters relating to the regiment.[165]
Similarly, Michael Colborne wrote that it "would be a mistake to claim...that the Azov regiment is somehow not a part of the broader Azov movement" and points to repeated description of the regiment as the "military wing" of the Azov movement by Olena Semenyaka, the main international representative of the movement.[166] Colborne also stated "the Azov movement tries to be a one-stop shop for all things far right. There’s also a bevy of loosely affiliated but more extreme subgroups under its umbrella as well, including open neo-Nazis who praise and promote violence".[167]
In 2022, there have been continued reports of Biletsky interacting with the regiment, including his own claims that he is in daily contact with the current leader of Lt. Col Prokopenko and other Azov soldiers during the Siege of Mariupol.[168] According to commentary by far right watcher Vyacheslav Likhachev, Biletsky's main goal is to exploit the Azov "trademark" in political life, and that although it is no secret that he was in touch with the regiment, his role is limited to an informal one.[169]
According to an expert in a 2022 article by Bayerischer Rundfunk, there is an "incompatibility resolution", where active fighters could not become members of the National Corps political party.[170]
Azov Civil Corps
In spring of 2015, veterans of the Azov volunteer battalion created the core of a non-military non-governmental organization Azov Civil Corps (Tsyvilnyi Korpus "Azov"), for the purpose of "political and social struggle".[171][172]
National Corps
In 2016, veterans of the regiment and members of the Azov Civil Corps founded the political party National Corps.[172] The party's first leader was Andriy Biletsky.[133]
Youth Corps
The Youth Corps (Yunatskyy Korpus) is a non-governmental organization engaged in the "patriotic upbringing" of children, and to take them once they grow up, to the National Militia of "Azov movement".[173] Many members of the Youth Corps, beginning in 2015, organized summer camps where children and teenagers receive combat training mixed with lectures on Ukrainian nationalism.[31][23]
National Militia, 2017-2020
In 2017, a paramilitary group called the National Militia (Natsionalni Druzhyny), closely linked to the Azov movement, was formed. Its stated aim was to assist law enforcement agencies, which is allowed under Ukrainian law, and it has conducted street patrols.[174][175] In March 2019, its membership was reportedly "in the low thousands".[176] On 29 January 2018, members of the National Militia stormed a municipal council meeting in Cherkasy, and refused to let officials leave the building until they had approved the city's long-delayed budget.[177]
The National Militia ceased its activities in 2020 and has been inactive since then.[178] According to Michael Colborne, the National Militia has been de facto replaced by the Centuria group.[179]
Centuria
According to Oleksiy Kuzmenko, in a piece published for George Washington University's Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian studies, the leadership of Centuria – a self-described "European traditionalist" group of military officers that aims to "defend" the "cultural and ethnic identity" of European peoples against "Brussels' politicos and bureaucrats" — has ties to the Azov movement.[180] The organization "has promoted Azov to [Hetman Petro Sahaidachny National Army Academy (NAA)] cadets, and credibly claimed that its members lectured in the Azov Regiment of the National Guard, the military wing of the Azov movement." Belltower.News similarly states that Centuria has "close connections with the Ukrainian neo-Nazi scene" while both Belltower and Colborne say that Centuria is the successor organization to the National Militia.[181][179]
The Jerusalem Post carried an article in October 2021 that cited Kuzmenko's report on the group, which stated that it is "led by people with ties to" the Azov movement and that its members received training from Western countries while at the NAA.[182]
Human rights violations
Reports published by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) documented looting of civilian homes and unlawful detention and torture of civilians between September 2014 and February 2015 "by Ukrainian armed forces and the Azov regiment in and around Shyrokyne".[183][184]
Another OHCHR report documented an instance of rape and torture, writing: "A man with a mental disability was subject to cruel treatment, rape and other forms of sexual violence by 8 to 10 members of the 'Azov' and 'Donbas' (another Ukrainian battalion) battalions in August–September 2014. The victim's health subsequently deteriorated and he was hospitalized in a psychiatric hospital."[184] A report from January 2015 stated that a Donetsk Republic supporter was detained and tortured with electricity and waterboarding and struck repeatedly on his genitals, which resulted in his confessing to spying for pro-Russian militants.[184]: 20
Neo-Nazism
The Azov Battalion has been described as a far-right militia,[57][20] with connections to neo-Nazism[190] and members wearing neo-Nazi and SS symbols and regalia, and expressing neo-Nazi views.[9][25]
The group's insignia features the Wolfsangel (or a mirrored variation of it),[191][192][193][194] a German heraldic charge inspired by historic wolf traps adopted by the Nazi Party and by WW2 German military units. Its insignia also used to feature the Black Sun,[24][195][196][187][185] both of which remain two popular neo-Nazi symbols.[186][23][24][25] Azov soldiers have worn fascist or Nazi-associated symbols on their uniforms,[197] including swastikas and SS symbols.[198] In 2014, the German ZDF television network showed images of Azov fighters wearing helmets with swastika symbols and "the SS runes of Hitler's infamous black-uniformed elite corps".[199] In 2015, Marcin Ogdowski, a Polish war correspondent, gained access to one of Azov's bases located in the former holiday resort Majak; Azov fighters showed him Nazi tattoos as well as Nazi emblems on their uniforms.[200][20]
Members of the unit have stated that the inverted Wolfsangel (ꑭ), rather than connected to Nazism, represents the Ukrainian words for "united nation"[25][66] or "national idea" (Ukrainian: Ідея Нації, Ideya Natsii).[25][193] This symbol has been historically used by far-right Ukrainian groups: it was first used in 1991 by the Social-National Party of Ukraine[201][202] until 2003 when the party purged their neonazi and other extremist elements rebranded itself into Svoboda, abandoning the symbol.[203] It was used by the Patriot of Ukraine organization (many of whose members joined Azov in 2014) from 2003-2014 and the related Social-National Assembly party in 2014,[204] both movements which claimed to continue the legacy of the original Social-National Party.[203] It was also used by the minor party Ukrainian National Union in 2009.[205] Andreas Umland, a scholar from the Stockholm Center for Eastern European Studies, told Deutsche Welle that though it had far-right connotations, the Wolfsangel was not considered a fascist symbol by the population in Ukraine.[206]
The Guardian reported in 2014 that "many of [Azov's] members have links with neo-Nazi groups, and even those who laughed off the idea that they are neo-Nazis did not give the most convincing denials", citing swastika tattoos among the fighters and one who claimed to be a "national socialist".[25] In March 2015, Andriy Diachenko, a spokesman for the Azov Batallion, told USA Today that "only 10% to 20%" of the group's members are Nazis, and that this is their personal ideology not the official ideology of the unit; one commander attributed neo-Nazi ideology to misguided youth.[136] According to The Daily Beast, some of the group's members are "neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and avowed anti-Semites",[207] and (in 2017) "numerous swastika tattoos of different members and their tendency to go into battle with swastikas or SS insignias drawn on their helmets make it very difficult for other members of the group to plausibly deny any neo-Nazi affiliations."[208] Ukrainian affairs writer Lev Golinkin wrote in The Nation in 2019 that "Post-Maidan Ukraine is the world's only nation to have a neo-Nazi formation in its armed forces."[209]
Bellingcat, an investigative journalist group, has traced ties between the Azov movement and American white supremacist groups.[20] Michael Colborne of Bellingcat, writing in Foreign Policy in 2019, called the Azov movement "a dangerous neo-Nazi-friendly extremist movement" with "global ambitions", citing similarities between the group's ideology and symbolism and that of the 2019 Christchurch mosque shooter, along with efforts by the group to recruit American right-wing extremists.[28] In a 2020 Atlantic Council article, Bellingcat's Oleskiy Kuzmenko wrote that the far right in general significantly damaged Ukraine's international reputation creating a vulnerability to hostile narratives that exaggerate its role.[20][210]
Since 2017, the official position of the Ukrainian government is that the unit has depoliticized itself. The then Minister of Internal Affairs Arsen Avakov claimed that "The shameful information campaign about the alleged spread of Nazi ideology (among Azov members) is a deliberate attempt to discredit the 'Azov' unit and the National Guard of Ukraine."[160] In March 2022, in an open letter to Russia published through Russian journalist Alexander Nevzorov, Azov Battalion strongly denounced allegations of its neo-Nazi orientation, defining Nazism as a "tireless need to exterminate those who dared to be free" and noting that the Battalion incorporated people of many ethnicities and religions, including Ukrainians, Russians, Jews, Greeks, Georgians, Crimean Tatars and Belarusians. According to the letter, Nazism, as well Stalinism, were "despised" by the Battalion, since Ukraine greatly suffered from both.[211]
Some commentators concur that the unit has depoliticised. A 2015 Reuters report noted that after the unit's inclusion in the National Guard and receipt of heavier equipment, Andriy Biletsky toned down his usual rhetoric, while most of the extremist leadership had left to focus on political careers in the National Corps party or the Azov Civil Corps.[42] An article published by Foreign Affairs in 2017 argued that the group was relatively depoliticized and deradicalized after it was brought into the fold of the National Guard of Ukraine. The government started a process with the objective of ferreting out neo-nazis and foreign fighters, with background checks, observations during training, and a law requiring all fighters to accept Ukrainian citizenship.[62] A 2018 commentary in Reuters by a former USAID official also had a skeptical response, saying that the real danger was not the original paramilitary group, but the civil movement Azov had spawned.[212] In the years following its integration into the National Guard, though, a number of experts and commentators have stated that the radical right-wing ideology associated with the battalion has become more marginal, or that it does not make sense to describe it as a "neo-Nazi" battalion.[213][214][215][216][217]
In February 2020, the Atlantic Council published an article by Anton Shekhovtsov, a scholar of right-wing extremism in Europe and expert on Russia's connections to Europe's far-right, who argued that Azov should not be designated a foreign terrorist organization, for reasons including that it was a regiment of the Ukrainian National Guard, and therefore was part of official structures and followed orders given by the Interior Ministry, and that some claimed extremist links to Brenton Tarrant, the Rise Above Movement, and American right-wing terrorists in general were poorly evidenced.[218] He also told the Financial Times that though it was originally formed by leadership of a neo-nazi group, "It is certain that Azov [the battalion] has depoliticised itself. Its history linked to the far-right movement is pretty irrelevant today."[164] In a 2020 article on the Atlantic Council's website, however, Oleksiy Kuzmenko of Bellingcat argued that "the Regiment has failed in its alleged attempts to 'depoliticize.'"[165] Shekhovtsov, writing in the EuroMaidan Press in 2022 reiterated his view that the Azov Regiment had become largely depoliticized and had lost most of its neo-Nazi and far-right views, describing it as "a highly professional detachment for specific operations. Neither a political organization, nor a militia, nor a far-right battalion".[219]
Following the start of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, The Washington Post painted a picture of a group aware of its origins, and still with a far-right adherent commander and some extremist members, but much changed from its origins. Many recruits joining the battalion are well aware of its Nazi past, but join up despite its history for various reasons, including Azov's positive reputation for training new recruits. While extremist elements remain, it is less driven by ideology than it was at its formation, and the chief motivation now is patriotism, and anger at Russian provocations and the attack on Ukraine. People come from all over the world driven by outrage against Putin, and not because of a particular ideology. Michael Colborne wrote in 2022 that he "wouldn't call [Azov] explicitly a neo-Nazi movement" although there are "clearly neo-Nazis within its ranks".[220]
In a similar vein, Andreas Umland said in 2022, that "In 2014 this battalion had indeed a far-right background, these were far-right racists that founded the battalion" but it had since become "de-ideologised" and a regular fighting unit. Its recruits now join not because of ideology but because "it has the reputation of being a particularly tough fighting unit," Umland said.[221] Vyacheslav Likhachev, another leading expert on the far-right, writing for a blog called The Ukrainian View, stated in May 2022 that there are no grounds for describing Azov as a neo-Nazi unit, underlining that "by the end of 2014, most far-right fighters left the regiment. The rest of the right-wing radicals who openly articulated their views were deliberately “cleansed” by the new regiment command in 2017" and that several Jewish members (including one Israeli citizen) are currently serving in the regiment.[222]
In an interview with The Kyiv Independent, Ilya Samoilenko, an Azov officer, stated that while he acknowledged the regiment's 'obscure past', he and other members had chosen to leave the past behind when they integrated with the mainstream Ukrainian military.[223] Similarly, in an interview with Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Azov deputy commander Svyatoslav Palamar denied the battalion being a neo-Nazi formation and compared the Russo-Ukrainian war to the Arab-Israeli conflict.[224]
Connection to antisemitism
The founder of the Battalion, Andriy Biletsky, is reported to have said in 2010 that the Ukrainian nation's mission is to "lead the white races of the world in a final crusade … against Semite-led Untermenschen".[225][226]
According to two researchers at the Finnish National Defense University, Ukrainian far-right and ultra-nationalist groups are not necessarily antisemitic, as the term "far right" might more likely imply in the Western European context. The Ukrainian far-right and ultra-nationalist groups are characterized as anti-Russian instead, although antisemitism cannot be excluded in all cases.[227]
Some Ukrainian Jewish people support and serve in the Azov Battalion. A 2018 BBC report gave the example of one of its most prominent members, co-founder Nathan Khazin, a leader of the "Jewish hundreds" during the 2013 Euromaidan protests in Kyiv. Khazin and his supporters in the battalion often display the flag of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army with a Star of David added onto it.[228] Jewish-Ukrainian billionaire Ihor Kolomoyskyi was the main source of Azov's funding before it was incorporated into the National Guard.[15][41] In a 2018 interview, Biletsky explained that he regards Israel and Japan as role models for the development of Ukraine.[229][undue weight? – discuss]
In 2022, in a commentary published by the Center of Civil Liberties, antisemitism researcher Vyacheslav Likhachev said that despite Mariupol's fairly large Jewish community, there had not been any incidents between members of the Azov Regiment and the Jewish community since 2014.[169]
Alleged islamophobic actions
In late February as the Russians closed the siege around Mariupol, the National Guard released a video appearing to show an Azov fighter greasing bullets in pig fat to be used against Chechen troops as an insult (Chechens are mostly Muslims and pork consumption is forbidden by Islamic law).[230] The video was made in response as the Chechens' deployment was touted as "psychological warfare against the Ukrainians".[231][230] This created controversy, since some Chechen anti-Russian militia (the Dzhokhar Dudayev Battalion or the Sheikh Mansur Battalion) are currently fighting on the Ukrainian side.[232]
International arms and training controversies
United States
In March 2015, Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov announced that the Azov Regiment would be among the first units to be trained by United States Army troops in the Operation Fearless Guardian training mission.[233][234] US training however was withdrawn on 12 June 2015, as the US House of Representatives passed an amendment blocking any aid (including arms and training) to the battalion due to its neo-Nazi background.[235][236] However, the amendment was later removed in November 2015,[235][237][238] with James Carden writing in The Nation that an "official familiar with the debate" told him that the "House Defense Appropriations Committee came under pressure from the Pentagon to remove the Conyers-Yoho amendment from the text of the bill."[239] The decision was opposed by the Simon Wiesenthal Center which stated that lifting the ban highlighted the danger of Holocaust distortion in Ukraine, and by a Likud MP, but supported by Ukraine's Jewish community.[238]
In 2018, the U.S. House of Representatives again passed a provision blocking any training of Azov members by American forces, citing its neo-Nazi connections.[240]
In October 2019, members of the US House of Representatives from the Democratic Party requested that the Azov Battalion and two other far-right groups be classified as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the US State Department, citing recent acts of right-wing violence such as the Christchurch mosque shootings earlier that year. The request spurred protests by Azov's supporters in Ukraine.[241][207][242] Ultimately the regiment was not placed into the foreign terrorist organisation list.[169]
In early 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the US continued to officially ban arms support to Azov via the yearly Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022 following the 2018 provision.[243] However, prominent lawmakers, when pressed about monitoring this rule, stated "our main goal is to aid the Ukrainians in their defense", according to Senator Richard Blumenthal of the US Senate Armed Services Committee.[244]
On May 9, 2022, the head of Russia's Space Agency, Dmitry Rogozin, in a letter sent to Russian media, accused Elon Musk, the C.E.O of SpaceX, of supporting "fascist forces in Ukraine with military communication equipment", making an allusion to Starlink internet terminals used by Azov in Mariupol. Rogozin accused the Pentagon of orchestrating the delivery of the equipment by military helicopter, attributing this claim to testimony from a captured prisoner of war from Ukraine's 36th Separate Marine Brigade. Musk retorted by saying "The word 'Nazi' doesn't mean what he seems to think it does" on social media.[245]
Canada
In June 2015, the Canadian defense minister declared that Canadian forces would not provide training or support to the Azov Battalion.[246]
Israel
In 2018, more than 40 Israeli human rights activists signed a petition to stop arms sales to Ukraine, saying there was evidence some of these arms might end up in the hands of the forces that the activists said openly espouse a neo-Nazi ideology, such as the Azov militia.[247] In 2022, The Jerusalem Post raised concerns about the MATADOR small anti-armor missile, co-produced by Israel, being shown in videos fired by a fighter from what it characterized as "the Neo-Nazi Azov Battalion".[248]
Greece
In April 2022, a controversy occurred in Greece when Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskyy appeared with a soldier from the Azov Regiment via video link to address the Hellenic Parliament. This soldier had allegedly been chosen to speak on the destruction of Mariupol because of his Greek ethnicity and knowledge of the language. The appearance caused outrage by opposition parties SYRIZA and KINAL and was labelled a 'provocation' because of the association of the Azov Regiment with neo-Nazism.[249] Giannis Oikonomou, spokeperson of the Greek Government, said the inclusion of the Azov Battalion message was “incorrect and inappropriate”, but criticized SYRIZA for strumentalizing such mistake.[249]
Use in Russian propaganda
The Battalion, along with other similar groups, have been central to Russia's narrative that there is a Nazi influence that permeates Ukraine, justifying intervention by the Russian armed forces in efforts to "denazify" it. This narrative has been a part of Russian propaganda since the Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation in 2014, according to Russia scholar Izabella Tabarovsky of the Wilson Center, who said "there has been an intensive campaign of demonization, a certain resonance for Putin’s core supporters in Russia" because "there is a national historical memory formed around World War II and the victory over Nazis. It is a strong part of the [Russian] national identity."[243]
In justifying the 2022 invasion of Ukraine by Russia, this narrative continued, and the Battalion has similarly played a central role in the pretext of "denazifying" Ukraine, with Russian media inflating its presence and influence within Ukraine to paint a picture of the whole of the Ukrainian government and military as under Nazi control.[95][96][221]
During the Siege of Mariupol, Russia was accused of using the presence of Azov in the battle as justification for war crimes. Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov justified the Mariupol hospital airstrike claiming the Azov was using the hospital as a base and had previously evicted the patients and staff.[250][251] On 16 March, the Donetsk Regional Drama Theatre, which was sheltering almost 1,300 civilians, was struck and largely destroyed by an airstrike.[252] Russia denied the bombings and claimed that the Azov Battalion took civilians as hostages inside the building and bombed the theater themselves to frame Russia.[252][253] This was sharply disputed by Pavlo Kyrylenko, head of Donetsk region administration, who asserted that "the Russians are already lying, [saying] that the headquarters of the Azov Regiment was there. But they themselves are well aware that there were only civilians."[254]
In a post on April 20, 2022 Russian journalist Dmitry Olshansky wrote on his Telegram page, Комиссар Исчезает (The Commissar Vanishes), that following the Russian occupation of Mariupol, Azov leaders such as Prokopenko should be publicly executed and their bodies left to hang 'as a reminder of who was in charge.'[255] The Russian Supreme Court scheduled a hearing June 29, 2022 whether or not to classify the Azov battalion a terrorist organization.[256]
See also
References
- ^ "Factbox: Last defenders of Mariupol: what is Ukraine's Azov Regiment?". Reuters. 17 May 2022. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
It is not clear how many troops serve under Azov, but some media reports have put the number at between 900 and 2,500.
- ^ Sprinter, Dinah (4 March 2022). "Jewish Ukrainians gear up for fierce Russia fight, alongside the 'neo-Nazis' they say Putin is lying about". Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
- ^ a b c "Deutsche heuern bei rechtsextremem ukrainischen Bataillon an". Der Spiegel. 11 November 2017. Archived from the original on 21 February 2022. Retrieved 1 March 2022.
- ^ a b c d e Pancevski, Bojan (11 May 2014). "Kiev lets loose Men in Black". The Sunday Times. London. Archived from the original on 14 February 2022. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
- ^ a b c d "Андрей Билецкий. Как война превратила политузника в командира батальона Азов | Новое Время". 19 January 2015. Archived from the original on 19 January 2015. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
- ^ a b "Ми досить міцні, щоб кров'ю і потом відвойовувати нашу землю… Герой України Денис Прокопенко" ["We are strong enough to reconquer our land, by blood and sweat…" - Hero of Ukraine Denis Prokopenko] (in Ukrainian). 23 March 2022. Archived from the original on 3 April 2022.
- ^ a b c d e "Azov regiment announces creation of own party". Ukrainian Independent Information Agency. 16 September 2016. Archived from the original on 17 September 2016. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
- ^ Sources on the Azov Battalion being neo-Nazi include:
- Giuliano, Elise (20 October 2015). "The Social Bases of Support for Self-determination in East Ukraine". Ethnopolitics. 14 (5): 513–522. doi:10.1080/17449057.2015.1051813. ISSN 1744-9057. S2CID 142999704.
More dangerously, as the violence heated up, Kiev allowed semi-private paramilitary groups—such as the far right, neo-Nazi Azov Battalion—to fight in east Ukraine (Walker, 2014; Luhn, 2014).
- Koehler, Daniel (7 October 2019). "A Threat from Within? Exploring the Link between the Extreme Right and the Military". International Centre for Counter-Terrorism.
His own involvement in the militant extreme right movement predated his enlistment and Smith also was trying to join the neo-Nazi paramilitary Azov battalion and fight on their side in the Ukrainian conflict.
- Mudde, Cas (25 October 2019). The Far Right Today. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-1-5095-3685-6 – via Google Books.
...march through the streets of Kyiv, sometimes in torchlight processions, to commemorate old and new far-right heroes, including those of the neo-Nazi Azov Battalion, which fights against the Russian-backed occupation of Crimea.
- Edelman, Marc (9 November 2020). "From 'populist moment' to authoritarian era: challenges, dangers, possibilities". The Journal of Peasant Studies. 47 (7): 1418–1444. doi:10.1080/03066150.2020.1802250. ISSN 0306-6150. S2CID 225214310.
Just as hundreds of U.S. and European white supremacists joined Croatian paramilitaries fighting for 'ethnic cleansing' in the 1990s Balkan wars, the current training of foreign white nationalists in Ukrainian military units, such as the neo-Nazi Azov Battalion, points to...
- McKenzie, Nick; Tozer, Joel (22 August 2021). "Fears of neo-Nazis in military ranks after ex-soldier's passport cancelled". The Age. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
Mr Sretenovic was intercepted by ASIO and the Australian Border Force at Melbourne Airport in January 2020 bearing a ticket to Belgrade, Serbia. He later told supporters he was travelling to meet a girlfriend and Serbian relatives. But state and federal authorities, who had spent months investigating him, believed he was planning to travel to Ukraine to fight with the Azov Battalion, a neo-Nazi militia fighting Russian forces.
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...antisemitic and white-supremacist conspiracy theories circulated by openly neo-fascist and neo-Nazi groups, such as the Azov Battalion in the Ukraine...
- Bacigalupo, James; Valeri, Robin Maria; Borgeson, Kevin (14 January 2022). Cyberhate: The Far Right in the Digital Age. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 113. ISBN 978-1-7936-0698-3 – via Google Books.
The ascendency of a transnational global fascist terrorist network has drawn accelerationists seeking military training with openly neo-Nazi, white supremacist, anti-Semitic organizations like the Azov battalion, who recruited from...
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But the overwhelming majority of Azov soldiers say they're fighting for Ukraine's sovereignty and to repel what they call a 'Russian invasion' of their homeland. Those with far-right convictions live and fight side-by-side soldiers from 22 countries and various backgrounds, including Arabs, Russians, and Americans—as well as Christians, Muslims, and Jews.
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The Azov battalion's general reputation and alleged war atrocities...
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Human rights watchers have made several accusations of war crimes committed by Azov soldiers in 2014 and early 2015, which included torture and looting of civilian homes.
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{{cite news}}
:|last=
has generic name (help) - ^ ""Нацистские преступники не должны подлежать обмену". Володин предложил запретить обмен защитников "Азовстали" на российских пленных". Meduza. 17 May 2022.
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Andriy Diachenko, a spokesman for the Azov Brigade, said only 10% to 20% of the group's members are Nazis
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{{cite news}}
:|archive-date=
requires|archive-url=
(help)CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Хто такий Денис Прокопенко і як він у всіх на очах образив Зеленського, відео" [Who is Denys Prokopenko and how he insulted Zelenskyy in front of everyone, video] (in Ukrainian). 25 August 2019. Archived from the original on 17 April 2022.
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In January 2016, the Azov movement's podcast introduced listeners to Andrew, a "national socialist" guest from the U.S. Dialing in via Skype, Andrew answered questions about nationalism in the U.S. from the host and listeners, and asked his own about Azov... We now know that the American interviewed on Azov's podcast in early 2016 was Andrew Oneschuk, an imminent member of Atomwaffen Division. The Atomwaffen Division is a "terroristic national socialist organization" (per SPLC) linked to multiple murders in the United States. Andrew, who was 16 at the time of his appearance on Azov's podcast, went on to join AWD several months later in 2016. He, along with another AWD member, was murdered in May 2017 in Tampa, Florida by Devon Arthurs, also a member of AWD.
- ^ "CEP Policy Brief: Foreign Fighters In The 2022 Russia-Ukraine War". Counter Extremism Project. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
- ^ "Don't Designate Azov". Counter Extremism Project. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
- ^ "Facebook 'Bans' Ukrainian Far-Right Group Over 'Hate Speech' – But Getting Rid Of It Isn't Easy". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Archived from the original on 26 February 2022. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
- ^ Shuster, Simon; Perrigo, Billy (7 January 2021). "How a White-Supremacist Militia Uses Facebook to Radicalize and Train New Members". Time. Archived from the original on 28 February 2022. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
- ^ Biddle, Sam (24 February 2022). "Facebook Allows Praise of Neo-Nazi Ukrainian Battalion If It Fights Russian Invasion". The Intercept. Archived from the original on 26 February 2022. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
- ^ a b "Ukraine Deported Two American Members Of A Neo-Nazi Group Who Tried To Join A Far-Right Military Unit For "Combat Experience"". BuzzFeed. 8 October 2020. Archived from the original on 27 February 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
- ^ a b "A far-right battalion has a key role in Ukraine's resistance. Its neo-Nazi history has been exploited by Putin (Analysis by Tara John and Tim Lister)". CNN. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
- ^ Colborne, Michael; Leidig, Eviane (29 March 2022). "An Interview with Bellingcat Journalist Michael Colborne on the Azov Movement in Ukraine".
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help) - ^ "Ukraine war: Briton who joined Azov Regiment with far-right origins says they're not 'monsters and psychos'". Sky News. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
- ^ "A far-right battalion has a key role in Ukraine's resistance. Its neo-Nazi history has been exploited by Putin (Analysis by Tara John and Tim Lister)". CNN. 29 March 2022. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
- ^ a b Schipani, Andres; Olearchyk, Roman (29 March 2022). "'Don't confuse patriotism and Nazism': Ukraine's Azov forces face scrutiny". Financial Times.
- ^ a b Kuzmenko, Oleksyi (19 March 2020). "The Azov Regiment has not depoliticized". Atlantic Council.
- ^ Colborne, Michael (12 January 2022). From the Fires of War: Ukraine's Azov Movement and the Global Far Right. BoD – Books on Demand. p. 63. ISBN 978-3-8382-1508-2.
- ^ "Silence won't make the Ukrainian far right go away". New Statesman. 22 February 2022. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
- ^ "Mariupol's outnumbered defenders refuse to give in". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
- ^ a b c Likhachev, Vyacheslav (3 April 2022). "Euromaidan SOS: Honest Answers to the Most Common Questions about AZOV in the West". Center of Civil Liberties.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Asow-Regiment: Ukrainische Helden oder Extremisten?". BR24 (in German). 13 April 2022. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
- ^ (in Ukrainian) "Azov" become party Archived 12 November 2017 at the Wayback Machine, gazeta.ua (28 May 2016)
- ^ a b "Volunteer battalion Azov members and former members create National Corps political party". Interfax-Ukraine. 14 October 2016. Archived from the original on 8 February 2022.
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:|archive-date=
/|archive-url=
timestamp mismatch; 1 November 2021 suggested (help) - ^ "Дерев'яний АК-47 і "заповіді націоналіста". Як працює дитячий табір "Азовець" під Києвом". radiosvoboda.org. 14 August 2018.
- ^ Bennetts, Marc (13 March 2018). "Ukraine's National Militia: 'We're not neo-Nazis, we just want to make our country better'". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 31 March 2019. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
the National Militia, an ultranationalist organisation closely linked to Ukraine's Azov movement, a far-right group with a military wing that contains openly neo-Nazi members, and its political spin-off, the National Corpus party
- ^ Fisher, Jonah (4 April 2018). "Ukraine: On patrol with the far-right National Militia". BBC News. Archived from the original on 8 March 2022. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
- ^ Deputized As Election Monitors, Ukrainian Ultranationalists 'Ready To Punch' Violators Archived 11 March 2019 at the Wayback Machine, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (7 March 2019)
- ^ "Ukraine's National Militia: 'We're not neo-Nazis, we just want to make our country better'". The Guardian. 13 March 2018. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
- ^ Likhachev, Vyacheslav (7 April 2022). "What is Azov Regiment? Honest answers to the most common questions". Euromaidan Press.
The Natsionalni Druzhyny is a public organization, which has not been active for almost two years.
- ^ a b Colborne, Michael (12 January 2022). From the Fires of War: Ukraine's Azov Movement and the Global Far Right. BoD – Books on Demand. p. 68. ISBN 978-3-8382-1508-2.
A few months after that video, National Militia disappeared and Centuria emerged...
- ^ Kuzmenko, Oleksiy (September 2021). Far-Right Group Made Its Home in Ukraine's Major Western Military Training Hub (PDF) (Report). IERES Occasional Papers, no. 11.
- ^ "Centuria: Was a far-right militia behind an attack on a Kyiv club?". Belltower.News. 6 January 2022.
- ^ "Western countries training far-right extremists in Ukraine – report". The Jerusalem Post. 19 October 2021.
- ^ "Report on the human rights situation in Ukraine 16 November 2015 to 15 February 2016" (PDF). Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. February 2016. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
- ^ a b c "Report on the human rights situation in Ukraine 16 February to 15 May 2016" (PDF). Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. May 2016. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 May 2017. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
- ^ a b "Guerre en Ukraine : quatre questions sur le régiment Azov, ce bataillon ukrainien accusé de compter des néonazis dans ses rangs". Franceinfo (in French). 15 March 2022. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
These are old emblems of the paramilitary group, still used by some soldiers, says [INALCO researcher] Adrien Nonjon
- ^ a b Miller, Jonas (13 April 2022). "Asow-Regiment: Ukrainische Helden oder Extremisten?". BR24 (in German). Retrieved 16 May 2022.
Extremism researcher Alexander Ritzmann from the "Counter Extremism Project" told ARD in March 2022 that the regiment had also disarmed its symbols. The Wolfsangel - a symbol used by right-wing extremists - is still in the Azov emblem, but other extremist symbols have been removed. The Wolfsangel means something like "Our Nation" in Ukrainian.
- ^ a b c Is the Azov Battalion a terrorist organization as 40 US House Democrats claim? Quote: "The Azov Battalion included the Black Sun in its emblem in 2014-2015, however, removed it later."
- ^ "Black Sun - Reporting Radicalism in Ukraine". reportingradicalism.org. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
Emblem of Azov Battalion (from 2014 to spring 2015)
- ^ "Azov fighters are Ukraine's greatest weapon and may be its greatest threat". The Guardian. 10 September 2014. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
- ^ Jones, Seth G. (7 November 2018). "The Rise of Far-Right Extremism in the United States". Center for Strategic and International Studies. Archived from the original on 12 February 2022.
Azov Battalion, a paramilitary unit of the Ukrainian National Guard, which the FBI says is associated with neo-Nazi ideology.
- ^ "Symbols of Azov (Idea of the Nation)". Reporting Radicalism in Ukraine. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
- ^ Golinkin, Lev (9 November 2017). "The reality of neo-Nazis in Ukraine is far from Kremlin propaganda". The Hill. Archived from the original on 19 July 2019. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
- ^ a b Miller, Christopher (14 November 2018). "Azov, Ukraine's Most Prominent Ultranationalist Group, Sets Its Sights On U.S., Europe". RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty. Prague. Archived from the original on 3 August 2019. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
- ^ Polyakova, Alina (12 September 2014). "The Far-Right in Ukraine's Far-East". Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
- ^ lądowe, Wojska (13 June 2015). "USA nie będą szkolić batalionu Azow". Altair.com.pl (in Polish). Archived from the original on 15 June 2015. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
- ^ Hinz, Linda (14 August 2014). "Schmutziger Kampf in der Ukraine: Neonazis im Dienst der Regierung" [Dirty war in Ukraine: neo-Nazis in service of the government]. Focus Online (in German). Archived from the original on 17 October 2016. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
- ^ "Ukrainian soldiers seen wearing helmets with Nazi swastika and SS symbols". Haaretz. 9 September 2014. Archived from the original on 7 November 2015. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
- ^ Raghavan, Sudarsan; Morris, Loveday; Parker, Claire; Stern, David L. (6 April 2022). "Right-wing Azov Battalion emerges as a controversial defender of Ukraine". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. wapro4622. Archived from the original on 6 April 2022. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
Even as they have consistently denied any Nazi affiliations, their uniforms and tattoos on many of their fighters display a number of fascist and Nazi symbols, including swastikas and SS symbols.
- ^ "German TV Shows Nazi Symbols on Helmets of Ukraine Soldiers". NBC News. 9 September 2014. Archived from the original on 25 January 2021. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
- ^ "Chłopcy z 'Azowa' bronią Mariupola. Ukrainy, Europy i… białej rasy" [The boys from 'Azov' defend Mariupol. Ukraine, Europe and… the white race]. Interia (in Polish). 8 July 2015. Archived from the original on 13 July 2015. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
- ^ "Український журнал. Шлях Тягнибока до Свободи". 17 January 2015. Archived from the original on 17 January 2015. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
- ^ Per Anders Rudling "The Return of the Ukrainian Far Right: The Case of VO Svoboda" in Analysing Fascist Discourse: European Fascism in Talk and Text, edited by Ruth Wodak, John E. Richardson. Routledge, 2012, p.235
- ^ a b Olszański, Tadeusz A. (4 July 2011). "Svoboda Party – The New Phenomenon on the Ukrainian Right-Wing Scene". Centre for Eastern Studies. OSW Commentary (56): 6. Retrieved 27 September 2013.
- ^ "Provoking the Euromaidan". Open Democracy. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
- ^ "Український Національний Союз". naso.pp.ua. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
- ^ Welle (www.dw.com), Deutsche. "The Azov Battalion: Extremists defending Mariupol | DW | 16 March 2022". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 21 April 2022.
- ^ a b Nemtsova, Anna; Dickey, Christopher (15 November 2019). "Ukraine's Anti-Russia Azov Battalion: 'Minutemen' or Neo-Nazi Terrorists?". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on 25 March 2020. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
- ^ Cathcart, Will; Epstein, Joseph (14 April 2017). "How Many Neo-Nazis Is the U.S. Backing in Ukraine?". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on 20 March 2020. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
- ^ Golinkin, Lev (22 February 2019). "Neo-Nazis and the Far Right Are On the March in Ukraine". The Nation. Archived from the original on 1 March 2022. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
Post-Maidan Ukraine is the world's only nation to have a neo-Nazi formation in its armed forces. The Azov Battalion was initially formed out of the neo-Nazi gang Patriot of Ukraine. Andriy Biletsky, the gang's leader who became Azov's commander, once wrote that Ukraine's mission is to 'lead the White Races of the world in a final crusade...against the Semite-led Untermenschen.'
- ^ Kuzmenko, Oleksiy (19 March 2020). "The Azov Regiment has not depoliticized". Atlantic Council. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
- ^ "Невзоров познакомился с полком "Азов" и опубликовал обращение "азовцев" к России: "Держи вора!" обычно громче всех кричит сам вор". KP (in Russian). 28 March 2022. Archived from the original on 28 March 2022. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
- ^ "Commentary: Ukraine's neo-Nazi problem". Reuters. 19 March 2018. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
- ^ "Azov Battalion Is Not Neo-Nazi, But Some People In Battalion Are - Umland". en.hromadske.ua. 19 January 2015. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
- ^ Allen, Christopher (13 August 2015). "European volunteers fighting in Eastern Ukraine". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
The political ideology of Azov has been softened as the battalion grew into a regiment and Biletsky entered the Ukrainian parliament, but many of the Europeans who came in the early stages of the conflict came to fight for their conservative political values. But, while the political fight is important, it is not the only thing that has brought these men here.
- ^ "US lifts ban on funding 'neo-Nazi' Ukrainian militia". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. 18 January 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
"It must be clearly understood: there is no kind of 'neo-Nazi Ukrainian militia' now. Azov is a regular military unit subordinate to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. It is not irregular division neither a political group. Its commanders and fighters might have personal political views as individuals, but as an armed police unit Azov is a part of the system of the Ukrainian defense forces," said anti-Semitism researcher Vyacheslav A. Likhachev
- ^ Mironova, Vera; Sergatskova, Ekaterina (1 August 2017). "How Ukraine Reined In Its Militias". Foreign Affairs. ISSN 0015-7120. Retrieved 18 May 2022.
- ^ Aliyev, Huseyn (16 July 2020). "Pro-government Anti-government Armed Groups? Toward Theorizing Pro-government "Government Challengers"". Terrorism and Political Violence: 1–17. doi:10.1080/09546553.2020.1785877. ISSN 0954-6553. S2CID 225626866.
Although when first assembled in April–May 2014 the DUK/UDA, "Azov," "Aydar" and many other battalions promoted ultranationalist and even neo-Nazi views, as the battalions became more ideologically mature their radical right-wing ideology gradually toned down.
- ^ Shekhovtsov, Anton (24 February 2020). "Why Azov should not be designated a foreign terrorist organization". Atlantic Council.
- ^ Shekhovtsov, Anton (7 April 2022). "How the West enabled genocide in Mariupol with its misguided Azov obsession". Euromaidan Press.
- ^ Raghavan, Sudarsan; Morris, Loveday; Parker, Claire; Stern, David L. (5 April 2022). "Right-wing Azov Battalion emerges as a controversial defender of Ukraine". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 6 April 2022.
The Azov forces today, said Biletskiy, now include writers and other liberals, even members of the extreme left and antifascists. 'We are at war for the very existence of Ukraine at the moment,' he said. 'In the past month, I have never asked a person that came to join us about his political views. Today, Ukrainians have only one option of political orientation: for or against Ukraine.'
- ^ a b "Azov Regiment takes centre stage in Ukraine propaganda war". France 24. 25 March 2022. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
- ^ "Is Azov Neo-Nazi? An Expert In Far-Right Radicalism Answers The Common Questions". The Ukrainian View. 18 May 2022.
- ^ Query, Alexander (8 May 2022). "Azovstal defenders: Surrender is not an option". The Kyiv Independent.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Rozovsky, Liza (12 May 2022). "Azov Battalion's Second-in-command: 'Like in Israel, There Is Also Terror Against Us. We Are Not Nazis'". Haaretz.
- ^ "Ukraine's National Militia: 'We're not neo-Nazis, we just want to make our country better'". the Guardian. 13 March 2018. Retrieved 31 July 2020.
- ^ Sakwa, Richard (18 December 2014). Frontline Ukraine: Crisis in the Borderlands. I.B.Tauris. p. 158. ISBN 978-0-85773-804-2. Archived from the original on 19 December 2019. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
- ^ Saressalo, Teemu; Huhtinen, Aki-Mauri (15 October 2018). "The Information Blitzkrieg — "Hybrid" Operations Azov Style". The Journal of Slavic Military Studies. 31 (4): 423–443. doi:10.1080/13518046.2018.1521358. S2CID 150074996.
- ^ Червоненко, Виталий (14 May 2018). "Антисемитизм или манипуляция: усиливается ли притеснение евреев в Украине?" [Anti-Semitism or Manipulation: Is Jewish Oppression Intensified in Ukraine?]. BBC News (in Ukrainian). Archived from the original on 22 March 2019. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
One of the most famous examples is Natan Khazin, the commander of the so-called "Jewish Hundred" during the Euromaidan. He claimed that he did not see significant manifestations of anti-Semitism during the Maidan. He and his comrades-in-arms jokingly called themselves "Jewish Bandera" and also stylized the red and black flag of the UPA, adding the Star of David to it. It is significant that Mr. Khazin himself called himself one of the founders of the Azov battalion.
- ^ Билецкий: Половина людей, которые воевали за Украину, разговаривает на русском языке (in Russian). gordonua.com. 20 November 2018. Archived from the original on 19 October 2019. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
- ^ a b "Ukrainian fighters grease bullets against Chechens with pig fat". Al Jazeera. 28 February 2022.
- ^ Ling, Justin (26 February 2022). "Russia Tries to Terrorize Ukraine With Images of Chechen Soldiers". Foreign Policy.
- ^ MacKinnon, Mark (13 February 2022). "Chechens and Georgians in Ukraine preparing to continue fight against Putin on a new front". The Globe and Mail.
- ^ "US forces to hold exercises in Ukraine". HuffPost. 31 March 2015. Archived from the original on 20 June 2015. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
- ^ John Conyers, Jr (11 June 2015). "U.S. House Passes 3 Amendments By Rep. Conyers To Defense Spending Bill To Protect Civilians From Dangers Of Arming and Training Foreign Forces". US House of Representatives. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
- ^ a b Sokol, Sam (18 January 2016). "US lifts ban on funding 'neo-Nazi' Ukrainian militia". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
- ^ "Ukraine's neo-Nazis won't get US money". Bloomberg. 12 June 2015. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
- ^ "US lifts ban on funding 'neo-Nazi' Ukrainian militia". The Jerusalem Post. Archived from the original on 7 July 2018. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
- ^ a b Sokol, Sam (18 January 2016). "US lifts ban on funding 'neo-Nazi' Ukrainian militia". The Jerusalem Post. Archived from the original on 22 January 2021. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
- ^ Carden, James (14 January 2016). "Congress Has Removed a Ban on Funding Neo-Nazis From Its Year-End Spending Bill". The Nation. ISSN 0027-8378. Archived from the original on 28 February 2022. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
- ^ Kheel, Rebecca (27 March 2018). "Congress bans arms to Ukraine militia linked to neo-Nazis". The Hill. Archived from the original on 27 February 2022. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), an outspoken critic of providing lethal aid to Ukraine, said... "I am very pleased that the recently passed omnibus prevents the U.S. from providing arms and training assistance to the neo-Nazi Azov Battalion fighting in Ukraine."
- ^ Owen, Tess (16 October 2019). "House Democrats Just Demanded These Neo-Nazi Groups Be Prosecuted as International Terrorists". Vice News. Archived from the original on 22 April 2020. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
- ^ Colborne, Michael (1 November 2019). "U.S. Congress Accidentally Boosted Ukraine's Far-Right". Foreign Policy. Archived from the original on 5 May 2020. Retrieved 17 April 2020.
- ^ a b Farley, Robert (31 March 2022). "The Facts on 'De-Nazifying' Ukraine". FactCheck.org. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
- ^ Sirota, Sara. "Neo-Nazis Not Top of Mind for Senate Democrats Pushing Weapons for Ukraine". The Intercept. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
- ^ ""There Are No Angels In War": Elon Musk Slams Russian Space Chief". NDTV.
- ^ Brewster, Murray (26 June 2015). "No training for Azov regiment: Kenney". Kiev, Ukraine. The Canadian Press. Archived from the original on 7 August 2015. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
- ^ "Rights Groups Demand Israel Stop Arming neo-Nazis in Ukraine". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 13 December 2021. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
- ^ Starr, Michael (20 April 2022). "Israeli weapon seen used by Neo-Nazi Ukrainian unit against Russia". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
- ^ a b Kokkinidis, Tasos (7 April 2022). "Ethnic Greek Azov Fighter Overshadows Zelensky Speech at Greek Parliament". Greek Reporter.
- ^ "Lavrov confirms Russia deliberately bombed maternity hospital in Mariupol". Ukrayinska Pravda. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
- ^ "Ukraine war: Russia says claim it bombed children's hospital is 'fake news'". Sky News. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
- ^ a b "Ukraine war: People buried under rubble after Mariupol theatre sheltering hundreds is hit by Russian bomb, officials say". Sky News. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
- ^ "Azov battalion militants blow up Mariupol theater building — Defense Ministry". TASS. 16 March 2022. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
- ^ Lister, Tim; Voitovych, Olga; John, Tara (16 March 2022). "Russians bomb Mariupol theater where hundreds had taken refuge, officials say". CNN. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
- ^ "Комиссар Исчезает". t.me (in Russian). Retrieved 9 May 2022.
- ^ Cohen, Patricia; Nelson, Eshe; Safronova, Valeriya; Levenson, Michael (26 May 2022). "As Russia Diverges From the Global Economy, Soviet-Style Scarcity Looms". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
Notes
- ^ The Azov Battalion was upgraded from a battalion to a regiment after it became a unit of the National Guard of Ukraine,[7] but "Azov Battalion" is still a common name.
Further reading
Media related to 12th Special Brigade of National Guard 'Azov' at Wikimedia Commons
- Umland, Andreas (2 January 2019). "Irregular Militias and Radical Nationalism in Post-Euromaydan Ukraine: The Prehistory and Emergence of the "Azov" Battalion in 2014". Terrorism and Political Violence. 31 (1). Informa UK Limited: 105–131. doi:10.1080/09546553.2018.1555974. ISSN 0954-6553. S2CID 150443541.
- 2017 article by Margaret Klein for Swedish Defence Research Agency
- 2017 TV report "Women and the Azov battalion in Kyiv" by Deutsche Welle
External links
- 2014 establishments in Ukraine
- Far-right movements in Europe
- History of Donetsk Oblast
- Military units and formations established in 2014
- Neo-Nazi organizations
- Neo-Nazism in Ukraine
- Paramilitary forces of Ukraine
- Ukrainian nationalist organizations
- Volunteer National Guard units of Ukraine
- Military units and formations of the Russo-Ukrainian War
- Donbas