EUROPE
The Azov Battalion: Extremists defending Mariupol
Some of the fighters defending Mariupol belong to the
Azov Battalion, an ultranationalist militia with ties to extremists across
Europe.
https://www.dw.com/en/the-azov-battalion-extremists-defending-mariupol/a-61151151
A short
video doing the rounds on the internet shows a screen in what is presumably a
Ukrainian military vehicle crossing a village in the area of Mariupol. On a
side street, there are armored vehicles, on which a white letter "Z"
is visible, the sign of Russian troops in Ukraine. Shots are heard and what is
apparently a Russian vehicle opens fire.
The
notorious Azov Battalion, also known as the Azov Regiment, posted this video
earlier this week on its Telegram channel. It announced that it had destroyed three
Russian armored vehicles and four infantry fighting vehicles, and killed
"many infantry." Then it released a picture of a dead man in uniform,
purported to be a Russian general whom it had killed. It is difficult to verify
these claims.
The city of
Mariupol, which has a population of 500,000, is primarily being defended by the
Azov Battalion. This is one of the places, along with Ukraine's capital, Kyiv,
and the country's second-largest city, Kharkiv, where Russia is conducting its
war particularly brutally. Since early March, the city has been under siege and
subjected to heavy bombardment. There is no electricity, little water and
scarce food supplies.
Mariupol:
Azov's headquarters
Mariupol is
also where the Azov Battalion, which is part of the Ukrainian National Guard
and thus subordinate to the Interior Ministry, has set up its headquarters. Its
fighters are well trained, but the unit is composed of nationalists and
far-right radicals. Its very existence is one of the pretexts Russia has used
for its war against Ukraine.
Initially,
Azov was a volunteer militia that formed in the city of Berdyansk to support
the Ukrainian army in its fight against pro-Russia separatists in eastern
Ukraine. Some of its fighters came from the small but active far-right group
Pravyi sektor (Right Sector), whose core members were from eastern Ukraine and
spoke Russian. Originally, they had even advocated the unity of East Slavic
peoples: Russians, Belarusians and Ukrainians. Some were soccer ultras, others
were active in nationalist circles. Such associations would be described as
"free comradeships," or organized neo-Nazi groups, in Germany,
Andreas Umland from the Stockholm Center for Eastern European Studies, told DW.
Far-right
connotations
Umland said
Azov had drawn early attention by using the the Nazi Wolfsangel symbol as its
emblem. "The Wolfsangel has far-right connotations, it is a pagan symbol
that the SS also used," said Umland. "But it is not considered a
fascist symbol by the population in Ukraine."
The Azov
Regiment wants the symbol from the Nazi era to be understood as stylized
versions of the letters N and I, standing for "national idea."
Incorporated
into the National Guard
Andriy
Biletsky, the 42-year-old founder of Azov, is a history graduate of the
National University of Kharkiv. He was active in Ukraine's far-right scene for
years. In the summer of 2014, the modest forces of Azov participated in the
recapture of Mariupol from pro-Russian separatists. It has operated as a
regiment since fall 2014 and according to media reports, it had around 1,000
fighters before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as well as artillery and
tanks.
The
Ukrainian government decided to incorporate the ultra-nationalists into state
structures in 2014.
In 2015 and
2016, a movement emerged that formed the political arm of Azov. Biletsky
resigned as a commander and created the National Corps party with former
fighters. However, it had little electoral success. Biletsky did enter
parliament via direct mandate but was not reelected in 2019. He is reportedly
currently fighting on the front near Kyiv.
Contacts
with far-right movements
In 2019,
there was an attempt by US Congress to designate the regiment as a "terrorist
organization" but this did not happen. Nevertheless, for years, Azov has
maintained contacts with far-right movements abroad, including in Germany
according to the German government's answer to a question related to this issue
by the Left Party parliamentary group.
Umland said
a legend had grown around Azov because of Russian propaganda. He said that
volunteer fighters, including Azov, had been accused of looting and improper
behavior in 2014.
"Normally,
we consider right-wing extremism to be dangerous, something that can lead to
war," Umland said. But in Ukraine, it is the other way around, he argued.
The war had led to the rise and transformation of marginal comradeships into a
political movement. But their influence on society is overrated, he said. For
most Ukrainians, they are combatants fighting an overbearing aggressor.
This
article was originally written in German. It has been altered to include the
author's name.
Edited by: Andreas Illmer
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