Azov is a far-right all-volunteer infantry military unit whose members, estimated at 900, are ultra-nationalists and accused of harbouring neo-Nazi and white supremacist ideology. Scroll below for images
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Who are Ukraine’s far-right Azov regiment? Here is what you should know
Azov is a far-right all-volunteer infantry military unit whose members, estimated at 900, are ultra-nationalists and accused of harbouring neo-Nazi and white supremacist ideology.
Scroll below for images
Historical backdrop
Azov is a far-right all-volunteer infantry military unit whose members, estimated at 900, are ultra-nationalists and accused of harbouring neo-Nazi and white supremacist ideology.
The unit was initially formed as a volunteer group in May 2014 out of the ultra-nationalist Patriot of Ukraine gang, and the neo-Nazi Social national assembly (SNA) group. Both groups engaged in xenophobic and neo-Nazi ideals and physically assaulted migrants, the Roma community and people opposing their views.
As a battalion, the group fought on the front lines against pro-Russian separatists in Donetsk, the eastern region of Ukraine. Just before launching the invasion, Putin recognised the independence of two rebel-held regions from Donbas.
A few months after recapturing the strategic port city of Mariupol from the Russian-backed separatists, the unit was officially integrated into the National Guard of Ukraine on November 12, 2014, and exacted high praise from then-President Petro Poroshenko.
“These are our best warriors,” he said at an awards ceremony in 2014. “Our best volunteers.”
(Photograph:AFP)
Who founded Azov?
The unit was led by Andriy Biletsky, who served as the the leader of both the Patriot of Ukraine and the SNA. The SNA is known to have carried out attacks on minority groups in Ukraine.
In 2010, Biletsky said Ukraine’s national purpose was to “lead the white races of the world in a final crusade … against Semite-led Untermenschen (inferior races)”.
Biletsky was elected to parliament in 2014. He left Azov as elected officials cannot be in the military or police force. He remained an MP until 2019.
(Photograph:AFP)