>Azovets, who had previously threatened the Russian military of Chechen origin, left Ukraine for Poland
interesting camouflage
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/03/18/inside-azov-neo-nazi-brigade-killing-russian-generals-playing/
Inside Azov, the far-Right brigade killing Russian generals and playing a PR game in the Ukraine war
Its well-oiled publicity machine has been producing videos with camera drones capturing attacks on invading troops in real time
While most of Ukraine's armed forces have been quietly engaged in the grind of a gruelling tug-of-war with Russia, one battalion has been busy putting out slick videos and images trumpeting its own achievements….
https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/11/01/congress-max-rose-ukraine-azov-terrorism/
https://www.northumberlandnews.com/news-story/5697639-no-training-for-azov-regiment-kenney/
Ukraine's ultra-nationalist Azov regiment is nothing more than "small number of bad apples" who should not be allowed to define the embattled eastern European country's image, Defence Minister Jason Kenney said Friday.
In an interview with The Canadian Press, Kenney underlined earlier reassurances that the paramilitary group would not receive Canadian training or support, but — unlike in the U.S. — that guarantee won't be enshrined in law.
That's in part because Parliament has risen and won't reconvene until after the federal election in October. But it's also one of those touchy subjects both here and in Canada's large, politically active Ukrainian diaspora.
While opinions are divided, many see the 1,500-man Azov unit as being populated not with neo-Nazis and white supremacists, but with patriots willing to fight in order to rollback Russian-backed separatists.
Earlier this week, the group, which says it's the victim of a Russian smear campaign, called on Canada to refute claims that it is a haven for fascists.
Spokesman Alexander Alferov told The Canadian Press that his group believes Canada has shown leadership and moral clarity on the issue of Russia's annexation of Crimea and the war in the eastern regions.
Conservatives have doggedly courted the Ukrainian vote back home, both with its strident, sometimes personal, anti-Putin rhetoric. They ensure high-profile members like junior defence minister James Bezan are photographed delivering relief and military hardware.
The spillover effect of such endeavours, of course, is that they attract the applause and admiration of the same ultra-nationalists Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko must court.
It is only one snapshot of the complicated political terrain Canadian troops are about to inhabit.
Canada is indeed providing moral leadership, but that doesn't mean the Harper government will back those with extremist views, Kenney said.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/11/01/congress-max-rose-ukraine-azov-terrorism/
U.S. Congress Accidentally Boosted Ukraine’s Far-Right
A member of Congress wrote to the State Department calling out Ukraine’s Azov movement as terrorists. It backfired.
They were from Ukraine’s far-right Azov movement, holding placards reading “Azov are heroes” and stretching out a printed banner for the cameras reading “Defense of Ukraine isn’t terrorism.” They spoke on the steps with Ukraine’s deputy foreign minister and demanded that his ministry send an official note of protest to the State Department.
They were there because of Rep. Max Rose, who represents New York’s 11th congressional district. He sent a letter on Oct. 16 to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, signed by 39 of his colleagues, demanding that several international far-right movements, including the Azov movement, be officially placed on the foreign terrorist organization list alongside the Islamic State and al Qaeda. The first group mentioned by name in Rose’s letter is the Azov movement, which, Rose writes, “has been recruiting, radicalizing and training American citizens for years.”
The goal of the letter seems apparent: to draw attention to international far-right extremist groups thought to be inciting acts of terrorism, a growing concern in the wake of the attacks in Christchurch, New Zealand, and similar ones in El Paso, Texas, and Halle, Germany, among others.
But here in Ukraine, Rose’s efforts have backfired. The letter is sloppy, to the point where some of the claims in the letter, especially the claim that the Christchurch shooter admitted to training with Azov, are simply wrong. Yes, Azov is indeed a dangerous far-right movement with global ambitions, something I’ve argued a number of times. But Rose’s letter actually helps Azov’s cause.
The Azov Battalion was founded in 2014 to help defend Ukraine against Russian-led proxy forces. It also quickly became known as a place where foreign far-right extremists could make themselves at home. Almost six years later, Azov has expanded into a multipronged movement with a political party, street militia, and dozens of affiliated smaller organizations. The military unit is now under the auspices of Ukraine’s National Guard and properly known as the Azov Regiment. It’s why, in Rose’s letter, referring to Azov as simply the “Azov Battalion” is not only technically incorrect but displays a lack of understanding about the movement itself. (Rose’s office did not reply to a request for comment from Foreign Policy.)
Thanks to Azov, Ukraine has emerged as a new hub for the transnational far-right. From organizing international far-right conferences and neo-Nazi concerts to actively trying to recruit American extremists into its ranks, there’s good reason to be concerned about what Azov is doing. After the arrest in September of a U.S. soldier who allegedly planned to bomb an American news network and then go to Ukraine to fight with Azov, that concern has only grown.
The reality here in Ukraine, however, is a bit more complicated. In a country still at war with Russian-led forces, veterans of all political stripes hold high stature in Ukrainian society. This includes veterans from the Azov Battalion, who are still thought of highly for the defense of cities like Mariupol in eastern Ukraine in 2014. It’s why their far-right, often outright neo-Nazi affiliations are considered secondary to their role as “defenders” and are often downplayed or ignored in mainstream Ukrainian politics and society.
It’s also why negative reaction to the letter in Ukraine has come from more than just Azov itself. Last week, Ukraine’s interior minister, Arsen Avakov—considered the de facto patron of the Azov movement—defended Azov in a meeting with American officials, calling the letter a “shameful information campaign” and claiming that Ukraine would “counter these dirty and insidious methods.”
Even parliamentarians from President Volodymyr Zelensky’s own party, which now dominates Ukraine’s parliament after July’s elections, has defended Azov. A letter signed by 39 Ukrainian MPs, mostly MPs from Zelensky’s Servant of the People party, and sent to the chair of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs said that “attempts to label one of the most decorated official units of the National Guard of Ukraine as a “terrorist organization” or an “overseas violent white supremacist extremist group” weigh heavily on our souls and painfully echo in the hearts of…Ukrainian servicemen, veterans and volunteers.” And outside the doors of the foreign ministry, Deputy Foreign Minister Vasyl Bodnar told representatives of Azov that “the Azov Regiment is a defender of Ukraine, not a terrorist organization.”
mmhmm
>You can't defeat NORAD with boxcutters.