The rounds of false accusations are in abundance from Russia. What is this about the Ukrainian Army we are hearing so much about? We have heard so many allegations of Nazism within the Ukrainian Army. Proof has been passed around that the “Nazi” symbols used in the Ukranian Army uniforms or the shirt that was on the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
It was first reported on the Azov Battalion in Ukraine months ago by NBC, “nothing but crap”. According to NBC, this group of “Neo-Nazis is known for atrocities in Ukraine”. However, a French news agency has done some research. French 24 News.
The Azov Special Operations Detachment, previously known as the “Azov Battalion” but now called the “Azov Regiment”, is often targeted in pro-Russian social media posts, including by Russian embassies in Paris, London and elsewhere.
The regiment is currently entrenched in the southern port city of Mariupol that has been the scene of some of the war’s heaviest fighting.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov used their presence to justify the bombing of a maternity ward there, saying the Azov regiment “and other radicals” were hiding in the building.
The regiment, created in 2014, was first deployed against pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.
It has since been integrated into the National Guard, under interior ministry command.
Its founders included Andriy Biletsky, a former member of the Patriot of Ukraine paramilitary organization.
As first mostly volunteers, the battalion’s members wore insignia, such as the so-called “Wolfsangel” (wolf’s hook), that were reminiscent of symbols used by SS units in Nazi Germany.
Now in 2022, the group had since become “de-ideologized” and a regular fighting unit.
Its recruits now join not because of ideology but because “it has the reputation of being a particularly tough fighting unit,” Umland said.
The Azov battalion, named after the Sea of Azov to Ukraine’s south, became famous for winning back Mariupol from Russian-backed separatists in 2014.
Eight years later, it is again fighting for the city that Russian President Vladimir Putin hopes will give him his first major victory in the Ukraine campaign.
Watch this news report from the BBC. It gives a very detailed explanation of where this is coming from and provides some evidence to what the truth is and not being reported.
– There once was Special/ Elite fighting force that was very good in 2014 that helped start the small army of Ukraine.
– No evidence that in messages from social media or other web content in this Elite Army is widely held.
– Putin wants to use this as an emotional additive to remember they great victory from WW2.