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{{Infobox military unit
| unit_name =
| native_name = {{lang-uk|
| image = AZOV logo.svg
| image_size = 150px
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| dates = 5 May 2014 – present
| country = {{flagicon|Ukraine}} Ukraine
| branch = [[Special Tasks Patrol Police]] (2014)<br />{{flagicon image|Ensign of the National Guard of Ukraine.svg}} [[National Guard of Ukraine]] (
| type = [[Mechanized infantry]]
| role = [[Gendarmerie]], national security.
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***[[Siege of Mariupol]]
***[[Battle of Volnovakha]]
***[[Luhansk Oblast campaign]]
{{tree list/end}}
| anniversaries = 5 May
| notable_commanders = [[Andriy Biletsky]] (May–October 2014)<br />[[Ihor Mosiychuk]]<br />[[Vadym Troyan]]<br />Maksim Zhorin<ref name="mk.ru">{{cite web | url=https://www.mk.ru/politics/2022/06/18/novym-komandirom-azova-naznachili-evakuirovannogo-iz-mariupolya-na-vertolete-nadtochiya-politika-strany-httpstme.html | title=Новым командиром "Азова" назначили эвакуированного из Мариуполя на вертолете Надточия | date=18 June 2022 | access-date=19 June 2022 | archive-date=24 September 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220924144436/https://www.mk.ru/politics/2022/06/18/novym-komandirom-azova-naznachili-evakuirovannogo-iz-mariupolya-na-vertolete-nadtochiya-politika-strany-httpstme.html | url-status=live }}</ref><br />[[Denys Prokopenko]] (September 2017 – 29 May 2022),<ref name="denys"/> (17 July 2023
| identification_symbol = [[File:Banner of the Azov Regiment.svg]]
| identification_symbol_label = Banner
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= [[File:Бригада «Азов» лого 2023.svg|100px]]
| identification_symbol_3_label
= Sleeve
| website = {{URL|https://azov.org.ua/}}
| current_commander = [[Denys Prokopenko]] (17 July 2023 – present)<ref name="ukrinform.net"/>
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}}
The '''
The unit has drawn controversy over its early and allegedly continuing association with [[Far-right politics in Ukraine|far-right]] groups and [[Neo-Nazism|neo-Nazi]] ideology,<ref name="sources neo-Nazi"/> its use of controversial symbols linked to [[Nazism]], and early allegations that members of the unit participated in human rights violations.{{R|telegraph-20220318|Jones-2022}}{{R|Sheerin-2022}} Some experts have been critical of the regiment's role within the larger [[#Azov movement|Azov Movement]], a political umbrella group made up of veterans and organizations linked to Azov, and its possible far-right political ambitions, despite claims of the regiment's depoliticization.<ref name = Fires />{{R|AUnian16916}} Others argue that the regiment has changed, tempering its far-right underpinnings as it became part of the National Guard.<ref name="Ivan Gomza-2022">{{Cite web|title=Too Much Ado About Ukrainian Nationalists: the Azov Movement and the War in Ukraine|author=Ivan Gomza|date=April 2022|url=https://krytyka.com/en/articles/too-much-ado-about-ukrainian-nationalists-the-azov-movement-and-the-war-in-ukraine|access-date=29 May 2022|website=[[Krytyka]]|language=en|archive-date=14 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220514112432/https://krytyka.com/en/articles/too-much-ado-about-ukrainian-nationalists-the-azov-movement-and-the-war-in-ukraine|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Ritzmann">{{cite news |last1=Ritzmann |first1=Alexander |title=The myth that far-right zealots run Ukraine is Russian propaganda |url=https://www.euronews.com/2023/06/20/the-myth-far-right-zealots-run-ukraine-is-russian-propaganda |work=[[Euronews]] |date=12 April 2022 |language=en |archive-date=2 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220602130250/https://www.euronews.com/2022/04/12/the-myth-far-right-zealots-run-ukraine-is-russian-propaganda-view |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="tab" /> The Azov Regiment has been a recurring theme of [[Propaganda in Russia|Russian propaganda]].<ref name= Sudarsan-2022 /> The unit has been [[List of designated terrorist groups|designated a terrorist group]] by Russia since August 2022.<ref name="AP NEWS-2022" />
The regiment's size was estimated to be around 2,500 combatants in 2017,<ref name="spiegel.de" /> and around 900 in 2022.{{R|AlJazeera-2022}} Most of the unit's members are Russian speakers from Russian-speaking regions of Ukraine. It also includes members from other countries.<ref name="tab" /> The regiment gained renewed attention during the [[Russian invasion of Ukraine]]. Russian president [[Vladimir Putin]] alleged that Ukraine was controlled by far-right forces, such as Azov, and gave "denazification" as a reason for the invasion. The Azov regiment played a prominent role in the [[
== History ==
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According to right‑wing radicalism researcher Vyacheslav Likhachev, Azov had many roots.<ref name="Медиазона 2022 roots">{{cite web | title="Of course, there's Russophobia. What did you expect, it's the ninth year of a war of aggression". Right‑wing radicalism researcher Vyacheslav Likhachev on Russian propaganda talking points | website=Медиазона | date=29 March 2022 | url=https://zona.media/translate/2022/03/29/likhachev | language=ru | access-date=19 June 2022 | quote=Azov had several roots, and Biletsky was just one of them. Later he seized the trademark,.. Another group of members were football hooligans, primarily from [[Dynamo Kyiv]]. | archive-date=5 July 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220705005234/https://zona.media/translate/2022/03/29/likhachev | url-status=live }}</ref> The brigade was founded by the activists of [[Patriot of Ukraine]], [[Automaidan]], [[Social-National Assembly]] and other organisations active during the [[Euromaidan]].<ref name="ГОРСЬКА 1970">{{cite web | last=ГОРСЬКА | first=Дарія | title=Командир еврейской сотни Майдана теперь спасает бойцов в зоне АТО | website=ФАКТИ – Останні новини України та світу онлайн – статті, коментарі та аналітика | date=1 January 1970 | url=https://fakty.ua/192310-komandir-evrejskoj-sotni-majdana-teper-spasaet-bojcov-v-zone-ato | language=uk | access-date=19 June 2022 | quote=Набралась целая колонна машин — двадцать шесть отчаянных ребят, которые потом стали костяком батальона «Азов», — рассказывает Натан Хазин. — Сдружились мы еще на Майдане — там завязывались самые крепкие связи. Я ведь на революцию попал совершенно случайно. Сначала не воспринимал все это всерьез. Выкрики «Слава Украине! Героям слава!» мне казались чистейшей воды фашизмом. Только поднятой руки и «Хайль Гитлер!» не хватало. Но когда «Беркут» жестоко избил студентов и начались противостояния, я понял, насколько все серьезно. | archive-date=14 June 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220614204149/https://fakty.ua/192310-komandir-evrejskoj-sotni-majdana-teper-spasaet-bojcov-v-zone-ato | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="BBC Khazin"/><ref name="HtvhoAB" /><ref>{{cite news |title=Полк білих людей. Що ми знаємо про "Азов" |url=https://ua.korrespondent.net/ukraine/3678807-polk-bilykh-luidei-scho-my-znaiemo-pro-azov |access-date=11 March 2024 |publisher=Korrespondent.net |date=5 May 2016|language=uk}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Вісім років батальйону Азов. Головні факти про героїчних оборонців Маріуполя |url=https://nv.ua/ukr/ukraine/events/azovu-visim-rokiv-golovne-pro-zahisnikiv-mariupolya-novini-ukrajini-50239716.html |access-date=11 March 2024 |publisher=Nv.ua |date=5 May 2022 |language=uk}}</ref>
[[Nationalism]] researcher [[Andreas Umland]] wrote that the Azov was created by "an obscure lunatic fringe group of racist activists" and has "a contradictory, if not paradoxical history of cooperation" between organizations involved in its creation
According to Katerina Sergatskova in [[Hromadske]], parts of the Azov Brigade had its roots in a group of [[ultras]] of [[FC Metalist Kharkiv]] named "Sect 82" (1982 is the year of the founding of the group),<ref name=HtvhoAB>{{in lang|uk}} [http://hromadske.ua/posts/my-namahaiemosia-pryity-do-vlady-cherez-vybory-khocha-maiemo-vsiaki-mozhlyvosti-iak-azov-staie-partiieiu "We are trying to come to power through elections, but we have all sorts of possibilities" – as "Azov" becomes party] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180219190018/http://hromadske.ua/posts/my-namahaiemosia-pryity-do-vlady-cherez-vybory-khocha-maiemo-vsiaki-mozhlyvosti-iak-azov-staie-partiieiu |date=19 February 2018 }}, [[Hromadske.TV]] (13 October 2016)</ref> which had ultranationalist leanings.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Azov Regiment: Neo-Nazis, Football Hooligans or Defenders of Ukraine? |url=https://oko.press/the-azov-regiment-neo-nazis-football-hooligans-or-defenders-of-ukraine |access-date=2024-05-01 |website=oko.press |language=pl}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.eastjournal.net/archives/78786 |title=CALCIO: Ultrà ucraini, dalla tregua al Battaglione Azov |website=eastjournal.net |date=30 November 2016 |language=it |trans-title=FOOTBALL: Ukrainian Ultras, from the truce to the Azov Battalion |quote=Sect 82 – an ultra-right-wing Metalist group, also accused of Nazi leanings – which in late February 2014 formed the entity that would later give birth to the Azov Battalion |access-date=15 June 2022 |archive-date=28 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220628095954/https://www.eastjournal.net/archives/78786 |url-status=live }}</ref> In late February 2014, during [[2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine|the pro-Russian unrest]] 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".<ref name=HtvhoAB/> Soon after, a company of the [[Special Police Forces (Ukraine)|Special Tasks Patrol Police]] called 'Eastern Corps' was formed on the basis of Sect 82, which would join Azov in 2015.<ref name=HtvhoAB/>
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On 8 June 2023, a number of Azov's top commanders, including Prokopenko, returned from internment in Turkey back to Ukraine in a move that was repudiated by Russia.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ukraine: Mariupol commanders return home with Zelenskyy – DW – 07/08/2023 |url=https://www.dw.com/en/ukraine-mariupol-zelenskyy-azov-commanders/live-66162920 |access-date=8 July 2023 |website=dw.com |language=en |archive-date=8 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230708221300/https://www.dw.com/en/ukraine-mariupol-zelenskyy-azov-commanders/live-66162920 |url-status=live }}</ref>
On 10 June 2024, the [[United States Department of State]] announced the lifting of a ban which previously prevented the Azov Brigade from using weapons supplied by the US, writing in a statement that "Ukraine's 12th Special Forces Azov Brigade passed [[Leahy Law|Leahy vetting]]" and that the department found no evidence of human rights violations committed by the unit. This policy shift allows the Azov Brigade to use the same US military equipment as any other unit in the Ukrainian National Guard.<ref name="WaPoStateDept2024">{{cite
==== Other 'Azov' units ====
[[File:AZOV Logo (SSO Kyiv).svg|thumb|193x193px|Insignia used by Azov SSO units, this one in particular from Kyiv, which eschews the ''[[Wolfsangel]]''<ref name="Ball-2022">{{Cite news |last=Ball |first=Tom |date=30 May 2022 |title=Azov Battalion drops neo-Nazi symbol exploited by Russian propagandists |language=en |work=The Times |url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/azov-battalion-drops-neo-nazi-symbol-exploited-by-russian-propagandists-lpjnsp7qg |access-date= |issn=0140-0460 |archive-date=6 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220606102514/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/azov-battalion-drops-neo-nazi-symbol-exploited-by-russian-propagandists-lpjnsp7qg |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Stanford 120922">{{Cite web |publisher=Stanford University |location=Stanford, California |title=MMP: Azov Battalion |url=https://cisac.fsi.stanford.edu/mappingmilitants/profiles/azov-battalion |access-date=13 September 2022 |website=cisac.fsi.stanford.edu |language=en |archive-date=3 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221003145123/https://cisac.fsi.stanford.edu/mappingmilitants/profiles/azov-battalion |url-status=live }}</ref>]]
While the
In [[Dnipro]], the [[98th Territorial Defence Battalion 'Azov-Dnipro']] of the Territorial Defense Forces was organized, led by First Deputy Head of National Corps and Azov veteran Rodion Kudryashov.<ref name="Stanford 120922" /> Other Azov TDF units include the 225th and 226th Reconnaissance battalions from Kharkiv, the Azov Tank Company—part of the 127th Defense Brigade of the Kharkiv TDF—Azov-Prykarpattia formed in [[Ivano-Frankivsk]] and Azov-Poltava based in [[Poltava]].{{citation needed|date=April 2023}} In addition, Azov veterans and National Corps members
== Leadership and organisation ==
[[File:Andriy Biletsky leads patrol near Mariupol.jpg|thumbnail|left|[[Andriy Biletsky]] leading units of the battalion on a patrol near [[Mariupol]] in July 2014]]
The brigade's first commander and founder was Andriy Biletsky.<ref name="telegraph-20220318" /> 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.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.president.gov.ua/documents/17945.html |script-title=uk:УКАЗ ПРЕЗИДЕНТА УКРАЇНИ № 631/2014: Про відзначення державними нагородами України |trans-title=DECREE OF THE PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE: № 631/2014 On awarding state decorations of Ukraine |language=uk |date=2 August 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140806032540/http://www.president.gov.ua/documents/17945.html |archive-date=6 August 2014}}</ref> After Biletsky was elected into the [[Verkhovna Rada|Ukrainian parliament]] in the [[2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election]] he left the regiment, and terminated his contract with the National Guard in 2016 (Ukrainian elected officials
A 16 July 2014 report placed the Azov Battalion's strength at 300.<ref name="bbc-newman" /> An earlier report stated that on 23 June almost 600 volunteers, including women, took oaths to join the Donbas and Azov
=== Commanders ===
=== Status===
Azov was initially formed as a volunteer militia in May 2014.<ref name="AlJazeera-2022" /> In 2015, the Ukrainian government decided to turn all volunteer
In January 2015, Azov
In February 2023, acting Minister of Internal Affairs [[Ihor Klymenko]] announced that Azov was to be expanded from its regimental status as one of eight assault [[brigade]]s of the new [[Offensive Guard (Ukraine)|Offensive Guard]].<ref name="Yahoo! News-2023" /><ref name="Kuznetsova-2023" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Mazurenko |first=Alona |date=2 February 2023 |title=Ukraine's Interior Ministry forming volunteer assault brigades known as Offensive Guard |url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2023/02/2/7387701/ |access-date=13 February 2023 |website=Ukrainska Pravda |language=en |archive-date=12 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230212173957/https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2023/02/2/7387701/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The Offensive Guard is to be an all-volunteer formation of eight assault infantry brigades, six of the National Guard, one of the Border Guard, and one under the National Police, anticipated to be fully active by April 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |date=12 February 2023 |title=Ukraine's Offensive Guard receives 27,000 applications, new brigades planned |url=https://news.yahoo.com/ukraines-offensive-guard-receives-27-160759531.html |access-date=13 February 2023 |website=news.yahoo.com |language=en-US |agency=Yahoo! News |archive-date=13 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230213041614/https://news.yahoo.com/ukraines-offensive-guard-receives-27-160759531.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
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While the February 2015 Minsk II Ceasefire Agreement speaks of the withdrawal of foreign fighters,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Karatnycky |first1=Adrian |title=A Closer Look at the Ukraine Cease-Fire Agreement |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/20/opinion/a-closer-look-at-the-ukraine-cease-fire-agreement.html |access-date=17 December 2016 |work=The New York Times |date=19 February 2015 |archive-date=1 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201055114/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/20/opinion/a-closer-look-at-the-ukraine-cease-fire-agreement.html |url-status=live}}</ref> the agreement was never fully implemented.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ukraine-Russia crisis: What is the Minsk agreement? |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/2/9/what-is-the-minsk-agreement-and-why-is-it-relevant-now |access-date=9 April 2022 |publisher=Al Jazeera |date=9 February 2022 |archive-date=8 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220408125142/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/2/9/what-is-the-minsk-agreement-and-why-is-it-relevant-now |url-status=live }}</ref>
Though only about 50 Russian nationals were members of the Azov regiment in April 2015,<ref name="KP150424">{{cite news |url=http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/foreigners-who-fight-and-die-for-ukraine-russians-join-ukrainians-to-battle-kremlin-in-donbas-386999.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150427234735/http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/foreigners-who-fight-and-die-for-ukraine-russians-join-ukrainians-to-battle-kremlin-in-donbas-386999.html |archive-date=27 April 2015 |title=Foreigners Who Fight And Die For Ukraine: Russians join Ukrainians to battle Kremlin in Donbas |first=Oleg |last=Sukhov |work=[[Kyiv Post]] |date=24 April 2015}}</ref> the regiment still included foreign fighters in August 2015, for example
In late 2016, Brazilian investigators uncovered an alleged plot to recruit Brazilian far-right activists for the Azov-aligned [[Misanthropic Division]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.ft.com/content/f9ee01ca-ce49-11e6-864f-20dcb35cede2 |title=Brazil neo-Nazi claim tests myth of racial harmony |last=Leahy |first=Joe |date=10 January 2017 |access-date=12 April 2018 |newspaper=Financial Times |url-access=subscription |archive-date=29 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180629155535/https://www.ft.com/content/f9ee01ca-ce49-11e6-864f-20dcb35cede2 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/americas/brazilian-neo-nazis-recruited-to-fight-in-ukraine-1.5485098 |title=Brazilian Neo-Nazis Recruited to Fight pro-Russian Rebels in Ukraine |year=2017 |work=Haaretz |access-date=6 July 2018 |language=en |archive-date=29 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180629235702/https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/americas/brazilian-neo-nazis-recruited-to-fight-in-ukraine-1.5485098 |url-status=live}}</ref> American white nationalists have unsuccessfully tried to join Azov. In 2016, [[List of Atomwaffen Division members in the United States who faced criminal charges|Andrew Oneschuk]], who later joined the neo-Nazi terrorist group [[Atomwaffen Division]], joined an Azov movement podcast in 2016.<ref name="Kuzmenko bellingcat">{{Cite web |first=Oleksiy|last=Kuzmenko|url=https://www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-and-europe/2019/02/15/defend-the-white-race-american-extremists-being-co-opted-by-ukraines-far-right/ |title="Defend the White Race": American Extremists Being Co-Opted by Ukraine's Far-Right |website=[[Bellingcat]] |date=14 June 2019 |access-date=16 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404213242/https://www.bellingcat.com/news/uk-and-europe/2019/02/15/defend-the-white-race-american-extremists-being-co-opted-by-ukraines-far-right/ |archive-date=4 April 2019 |url-status=live|quote=}}</ref>{{Importance inline|reason=joined an Azov movement podcast? Really?|date=May 2024}} Azov has cultivated ties with the Atomwaffen Division.<ref>{{cite news |last=Ifill |first=Erica |date=26 July 2022 |title=We need to talk about Azov |work=[[The Hill Times]] |url=https://www.hilltimes.com/2022/03/02/we-need-to-talk-about-azov/347585 |quote=The Azov Battalion has cultivated a relationship with members of the Atomwaffen Division as well as with U.S.-based militants from R.A.M |access-date=27 July 2022 |archive-date=26 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220726141442/https://www.hilltimes.com/2022/03/02/we-need-to-talk-about-azov/347585 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Miller-Idriss |first=Cynthia |date=26 July 2022 |title=Russia's misguided 'denazification' of Ukraine is a self-fulfilling prophecy |url=https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/how-russia-spurred-ukraine-s-global-neo-nazi-recruitment-n1293177 |website=[[MSNBC]] |quote=And although it is a relatively small battalion, estimated at only 900 volunteers, Azov’s reputation and global reach is far bigger. The group has recruited foreign fighters from at least half a dozen countries and has globally become “a larger-than-life brand among many extremists,” according to Katz. U.S.-based militants from the now-defunct Rise Above Movement, along with members of the terrorist group Atomwaffen Division, have been cultivated by Azov. |access-date=27 July 2022 |archive-date=3 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220803235448/https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/how-russia-spurred-ukraine-s-global-neo-nazi-recruitment-n1293177 |url-status=live }}</ref>
According to the [[Counter Extremism Project]], the Azov Regiment made clear in 2019 that it was no longer accepting foreigners, since foreigners could only serve in the Ukrainian Army as
In 2019, support for the Azov Movement and associated organizations was temporarily
In June 2022, Kacper Rekawek wrote in [[Combating Terrorism Center]] at [[United States Military Academy|West Point]] that "Ukrainian units with far-right histories are now deeply integrated into Ukraine's armed forces and eschew foreign recruitment, and one of those units, the Azov Regiment, was decimated during the siege of Mariupol. Very few foreign right-wing extremists have been recruited into Ukraine's International Legion. In fact, anecdotal evidence suggests most of the foreign fighters who have traveled this year to fight on the Ukrainian side are fighting to safeguard Ukraine's future as a Western democracy. All this means that while Western governments should keep a watchful eye on foreign fighter flows to Ukraine, they must also counter Russian disinformation efforts that massively inflate the presence of right-wing extremists on the Ukrainian side."<ref>{{Cite web |date=23 June 2022 |title=A Trickle, Not a Flood: The Limited 2022 Far-Right Foreign Fighter Mobilization to Ukraine |url=https://ctc.westpoint.edu/a-trickle-not-a-flood-the-limited-2022-far-right-foreign-fighter-mobilization-to-ukraine/ |access-date=29 June 2022 |website=Combating Terrorism Center at West Point |language=en-US |archive-date=24 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220624224605/https://ctc.westpoint.edu/a-trickle-not-a-flood-the-limited-2022-far-right-foreign-fighter-mobilization-to-ukraine/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
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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 ultranationalist paramilitary [[Patriot of Ukraine]] group led by Azov founder Andriy Biletsky and the associated [[far right]] [[Social-National Assembly]].<ref name="B@naa" /><ref name="reuters-20150325" /> According to [[Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|Radio Free Europe]] in 2018, the Azov movement "considers close allies" several [[far-right]] organisations around the world, like [[CasaPound]], [[Golden Dawn (Greece)|Golden Dawn]], Szturmowcy, [[National Democratic Party of Germany]] and [[Alternative For Germany]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.rferl.org/a/azov-ukraine-s-most-prominent-ultranationalist-group-sets-its-sights-on-u-s-europe/29600564.html|title=Azov, Ukraine's Most Prominent Ultranationalist Group, Sets Its Sights On U.S., Europe|newspaper=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty|date=19 November 2018 |access-date=31 July 2019|archive-date=3 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190803165341/https://www.rferl.org/a/azov-ukraine-s-most-prominent-ultranationalist-group-sets-its-sights-on-u-s-europe/29600564.html|url-status=live |last1=Miller |first1=Christopher }}</ref>
In 2015, according to Reuters, since
Some experts agree with the view 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."<ref>{{Cite news |title=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) |date=29 March 2022 |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/29/europe/ukraine-azov-movement-far-right-intl-cmd/index.html |access-date=23 April 2022 |publisher=CNN |archive-date=7 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220507083613/https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/29/europe/ukraine-azov-movement-far-right-intl-cmd/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref> [[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."<ref name="Schipani-2022">{{Cite news |last1=Schipani |first1=Andres |last2=Olearchyk |first2=Roman |date=29 March 2022 |title='Don't confuse patriotism and Nazism': Ukraine's Azov forces face scrutiny |work=Financial Times |url=https://www.ft.com/content/7191ec30-9677-423d-873c-e72b64725c2d |access-date= |archive-date=3 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220403192247/https://www.ft.com/content/7191ec30-9677-423d-873c-e72b64725c2d |url-status=live }}</ref>
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Biletsky uses Azov fighters to pursue his own political goals. For example, to put pressure on President Zelensky and prevent him from reaching compromises with Russia, Azov veterans marched into Kiev reaching his office and clashing with the police.<ref name="telegraph">{{Cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/03/18/inside-azov-neo-nazi-brigade-killing-russian-generals-playing/ |title=Inside Azov, the far-Right brigade killing Russian generals and playing a PR game in the Ukraine war |newspaper=The Telegraph |date=18 March 2022 |quote=Mr Biletsky, however, still attends Azov events and occasionally uses the Azov troops to put pressure on Ukrainian authorities to ditch the idea of any form of compromise with Russia. Just a few months after the invasion, Azov veterans marched across central Kyiv to President Zelensky’s office. They were stopped by a police cordon nearby where they set on fire effigies of “traitors”. |access-date=19 March 2022 |archive-date=18 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220318224111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/03/18/inside-azov-neo-nazi-brigade-killing-russian-generals-playing/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
In 2022, there have been continued reports of Biletsky interacting with the regiment, including his own claims that he
In 2023, when Biletsky was told during an interview that the Azov movement had split between the Azov Brigade and the [[3rd Assault Brigade]], he replied: "There is no split".<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/articles/2023/10/17/7424397/ |title=Андрій Білецький: Росіяни стерли свої кадрові частини в Україні в нуль |website=pravda.com.ua |access-date=11 November 2023 |archive-date=11 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231111134345/https://www.pravda.com.ua/articles/2023/10/17/7424397/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
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=== Azov Civil Corps ===
In the spring of 2015, veterans of the Azov
=== National Corps ===
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=== 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".<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.radiosvoboda.org/a/29433188.html |title=Дерев'яний АК-47 і "заповіді націоналіста". Як працює дитячий табір "Азовець" під Києвом |date=14 August 2018 |newspaper=Радіо Свобода |last1=Свобода |first1=Радіо |access-date=7 May 2022 |archive-date=7 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220507125701/https://www.radiosvoboda.org/a/29433188.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Many members of the Youth Corps, beginning in 2015, organized [[summer camp]]s where children and teenagers
=== National Militia, 2017–2020 ===
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=== Centuria ===
According to Oleksiy Kuzmenko, in a piece published for the [[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.<ref name = Kuzmenko2020>{{cite report|first= Oleksiy|last= Kuzmenko|title= Far-Right Group Made Its Home in Ukraine's Major Western Military Training Hub|publisher= IERES Occasional Papers, no. 11|url= https://www.illiberalism.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/IERES-Papers-no-11-September-2021-FINAL.pdf|date= September 2021|access-date= 21 April 2022|archive-date= 11 April 2022|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220411165713/https://www.illiberalism.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/IERES-Papers-no-11-September-2021-FINAL.pdf|url-status= live}}</ref> The organization "has promoted Azov to [[Hetman Petro Sahaidachnyi National Ground Forces Academy|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." [[:de:Belltower.News|''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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.belltower.news/centuria-was-a-far-right-militia-behind-an-attack-on-a-kyiv-club-126645/|title=Centuria: Was a far-right militia behind an attack on a Kyiv club?|date=6 January 2022|website=Belltower.News|access-date=21 April 2022|archive-date=26 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220526101625/https://www.belltower.news/centuria-was-a-far-right-militia-behind-an-attack-on-a-kyiv-club-126645/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Colborne-2022">{{Cite book |last=Colborne |first=Michael |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kiBZEAAAQBAJ |title=From the Fires of War: Ukraine's Azov Movement and the Global Far Right |date=12 January 2022 |publisher=ibidem |isbn=978-3-8382-1508-2 |page=68 |language=en |quote=A few months after that video, National Militia disappeared and Centuria emerged... |access-date=14 April 2022 |archive-date=9 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240209213426/https://books.google.com/books?id=kiBZEAAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref>
''[[The Jerusalem Post]]'' carried an article in October 2021 that cited Kuzmenko's report on the group,
==Human rights violations==
{{primary sources|section|date=July 2023}}
{{See also|War crimes during the war in
[[File:Donbass villagers rounded up for interrogation.jpg|thumb|Soldiers of the Azov Battalion rounding up villagers for interrogation during a patrol near Mariupol, July 2014]]
In 2016, [[Amnesty International]] and [[Human Rights Watch]] received several credible allegations of abuse and torture by the regiment.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/report_pdf/ukraine0716web_2.pdf|title="You Don't Exist" Arbitrary Detentions, Enforced Disappearances, and Torture in Eastern Ukraine|website=hrw.org|date=2016|quote=Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have received numerous allegations of unlawful detention and the use of torture and other abuses by the Azov battalion and will be reporting on them in the near future. [...] Five cases in which the victims were initially detained and tortured by the Azov battalion at the Mariupol airport... will be covered by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch in a separate briefing late this year.|access-date=31 May 2022|archive-date=13 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220513065846/https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/report_pdf/ukraine0716web_2.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> 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".<ref name="ohchr1">{{cite web |url=http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/UA/Ukraine_13th_HRMMU_Report_3March2016.pdf |title=Report on the human rights situation in Ukraine 16 November 2015 to 15 February 2016 |work=Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights |date=February 2016 |access-date=16 November 2016 |archive-date=6 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306083551/http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/UA/Ukraine_13th_HRMMU_Report_3March2016.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="ohchr2">{{cite web |url=http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/UA/Ukraine_14th_HRMMU_Report.pdf |title=Report on the human rights situation in Ukraine 16 February to 15 May 2016 |work=Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights |date=May 2016 |access-date=16 November 2016 |archive-date=17 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170517163153/http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/UA/Ukraine_14th_HRMMU_Report.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref>
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 the 'Donbas' battalions (both Ukrainian battalions) in August–September 2014. The victim's health subsequently deteriorated and he was hospitalized in a psychiatric hospital."<ref name="ohchr2" /> A report from January 2015 stated that a Donetsk People's 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.<ref name="ohchr2" />{{rp|20}}
== Neo-Nazism allegations ==
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[[File:Flag of the Patriots of Ukraine.svg|thumb|Flag of the [[Patriot of Ukraine]] party, whose members formed the core membership of Azov in 2014. The ''wolfsangel''-like symbol ('''ꑭ''') supposedly represents the words "National Idea" ({{lang-uk|Ідея Нації}}, Ideya Natsii),<ref>{{Cite web |date=10 September 2014 |title=Azov fighters are Ukraine's greatest weapon and may be its greatest threat |url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/10/azov-far-right-fighters-ukraine-neo-nazis |access-date=12 April 2022 |website=The Guardian |language=en |archive-date=10 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140910130437/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/10/azov-far-right-fighters-ukraine-neo-nazis |url-status=live }}</ref> and has been used since 1991 by the [[Social-National Party of Ukraine]].]]
The unit has drawn controversy since its founding over its early and allegedly continuing association with far-right groups and neo-Nazi ideology, and its use of controversial symbols linked to Nazism.<ref name="parfitt" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Jones |first=Seth G. |date=7 November 2018 |title=The Rise of Far-Right Extremism in the United States |url=https://www.csis.org/analysis/rise-far-right-extremism-united-states |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220212041104/https://www.csis.org/analysis/rise-far-right-extremism-united-states |archive-date=12 February 2022 |access-date= |quote=Azov Battalion, a paramilitary unit of the Ukrainian National Guard, which the FBI says is associated with neo-Nazi ideology. |website=[[Center for Strategic and International Studies]]}}</ref> Academic researchers argue that the regiment has changed since its integration into the National Guard, tempering far-right elements and distancing from the movement.<ref name="France 24 2022" /><ref name=":0" /> Alexander Ritzmann, a Senior Advisor to the [[Counter Extremism Project]], wrote of the Azov Battalion: "when your country is under attack by foreign invaders, it is understandable that Ukrainians will not focus on the political views of their co-defenders, but on who can and will fight the invaders".<ref name="Ritzmann"/> Researchers note that since its formation, Azov
Azov was formed in 2014 as an alliance of Ukrainian patriots and "ideologically motivated" [[Right-wing politics|right-wing]]. "Rightists" took the lead in Azov's symbolics, and "pushed for proselytizing their creed". Reporters started raising alarms<ref>{{Citation |last=Gomza |first=Ivan |title=The Azov Movement |date=2023 |work=The Palgrave Handbook of Non-State Actors in East-West Relations |pages=4–5 |editor-last=Marton |editor-first=Péter |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-05750-2_33-1 |access-date=2024-05-01 |place=Cham |publisher=Springer International Publishing |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-031-05750-2_33-1 |isbn=978-3-031-05750-2 |editor2-last=Thomasen |editor2-first=Gry |editor3-last=Békés |editor3-first=Csaba |editor4-last=Rácz |editor4-first=András}}</ref> regarding the unit's insignia, featuring the ''[[Wolfsangel]]'' (or a mirrored variation of it),<ref name="Reporting Radicalism in Ukraine">{{cite web | title=Symbols of Azov (Idea of the Nation) | website=Reporting Radicalism in Ukraine | url=https://reportingradicalism.org/en/hate-symbols/organizations/organization/azov-idea-of-the-nation | access-date=9 May 2022 | archive-date=16 May 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220516050347/https://reportingradicalism.org/en/hate-symbols/organizations/organization/azov-idea-of-the-nation | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Golinkin_2017">{{cite news |last=Golinkin |first=Lev |title=The reality of neo-Nazis in Ukraine is far from Kremlin propaganda |url=https://thehill.com/opinion/international/359609-the-reality-of-neo-nazis-in-the-ukraine-is-far-from-kremlin-propaganda |work=The Hill |date=9 November 2017 |access-date=31 July 2019 |archive-date=19 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190719072027/https://thehill.com/opinion/international/359609-the-reality-of-neo-nazis-in-the-ukraine-is-far-from-kremlin-propaganda |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Miller">{{cite news |last1=Miller |first1=Christopher |title=Azov, Ukraine's Most Prominent Ultranationalist Group, Sets Its Sights On U.S., Europe |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/azov-ukraine-s-most-prominent-ultranationalist-group-sets-its-sights-on-u-s-europe/29600564.html |work=RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty |date=14 November 2018 |location=Prague |access-date=31 July 2019 |archive-date=3 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190803165341/https://www.rferl.org/a/azov-ukraine-s-most-prominent-ultranationalist-group-sets-its-sights-on-u-s-europe/29600564.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Polyakova 2014">{{cite web | last=Polyakova | first=Alina | title=The Far-Right in Ukraine's Far-East | website=Carnegie Endowment for International Peace | date=12 September 2014 | url=https://carnegiemoscow.org/commentary/56604 | access-date=9 May 2022 | archive-date=31 May 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220531094921/https://carnegiemoscow.org/commentary/56604 | url-status=live }}</ref> a German heraldic charge inspired by historic wolf traps [[Wolfsangel#As a Nazi symbol|adopted]] by the [[Nazi Party]] and by ''Wehrmacht'' and SS units.<ref>{{cite news |title=War in Ukraine: The Azov brigade's last stand in Mariupol |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2022/04/17/war-in-ukraine-the-azov-brigade-s-last-stand-in-mariupol_5980801_4.html |newspaper=Le Monde.fr |date=17 April 2022 |quote=Their emblem still shows a crossed-out "N"
Members of the unit have stated that the inverted ''Wolfsangel'' ('''ꑭ'''), rather than connected to Nazism, represents the Ukrainian words for "united nation"<ref name="Walker">{{cite news |last=Walker |first=Shaun |title=Azov fighters are Ukraine's greatest weapon and may be its greatest threat |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/10/azov-far-right-fighters-ukraine-neo-nazis |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140910130437/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/10/azov-far-right-fighters-ukraine-neo-nazis |archive-date=10 September 2014 |url-status=live |work=The Guardian |date=10 September 2014}}</ref><ref name="kyivpost.com" /> or "national idea" ({{lang-uk|Ідея Нації}}, Ideya Natsii).{{r|Walker|Miller}} It was used by the [[Patriot of Ukraine]] organization (many of whose members joined Azov in 2014) from 2003 to 2014 and the related [[Social-National Assembly]] party in 2014,<ref name="AlJazeera-2022"/><ref>{{
''[[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]]".{{r|Walker}} In March 2015, [[Andriy Diachenko]], a spokesman for the Azov Regiment, told ''[[USA Today]]'' that "only 10% to 20%" of the unit'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.{{r|Dorell}}
''[[Bellingcat]]'', an investigative journalist group, has traced ties between the Azov movement and American white supremacist groups.<ref name="telegraph-20220318" /> 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 [[Christchurch mosque shootings|2019 Christchurch mosque shooter]], along with efforts by the group to recruit American right-wing extremists.{{r|Colborne2}} 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.<ref name="telegraph-20220318" /><ref name="atlanticcouncil-20200319">{{cite news |url=https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/the-azov-regiment-has-not-depoliticized/ |title=The Azov Regiment has not depoliticized |last=Kuzmenko |first=Oleksiy |website=Atlantic Council |date=19 March 2020 |access-date=19 March 2022 |archive-date=19 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220319213736/https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/the-azov-regiment-has-not-depoliticized/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Later in 2023, a year after [[Russian invasion of Ukraine|Russia
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.<ref name="reuters-20150325" /> Since 2017, the official position of the Ukrainian government is that the unit has depoliticized itself. The then [[Ministry of Internal Affairs (Ukraine)|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."<ref name="auto1">{{Cite news |title=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) |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/29/europe/ukraine-azov-movement-far-right-intl-cmd/index.html |access-date=27 April 2022 |work=CNN |archive-date=7 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220507083613/https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/29/europe/ukraine-azov-movement-far-right-intl-cmd/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In March 2022, in an open letter to Russia published through Russian journalist [[Alexander Nevzorov]], the Azov Regiment 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 regiment incorporated people of many ethnicities and religions, including [[Ukrainians]], [[Russians]], [[Jews]], [[Muslims]], [[Greeks]], [[Georgians]], [[Crimean Tatars]] and [[Belarusians]]. According to the letter, Nazism, as well [[Stalinism]], were "despised" by the regiment, since Ukraine [[Holodomor|greatly suffered]] [[Occupation of Ukraine by Nazi Germany|from both]].<ref name="Azov_Open_Letter">{{cite news |url=https://kp.ua/politics/a646755-nevzorov-poznakomilsja-s-polkom-azov-i-opublikoval-obrashchenie-azovtsev-k-rossii-derzhi-vora-obychno-hromche-vsekh-krichit-sam-vor |title=Невзоров познакомился с полком "Азов" и опубликовал обращение "азовцев" к России: "Держи вора!" обычно громче всех кричит сам вор |date=28 March 2022 |access-date=23 April 2022 |work=[[KP (newspaper)|KP]] |language=ru |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220328145316/https://kp.ua/politics/a646755-nevzorov-poznakomilsja-s-polkom-azov-i-opublikoval-obrashchenie-azovtsev-k-rossii-derzhi-vora-obychno-hromche-vsekh-krichit-sam-vor |archive-date=28 March 2022 |url-status=live }}</ref>
Some commentators concur that the unit has
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. Shekhovtsov 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 [[Ministry of Internal Affairs (Ukraine)|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.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Shekhovtsov |first=Anton |date=24 February 2020 |title=Why Azov should not be designated a foreign terrorist organization |url=https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/why-azov-should-not-be-designated-a-foreign-terrorist-organization/ |access-date= |website=Atlantic Council |language=en-US |archive-date=2 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210602215331/https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/why-azov-should-not-be-designated-a-foreign-terrorist-organization/ |url-status=live }}</ref> 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.'"<ref name="Kuzmenko 2020" />
Following the start of the full-scale [[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 regiment are well aware of its past, and join up 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 [the Azov Movement] explicitly a neo-Nazi movement" although there are "clearly neo-Nazis within its ranks".<ref name="Sudarsan-2022">{{cite news |last1=Raghavan |first1=Sudarsan |last2=Morris |first2=Loveday |last3=Parker |first3=Claire |last4=Stern |first4=David L. |date=5 April 2022 |title=Right-wing Azov Battalion emerges as a controversial defender of Ukraine |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/04/06/ukraine-military-right-wing-militias/ |access-date= |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220406163440/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/04/06/ukraine-military-right-wing-militias/ |archive-date=6 April 2022 |quote=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.'}}</ref>
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.<ref name="France 24 2022">{{cite web | title=Azov Regiment takes centre stage in Ukraine propaganda war | website=France 24 | date=25 March 2022 | url=https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220325-azov-regiment-takes-centre-stage-in-ukraine-propaganda-war | access-date=9 May 2022 | archive-date=25 March 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220325182731/https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220325-azov-regiment-takes-centre-stage-in-ukraine-propaganda-war | url-status=live }}</ref> Vyacheslav Likhachev, another leading expert on the far
[[File:Soldiers in front of building with swastika.jpg|thumb|Two soldiers from the Azov Battalion in front of a building with a [[swastika]] and the [[Flag of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army|red-and-black UPA flag]] at the Battalion's base in Urzuf, [[Mariupol Raion]], July 2014|280x280px]]
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.<ref>{{cite web |last=Query |first=Alexander |date=8 May 2022 |title=Azovstal defenders: Surrender is not an option |url=https://kyivindependent.com/national/azovstal-defenders-surrender-is-not-an-option/ |access-date= |website=The Kyiv Independent |archive-date=9 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220509230642/https://kyivindependent.com/national/azovstal-defenders-surrender-is-not-an-option/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Similarly, in an interview with Israeli newspaper ''[[Haaretz]]'', Azov deputy commander [[Sviatoslav Palamar]] denied the regiment being a neo-Nazi formation and said: ""What is Nazism? When someone thinks that one nation is superior to another nation, when someone thinks he has a right to invade another country and destroy its inhabitants... We believe in our country's territorial integrity. We have never attacked anyone, and we have not wanted to do that."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Rozovsky |first=Liza |date=12 May 2022 |title=Azov Battalion's Second-in-command: 'Like in Israel, There Is Also Terror Against Us. We Are Not Nazis' |language=en |work=Haaretz |url=https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/europe/.premium.MAGAZINE-azov-battalion-s-second-in-command-like-in-israel-there-is-also-terror-against-us-1.10796800 |access-date= |archive-date=20 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220520062603/https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/europe/.premium.MAGAZINE-azov-battalion-s-second-in-command-like-in-israel-there-is-also-terror-against-us-1.10796800 |url-status=live }}</ref>
After the 2022 Russian invasion, Shekhovtsov, writing in
In late February 2022, the Ukrainian National Guard released a video appearing to show an Azov fighter greasing bullets in [[pig fat]] to be used against the [[Kadyrovites]], the forces of [[Ramzan Kadyrov]] (since [[Chechens]] are often [[Muslim]] and [[Religious restrictions on the consumption of pork#Prohibition in Islamic law|pork consumption is forbidden by Islamic law]]).<ref name="ViceFatBullets">{{cite news |last1=Farrukh |first1=Rimal |title=Ukraine's 'Neo-Nazi' Battalion Is Greasing Bullets in Pig Fat for Russia's Muslim Soldiers |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/xgd73j/ukraine-neo-nazi-battalion-azov-bullets-pig-fat-chechen-russia |access-date=31 October 2022 |work=www.vice.com |language=en |archive-date=3 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220303161422/https://www.vice.com/en/article/xgd73j/ukraine-neo-nazi-battalion-azov-bullets-pig-fat-chechen-russia |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="USATodayFatBullets">{{cite news |last1=Carless |first1=Will |title=A regiment in Ukraine's military was founded by white supremacists. Now it's battling Russia on the front lines. |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2022/03/05/russia-invasion-ukraine-attention-extremist-regiment-nazi/9368016002 |access-date=31 October 2022 |work=USA TODAY |date=5 March 2022 |archive-date=9 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240209213454/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2022/03/05/russia-invasion-ukraine-attention-extremist-regiment-nazi/9368016002/?gnt-cfr=1 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Al Jazeera-2022">{{Cite web |date=28 February 2022 |title=Ukrainian fighters grease bullets against Chechens with pig fat |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/2/28/ukrainian-fighters-grease-bullets-against-chechens-with-pig-fat |access-date= |website=[[Al Jazeera English|Al Jazeera]] |publisher= |language=en |archive-date=28 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220228102724/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/2/28/ukrainian-fighters-grease-bullets-against-chechens-with-pig-fat |url-status=live }}</ref> This followed the announcement from Kadyrov of their deployment in Ukraine and displays of their [[combat readiness]].<ref name="Al Jazeera-2022" />
In April 2022, Israeli historian and Nazi hunter [[Efraim Zuroff]] dismissed the claims that allegations made against the Azov regiment are part of Russian disinformation. He explained in an interview with the ''[[Ottawa Citizen]]'': "It's not Russian propaganda, far from it. These people are neo-Nazis. There is an element of the ultra-right in Ukraine and it's absurd to ignore it."<ref name="Pugliese 2022">{{cite web | last=Pugliese | first=David | title=Canada failed when it trained Ukrainian troops linked to the far right, says Nazi hunter | website=ottawacitizen | date=13 April 2022 | url=https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/canada-failed-when-it-trained-ukrainian-troops-linked-to-the-far-right-says-nazi-hunter | access-date=1 June 2022 | archive-date=14 April 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220414033733/https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/canada-failed-when-it-trained-ukrainian-troops-linked-to-the-far-right-says-nazi-hunter/ | url-status=live }}</ref>
[[Nationalism]] researcher [[Andreas Umland]] notes "the rising social demand for militant patriotism" due to the [[Russo-Ukrainian War|Russian aggression of 2014]] and that "the emergence of initially irregular or semi-regular volunteer battalions, including those set up by ultra-nationalist activists, would not have occurred without the increasingly destructive Russian interference in Ukrainian internal affairs throughout 2014."<ref name=":2" />
=== Connection to antisemitism ===
The founder of the battalion, Andriy Biletsky, 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]]''".<ref name="Jerry Harris">{{cite book|author=Jerry Harris|title=Global Capitalism and the Crisis of Democracy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tYpXDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA|year=2016|publisher=SCB Distributors|isbn=978-0-9972870-4-2|pages=|access-date=3 June 2022|archive-date=9 February 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240209213556/https://books.google.com/books?id=tYpXDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="The Guardian-2018" /> According to the [[Freedom House]] initiative, Reporting Radicalism,
In 2016 the Vaad, a Ukrainian Jewish communal body consisting of a number of different organizations, supported the lifting of a US ban on funding the Azov
Some Ukrainian Jewish people support and serve in the Azov Regiment. 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 regiment often display the flag of the [[Ukrainian Insurgent Army]] with a [[Star of David]] added onto it.<ref name="BBC Khazin">{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/ukrainian/features-russian-44110741 |title=Антисемитизм или манипуляция: усиливается ли притеснение евреев в Украине? |trans-title=Anti-Semitism or Manipulation: Is Jewish Oppression Intensified in Ukraine? |last=Червоненко |first=Виталий |date=14 May 2018 |work=BBC News |language=uk |access-date=19 October 2019 |archive-date=22 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190322072702/https://www.bbc.com/ukrainian/features-russian-44110741 |url-status=live|quote=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.}}</ref> Jewish-Ukrainian billionaire [[Ihor Kolomoyskyi]] was the main source of Azov's funding before it was incorporated into the National Guard.<ref name="AlJazeera-2022" /><ref name="Bender-2014">{{cite news |last1=Bender |first1=Dave |title=Ukraine: Battalion Backed by Jewish Billionaire Sent to Fight Pro-Russian Militias |url=https://www.algemeiner.com/2014/06/24/ukraine-jewish-billionaires-batallion-sent-to-fight-pro-russian-militias/ |work=The Algemeiner |date=24 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200224162234/https://www.algemeiner.com/2014/06/24/ukraine-jewish-billionaires-batallion-sent-to-fight-pro-russian-militias/ |archive-date=24 February 2020}}</ref>
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In October 2019, members of the US House of Representatives from the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] requested that the Azov Regiment 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.<ref name="Owen">{{cite news |last=Owen |first=Tess |date=16 October 2019 |title=House Democrats Just Demanded These Neo-Nazi Groups Be Prosecuted as International Terrorists |work=Vice News |url=https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/59nqmq/house-democrats-just-demanded-these-neo-nazi-groups-be-prosecuted-as-international-terrorists |url-status=live |access-date=17 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200422045149/https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/59nqmq/house-democrats-just-demanded-these-neo-nazi-groups-be-prosecuted-as-international-terrorists |archive-date=22 April 2020}}</ref><ref name="Colborne2">{{cite news |last=Colborne |first=Michael |date=1 November 2019 |title=U.S. Congress Accidentally Boosted Ukraine's Far-Right |work=Foreign Policy |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/11/01/congress-max-rose-ukraine-azov-terrorism/ |url-status=live |access-date=17 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200505071311/https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/11/01/congress-max-rose-ukraine-azov-terrorism/ |archive-date=5 May 2020}}</ref> Ultimately the regiment was not placed into the foreign terrorist organisation list.<ref name="lika22"/> In June 2022, U.S. Representative [[Jason Crow]], who signed the 2019 letter, told ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' that he was "not aware of any information that currently shows a direct connection [of Azov fighters] to extremism now", also adding "I am sensitive to the fact that the past isn't necessarily prologue here, that groups can change and evolve and that the war might have changed the organization."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Journal |first=Vivian Salama and Matthew Luxmoore / Photographs by Justyna Mielnikiewicz/MAPS for The Wall Street |date=5 June 2022 |title=Ukraine's Azov Battalion Looks to Regroup and Clean Up Image |language=en-US |work=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/ukraines-azov-battalion-looks-to-regroup-and-clean-up-image-11654453889 |access-date=6 June 2022 |issn=0099-9660 |archive-date=5 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220605235306/https://www.wsj.com/articles/ukraines-azov-battalion-looks-to-regroup-and-clean-up-image-11654453889 |url-status=live }}</ref>
In early 2022, during the full-scale 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.<ref name="fc"/> 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]].<ref name="intercept2">{{Cite web |last=Sirota |first=Sara |title=Neo-Nazis Not Top of Mind for Senate Democrats Pushing Weapons for Ukraine |url=https://theintercept.com/2022/02/18/ukraine-weapons-neo-nazis-bob-menendez/ |access-date=15 May 2022 |website=[[The Intercept]] |date=18 February 2022 |language=en |archive-date=24 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220224175830/https://theintercept.com/2022/02/18/ukraine-weapons-neo-nazis-bob-menendez/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
In June 2024, following the US State Department's lifting of restrictions on the Azov Brigade, the unit is no longer banned from US arms support, with officials stating that because the Azov Battalion of 2014 is structually distinct from the Azov Brigade within the National Guard, restrictions due to US appropriations laws no longer apply.<ref name="WaPoStateDept2024"/>
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In June 2015, the Canadian defense minister declared that Canadian forces would not provide training or support to the Azov Regiment.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.northumberlandnews.com/news-story/5697639-no-training-for-azov-regiment-kenney/ |title=No training for Azov regiment: Kenney |last=Brewster |first=Murray |date=26 June 2015 |access-date=27 June 2015 |agency=The Canadian Press |location=Kiev, Ukraine |archive-date=7 August 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150807062655/http://www.northumberlandnews.com/news-story/5697639-no-training-for-azov-regiment-kenney/ |url-status=live}}</ref>
There is mounting evidence that Canada helped train members of [[Azov Regiment#Centuria|Centuria]] (a far-right group of military officers, tied to the Azov movement and regiment). This was during [[Operation UNIFIER]], a $890 million project to train the [[Armed Forces of Ukraine]]. In 2021, a report from [[George Washington University]] discovered that extremists from this group were bragging about being trained by Canadian forces. In addition, an investigation by [[Ottawa Citizen]] discovered that Canadian officials met with leaders from the Azov
===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
===Greece===
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=== Pre-2022 ===
[[Nationalism]] researcher [[Andreas Umland]] notes "a contradictory, if not paradoxical history of cooperation" of organizations, involved in the creation of Azov, with [[Anti-Maidan|anti-Euromaidan]] and the [[Neo-Nazism in Russia|Russian neo-Nazi]] figures.<ref name=":2" /> More academic researchers note the connection between extremist groups within Ukraine and [[Federal Security Service|Russian intelligence services]], where Russia utilizes these far-right groups as
During the early days of the war in Donbas, mostly in 2015–2017, Azov was featured in various fabricated videos by Russia and Russia-linked groups. Shortly before the [[2016 Dutch Ukraine–European Union Association Agreement referendum]], a video appeared of fighters supposedly from Azov. In it, the fighters burned a Dutch flag and threatened terrorist strikes if the referendum failed. They said "We will find you everywhere: in the cinema, at work, in your bedroom, public transport, we have our guys in the Netherlands, ready to follow any order." The video, according to a Bellingcat investigation, was produced and distributed by the [[Internet Research Agency]] and spread virally before being posted by the group that sponsored the referendum.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Coalson |first=Robert |title=Russian Disinformation 2.0 — Sowing chaos, confusion, and anger in the west |url=https://internetfreedom.io/rferl__russian-disinformation.html |access-date=17 June 2022 |website=internetfreedom.io |language=en |archive-date=28 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220428002249/https://internetfreedom.io/rferl__russian-disinformation.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Higgins |first=Andrew |date=16 February 2017 |title=Fake News, Fake Ukrainians: How a Group of Russians Tilted a Dutch Vote |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/16/world/europe/russia-ukraine-fake-news-dutch-vote.html |access-date=17 June 2022 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=29 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210329043429/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/16/world/europe/russia-ukraine-fake-news-dutch-vote.html/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In another instance, [[CyberBerkut]], which portrayed itself as disgruntled Ukrainians but was later linked to the [[GRU (Russian Federation)|GRU]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Reckless campaign of cyber attacks by Russian military intelligence service exposed |url=https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/news/reckless-campaign-cyber-attacks-russian-military-intelligence-service-exposed |access-date=17 June 2022 |website=www.ncsc.gov.uk |language=en |archive-date=8 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181008005518/https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/news/reckless-campaign-cyber-attacks-russian-military-intelligence-service-exposed |url-status=live }}</ref> leaked a fabricated video portraying [[Islamic State|ISIS]] soldiers supposedly fighting in Azov. According to the [[Atlantic Council]]'s Digital Forensic Research Lab, this was part of a broader narrative surrounding Muslim soldiers in various units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, most notably
During the war in Donbas, the unit was represented as similar in composition to the unit in the 2014–2015 timeframe, despite international observers in Donbas and other people saying otherwise. Especially in parts of central/eastern Europe, this was potentiated with manipulated imagery on social media, and the appearance of pro-Kremlin propaganda that mirrored pejorative language used in Russian media that painted Ukraine as a fascist aggressor against a Russian minority. In addition, Azov was attributed as responsible for a significant portion of the civilian deaths in Donbas.<ref>{{Cite web |date=22 March 2022 |title=Stará fotomontáž, na ktorej Kiska drží "vlajku pluku Azov", cirkuluje na Facebooku v kontexte súčasnej vojny na Ukrajine |url=https://fakty.afp.com/doc.afp.com.326N7K7 |access-date=17 June 2022 |website=[[Agence France-Presse]] |language=sk |archive-date=27 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220527053028/https://fakty.afp.com/doc.afp.com.326N7K7 |url-status=live }}</ref>
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=== Russian invasion ===
In justifying the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, the narrative oriented around Ukrainian neo-Nazism continued, and the Azov Regiment has similarly played a central role under the pretext of "denazifying" Ukraine, with Russian media claiming its overwhelming presence and influence within Ukraine to paint a picture of the whole of the Ukrainian government and military as under Nazi control.<ref name="CBS News 280322">{{Cite web |title=The Azov Battalion: How Putin built a false premise for a war against "Nazis" in Ukraine |date=22 March 2022 |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ukraine-russia-war-azov-battalion-putin-premise-war-vs-nazis/ |access-date=28 March 2022 |publisher=CBS News |language=en-US |archive-date=22 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220322172317/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ukraine-russia-war-azov-battalion-putin-premise-war-vs-nazis/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="BBC News 2022" /><ref name="France 24 2022"/> In addition, another of Russia's claimed justifications for its invasion was that members of the Azov Regiment in Mariupol were responsible for war crimes. Chief Spokesman [[Igor Konashenkov]] of Russia's [[Ministry of Defence (Russia)|Ministry of
Russian leaders have sometimes made aggressive denouncements of [[Ukrainian nationalism]]
Azov has also featured in Chinese social media and news outlets in a similar fashion to Russian media. Azov's connections to neo-Nazism are often depicted as indicative of the views of Ukrainian society more widely despite Azov Regiment being a fringe group.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Yuan |first=Li |date=4 March 2022 |title=How China Embraces Russian Propaganda and Its Version of the War |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/04/business/china-russia-ukraine-disinformation.html |access-date=29 May 2022 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220314120327/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/04/business/china-russia-ukraine-disinformation.html |archive-date=14 March 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=China's Censorship, Propaganda Push Russian Version Of The War In Ukraine |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/china-echoes-russia-ukraine-war/31745136.html |access-date=29 May 2022 |newspaper=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |date=9 March 2022 |language=en|last1=Standish |first1=Reid }}</ref> After the war started, Chinese media attempted to link imagery of some Azov veterans in the [[2019–2020 Hong Kong protests]] as proof the US was funding members of Azov to attend rallies and sow discord.<ref>{{Cite web |date=31 March 2022 |title=Close ties allow Russian propaganda to spread swiftly through China, report claims |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/31/close-ties-allow-russia-propaganda-to-spread-through-china |access-date=17 June 2022 |website=the Guardian |language=en}}</ref> According to radicalism researcher Vyacheslav Likhachev, these were people who participated as part of the group "Honor", which he no longer considers far right.<ref>{{Cite web |title="Of course, there's Russophobia. What did you expect, it's the ninth year of a war of aggression". Right‑wing radicalism researcher Vyacheslav Likhachev on Russian propaganda talking points |url=https://zona.media/translate/2022/03/29/likhachev |access-date=17 June 2022 |website=Медиазона |language=ru}}</ref>
During the [[Siege of Mariupol]], Russia was accused of using the presence of Azov in the battle as justification for [[war crime]]s. Russian foreign minister [[Sergey Lavrov]] justified the [[Mariupol hospital airstrike]] by claiming
After the discovery of the [[Bucha massacre]] following the end of the [[Battle of Kyiv (2022)|Battle of Kyiv]], Russia and Russian media offered multiple contradictory explanations, in an approach disinformation experts called a "[[Firehose of falsehood|scattershot approach]]". In one of these narratives, Russian media claimed people associated with Azov and/or Azov fighters killed anyone not wearing a pro-Ukrainian blue ribbon after Russian troops left.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Thompson |first=Stuart A. |date=6 May 2022 |title=The War in Ukraine, as Seen on Russian TV |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/05/06/technology/russian-propaganda-television.html |access-date=17 June 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=4 April 2022 |title=Russian media spins alleged atrocities—"Shot by Nazis" |url=https://www.newsweek.com/russian-media-spins-bucha-alleged-atrocities-shot-nazis-1694708 |access-date=17 June 2022 |website=Newsweek |language=en}}</ref> International media have disproved this timeline using other evidence. The Azov-Kyiv territorial defense unit had been in the Kyiv area, according to [[Maksym Zhorin]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=FAKE: Russian military is not involved in the mass killings of civilians in Bucha |url=https://voxukraine.org/en/fake-russian-military-is-not-involved-in-the-mass-killings-of-civilians-in-bucha |access-date=17 June 2022 |website=voxukraine.org |language=en-US}}</ref>
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In a post on 20 April 2022, Russian journalist {{Ill|Dmitry Olshansky|ru|Ольшанский, Дмитрий Викторович}} wrote on his [[Telegram (software)|Telegram]] page, {{lang|ru|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."<ref name="t.me">{{Cite web |title=Комиссар Исчезает|url=https://t.me/s/komissarischezaet?q=%D0%9F%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B0%D0%BC%D0%B0%D1%80 |access-date=9 May 2022 |website=t.me|language=ru}}</ref>
The [[Supreme Court of Russia|Russian Supreme Court]] scheduled a hearing for 29 June 2022, on whether or not to classify the Azov
== Sham trials in Russia ==
The Azov
Ukrainian officials have characterized the trials as a media campaign for Russian auditory. Russia
On one of the hearings in 2023, at least three of the POWs have asserted ill-treatment during detention and forceful confessions, and two have reported of health deterioration. As reported by HRW, "in courtroom photos from the hearing, the defendants appear exhausted and thin." "Prosecuting prisoners of war for participation in the conflict, depriving them of their fair trial rights, and subjecting them to torture or inhuman treatment are all breaches of the Geneva Conventions and war crimes. The Russian authorities should immediately drop all charges against the Azov defendants."<ref name=":3" />
== See also ==
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<ref name="telegraph-20220318">{{cite news |date=18 March 2022 |title=Inside Azov, the far-Right brigade killing Russian generals and playing a PR game in the Ukraine war |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/03/18/inside-azov-neo-nazi-brigade-killing-russian-generals-playing/ |url-access=limited |access-date=1 April 2022}}</ref>
<ref name="bbc-newman">{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-28329329 |title=Ukraine conflict: 'White power' warrior from Sweden |last=Newman |first=Dina |date=16 July 2014 |website=[[BBC News]] |access-date=21 June 2018 |archive-date=28 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220228000613/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-28329329 |url-status=live}}</ref>
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