Profile: Who are Ukraine’s far-right Azov
regiment?
The far-right neo-Nazi group has expanded to become part of
Ukraine’s armed forces, a street militia and a political party.
A veteran of the
Ukrainian national guard's Azov Battalion conducts military exercises for
civilians in Kyiv, Ukraine on January 30, 2022 [File: Gleb Garanich/Reuters]
1 Mar 2022
As the Russian invasion of Ukraine enters its sixth day,
a Ukrainian far-right military regiment is back in the headlines.
Russian President Vladimir Putin referenced the presence
of such units within the Ukrainian military as one of the reasons for launching
his so-called “special military operation … to de-militarise and de-Nazify
Ukraine”.
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On Monday, Ukraine’s national guard tweeted a video
showing Azov fighters coating
their bullets in pig fat to be used allegedly against Muslim Chechens – allies
of Russia – deployed in their country.
Azov has also been involved in training civilians
through military exercises in the run-up to Russia’s invasion.
So what is the Azov regiment?
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.”
Who founded Azov?
The unit was led by Andriy Biletsky, who served as the
the leader of both the Patriot of Ukraine (founded in 2005) and the SNA
(founded in 2008). 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.
The 42-year-old is nicknamed Bely Vozd – or White Ruler
– by his supporters. He established the far-right National Corps party in
October 2016, whose core base is veterans of Azov.
Before becoming part of Ukraine’s
armed forces, who funded Azov?
The unit received backing from
Ukraine’s interior minister in 2014, as the government had recognised its own
military was too weak to fight off the pro-Russian separatists and relied on
paramilitary volunteer forces.
These forces were privately funded by oligarchs – the
most known being Igor Kolomoisky, an energy magnate billionaire and
then-governor of the Dnipropetrovska region.
In addition to Azov, Kolomoisky funded other volunteer battalions such
as the Dnipro 1 and Dnipro 2, Aidar and Donbas units.
Azov received early funding and assistance from another
oligarch: Serhiy Taruta, the billionaire governor of Donetsk region.
Neo-Nazi ideology
In 2015, Andriy Diachenko, the spokesperson for the
regiment at the time said that 10 to 20 percent of
Azov’s recruits were Nazis.
The unit has denied it adheres to Nazi ideology as a
whole, but Nazi symbols such as the swastika and SS regalia are rife on the
uniforms and bodies of Azov members.
For example, the uniform carries the neo-Nazi Wolfsangel
symbol, which resembles a black swastika on a yellow background. The group said
it is merely an amalgam of the letters “N” and “I” which represent “national
idea”.
Individual members have professed to being neo-Nazis,
and hardcore far-right ultra-nationalism is pervasive among members.
In January 2018, Azov rolled out its street patrol unit
called National Druzhyna to “restore” order in the capital, Kyiv. Instead, the
unit carried out pogroms against the
Roma community and attacked members of the LGBTQ community.
“Ukraine is the world’s only nation to have a neo-Nazi
formation in its armed forces,” a correspondent for the US-based
magazine, the Nation, wrote
in 2019.
Human rights violations and war
crimes
A 2016 report by the
United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OCHA) has
accused the Azov regiment of violating international humanitarian law.
The report detailed incidents over a period from
November 2015-February 2016 where Azov had embedded their weapons and forces in
used civilian buildings, and displaced residents after looting civilian
properties. The report also accused the battalion of raping and torturing
detainees in the Donbas region.
What has been the international
response to Azov?
In June 2015, both Canada and the United States
announced that their own forces will not support or train the Azov regiment,
citing its neo-Nazi connections.
The following year, however, the US lifted the ban under
pressure from the Pentagon.
In October 2019, 40 members of the US Congress led by
Representative Max Rose signed a letter unsuccessfully calling for the US State
Department to designate Azov as a “foreign terrorist organisation” (FTO). Last
April, Representative Elissa Slotkin repeated the
request – which included other white supremacist groups – to the Biden
administration.
Transnational support for Azov has been wide, and
Ukraine has emerged as a new hub for the
far right across the world. Men from across three continents have been
documented to join the Azov training units in order to seek combat experience
and engage in similar ideology.
The oscillation of Facebook
In 2016, Facebook first designated the Azov regiment a
“dangerous organisation”.
Under the company’s Dangerous Individuals and
Organizations policy, Azov was banned from its platforms in 2019. The group was
placed under Facebook’s Tier 1 designation, which includes groups such as the
Ku Klux Klan and ISIL (ISIS). Users engaging in praise, support or
representation of Tier 1 groups are also banned.
However, on February 24, the day Russia launched its
invasion, Facebook reversed its ban, saying it would allow praise for Azov.
“For the time being, we are making a narrow exception
for praise of the Azov regiment strictly in the context of defending Ukraine,
or in their role as part of the Ukraine national guard,” a spokesperson from
Facebook’s parent company, Meta, told Business Insider.
“But we are continuing to ban all hate speech, hate symbolism,
praise of violence, generic praise, support, or representation of the Azov
regiment, and any other content that violates our community standards,” it
added.
The reversal of policy will be an immense headache for
Facebook moderators, the Intercept, a
US-based website, said.
“While Facebook users may now praise any future
battlefield action by Azov soldiers against Russia, the new policy notes that
‘any praise of violence’ committed by the group is still forbidden; it’s
unclear what sort of nonviolent warfare the company anticipates,” the Intercept
wrote.
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA
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