The US administration has lifted a ban on arms supplies to Ukraine’s Azov brigade. Previously, the US upheld its restrictions on aiding this unit because of its ties to the neo-Nazi ideology. Besides, the Azov militants were often named as perpetrators of the war crimes. What has made the DC reconsider and what conclusions can be drawn from the precedent?
The Biden administration has lifted a ban on arms supplies to the Ukrainian neo-Nazi-leaning Azov special brigade, The Washington Post reported citing the state department.
According to the agency, Azov has been vetted as compliant with the Leahy Law, which previously forbade the US from providing military aid and training to foreign units credibly found to have committed gross violations of human rights. The US authorities uncovered ‘no evidence’ of such violations, per the newspaper.
The state department’s spokesperson has declined to mention the date the ban was effectively lifted and has offered no comment as to whether the US armaments have already been delivered to the infamous brigade. The WP piece goes on to say stepping up the arms supplies to the unit was a top priority for Ukrainian officials who claim Azov could have fought ‘more efficiently’ during the Mariupol events in the spring of 2022.
Importantly, Azov’s activities in Mariupol were linked to a host of war crimes. The locals said the militants had prevented them from using the humanitarian corridors. The Azov fighters opened gunfire on the bus carrying the civilians to safety.
During its Mariupol engagement, Azov was known for its extreme brutality. The media famously showed the footage of a naked girl who had been tortured to death in the basement of a local school, with a swastika branded into her skin. But the Ukrainian propaganda was hard at work trying to blame the Russian army for the atrocious episode.
That being said, Azov has a reputation as an efficient fighting force. For example, in the strategically important Battle of Avdeevka, Ukraine deployed the 3rd Assault Brigade largely made up of the Azov combatants.
For all of the unit’s chilling track record, over the years the US treatment of the brigade has been a mixed bag. The government upheld a longstanding ban on providing the armaments and training to Azov due its pro-Nazi ideology and practices. But as early as last year, this principle was said to have been bypassed.
In another piece, The Washington Post quoted a state department source as saying the ban had no legal implications. Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) admitted that the ban had faced certain challenges once Azov had been incorporated into the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the National Guard and separate armed units.
In March 2023, the White House became the venue of what Russia’s ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov denounced as a disgraceful incident when the US officials honoured Yuliia Paievska, an Azov member also known as Taira, at an award ceremony. The diplomat noted that the authorities were fully aware of the brigade’s misanthropic ideology and its ample use of Nazi Germany’s insignia.
‘In 2019, members of the US Congress demanded that the secretary of state add the armed unit to the list of foreign terrorist organisations. The US appears to be willing to glorify Nazism if that aids their cause to hurt Russia. The government owes a profound apology to both the American and the Soviet veterans who lost their lives in their joint fight to free the world of Nazism,’ Antonov was quoted as saying.
The Americans’ decision to start supplying Azov has already been condemned by Russia. The president’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov has commented that this change of heart on the part of the DC proves that the US will do whatever it takes to stifle Russia’s interests, while using Ukraine and its people to merely help them achieve that goal.
The State Duma deputy Mikhail Sheremet has called this step as a show of support for the fascists. According to him, it speaks to the current administration’s lack of decency and integrity. ‘That appears to be the very essence of the prevaricating form of the US democracy,’ he says.
Sen. Konstantin Kosachev has taken to Telegram to draw a parallel between the current dynamic and Germany’s policy two years into the Eastern Front action of World War II when they were looking to be defeated by the USSR and began distributing the weapons to the residents of the German-occupied provinces. He goes so far as to claim the US government has put itself on par with the Nazis and the Azov combatants.
To recap, Azov was founded in 2014 as a national battalion under Ukraine’s interior ministry, drawing upon neo-Nazis and football ultras from Kharkov and cities of what was then southeastern Ukraine. Despite a popular misconception, western Ukrainians only played a minor role in the unit’s activities. Later Azov was converted into a regiment and was actively engaged in the Donbass war. The unit was unofficially overseen by Ukraine’s former interior minister Arsen Avakov.
Once Russia started its special operation, Azov was deployed to Mariupol as Ukraine’s most combat-ready unit, protecting the industrial assets owned by oligarch Rinat Akhmetov.
However, the Russian army and the allied Donetsk and Lugansk militias managed to capture the opponent’s main forces. Following a subsequent prisoner swap, several of the Azov commanders got back to Ukraine. In December 2022, the regiment resumed its draft activities, and in early 2023, it was upgraded to a brigade.
Some of the Azov members were sentenced by the Donetsk People’s Republic to long prison terms between 25 years and life. Once captured, they talked about the Nazi indoctrination they had been subjected to. The former members, including those who were killing civilians, said that lectures, banned books and propaganda were part of the mandatory training to prepare them for the subsequent executions.
Many experts note that the US authorities are abundantly aware of the atrocities Azov was implicated in. But the DC is predominantly driven by an itching desire to inflict more damage on Russia. After all, the US government has a history of compromising its own moral standards to further its political agenda.
‘Today, Azov is a nationalist unit whose leaders abide by the patently far-right views. It is expressed through the insignia they use, with their banner featuring a black Wolfsangel,’ says Rodion Miroshnik, an ambassador-at-large of the Russian foreign ministry tasked with investigating the crimes committed by the Kiev.
According to him, the brigade has both a political and a combat arm. ‘Azov members are successors and perpetuators of the Nazi ideology, promoting it nationwide,’ the ambassador adds. Speaking of their battlefield MO, Miroshnik says: ‘In Mariupol, they gained infamy for killing civilians, shooting at residential neighbourhoods, committing violence and looting.
This evidence has been publicised by various agencies, including Russia’s investigative committee. More than 100 militants have been sentenced to life imprisonment over those crimes.’
Meanwhile, the US administration has turned a blind eye to these atrocities, he continues. Notably, the US labelled Azov as a Nazi unit, banned the provision of any military aid to them and outlawed joint military exercises. ‘In other words, up until recently, the Americans deemed Azov to be “toxic”. But what the administration has done right now is flout the human rights, the moral values, and the ideals of justice,’ Miroshnik emphasises.
He links the troubling decision to the White House’s goal of ‘defeating Russia’. ‘By the looks of it, the US government is okay with Azov’s track record. Apparently, the go-ahead to supply the weapons to these militants is caused by the US administration’s willingness to leverage any thugs in a bid to accomplish its goals,’ Miroshnik maintains.
The military supplies to Azov have effectively never been discontinued despite the explicit ban the US Congress imposed on providing any aid to this specific unit, says Maxim Grigoryev, a member of Russia’s Civic Chamber and the chairman of the International Public Tribunal. ‘The only difference is that now Washington has publicly pledged its support,’ he adds.
‘The Russian servicemembers have already found foreign-produced weapons and ammo at the Azov bases. Besides, they have uncovered the documents certifying the militants’ training designed for Nato militaries,’
Grigoryev stresses. ‘For years, our public tribunal has been documenting the atrocities Azov has committed toward civilians and Russian soldiers. We have statements provided by torture survivors as well as murder witness accounts. The Americans know full well about these crimes, and yet, they carry on supporting the neo-Nazis, something they will have to be held accountable for at a certain point.’
Technically, Azov is still listed by the US Congress as a neo-Nazi organisation, which automatically rules it out as a potential military aid recipient, notes Dmitry Drobnitsky, a scholar of the US politics. ‘But apparently, some of the aid was landing at the militants’ disposal, which raised the alarm bells with several Congress members. That is why the current administration had to justify those incidents,’ he assumes.
‘It is not the first time things like that have happened in US history. Previously, the state department or the Pentagon sent the equipment to the so-called Syrian democratic forces. However, much of that coalition had ties to Al-Qaeda. At the time, the administration provided the same explanation: allegedly, there was not enough evidence proving their links to terrorism,’ Drobnitsky says.
‘Clearly, in the future, the current administration is going to be blamed for the aid they provided to a neo-Nazi foreign unit. But the permission may well have been requested by certain individuals. This formal detail may help shift the blame onto those individuals and help the White House ride out the storm,’ the expert concludes.