#Azov Battalion

[panimoonchild]

Save people who protect us

20 Days In Mariupol depict the reality in which we have lived for over 10 years since the occupation of Crimea. The death toll of Ukrainians in Mariupol can be even higher without Azov. They're first one who stand against Russia to protect people of Mariupol.

Photo from Frank Wilde.

[anastasiamaru]

Conducting artillery fire is a continuous process in which every member of the crew is involved. The high firepower of the gun targets enemy armor, weapons, and personnel.

Artillerymen of the 12th Special Purpose Brigade "Azov" engage enemy targets with the 152mm howitzer "Msta-B."

P.S The "Msta-B" is a soviet 152-mm self-propelled howitzer developed in the 1980s. It is designed for engaging enemy personnel, equipment, and fortifications at medium to long ranges.

Caliber: 152 mm

Range: Up to 24 km (with new ammunition up to 30 km)

Weight: Approximately 45 tons

Rate of Fire: Up to 5 rounds per minute

Minimum Crew: 4-6 people

The howitzer is equipped with an automated loading system and fire control system, allowing for rapid and accurate targeting. Its mobility is provided by a wheeled chassis, enabling quick movement between positions.

[nando161mando]

[ksenka-zarazka]

Volunteers created a whole WEBSITE dedicated to debunking myths and fakes about Azov battalion.

The battalion that held on Mariupol for the longest, encircled by the orcs, is the one banned from receiving any kind of aid or assistance from the US.

[sataniccapitalist]

[theculturedmarxist]

Conversations about white supremacy in America today typically center on right-wing media and incendiary politicians who blast out racist dog whistles.

But hate doesn’t need demagogues to get mainstreamed; it has also found an outlet at elite universities.

On June 29, Stanford University hosted a delegation from the Azov Brigade, a neo-Nazi formation in the Ukrainian National Guard. The panel, during which Azov’s neo-Nazi insignia was projected onto the wall, was attended by noted political scientist Francis Fukuyama, who posed for a photograph with the delegation.

This event — and the disturbing lack of reaction from Jewish organizations — showcases the limits of America’s commitment to combating white supremacy.

Call it the Ukraine exception.

Before Russia’s 2022 invasion, nearly every Western institution raised alarms about Azov. Putin’s brazen attack on Ukraine led to a much deserved outpouring of support for the country. Unfortunately, it also led to suppression of those who criticize the dark side of Kyiv: its reliance on far-right military elements, the most prominent example of which is Azov.

Even amid today’s surge of antisemitism globally, Azov has become the Teflon Neo-Nazis: freedom fighters who can do no wrong, celebrated across America, including at prestigious institutions like Stanford.

All too often, this adulation of a neo-Nazi formation has been met with silence by the Jewish community.

From neo-Nazis to heroes 

Azov began in 2014 as a paramilitary battalion formed out of a neo-Nazi street gang; it helped Kyiv fight back against Russian-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine. Azov eventually grew into a brigade in Ukraine’s National Guard. In addition to committing war crimes, the unit is notorious for its recruitment of radicals from around the world, including America.

Azov’s radicalism has been tracked by the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the Anti-Defamation League, banned as a hate group by Facebook and blocked from receiving weapons by Congress.

But then, Russian president Vladimir Putin used Azov as “justification” for his invasion. Moscow needed to sell the war to the public — it exploited Azov’s existence by falsely painting Ukraine as teeming with fascists and Russia’s invasion as a “denazification” mission.

The reaction of the West played in Azov’s favor. The existence of white supremacists certainly doesn’t give Putin the right to invade Ukraine. The Kremlin’s premise of “denazification” also rings hollow, considering there are plenty of neo-Nazis fighting for Moscow.

But for Azov, Moscow’s obsession has been a ticket to the limelight. Buoyed by the notion that If Putin hates them, they must be the good guys, brigade members have been welcomed to Congress and lauded on television.

In addition to an Azov veteran, the Stanford appearance featured Kateryna Prokopenko, whose husband Denys was the brigade’s commander through the spring of 2022.

Denys Prokopenko has been photographed with his platoon’s informal insignia of a bearded Totenkopf, a type of skull-and-crossbones used by the SS. He was also featured on the cover of Azov’s unofficial magazine, which uses the Sonnenrad neo-Nazi rune favored by white terrorists like the perpetrator of last year’s massacre in Buffalo, New York.

Third Reich insignia on an elite campus

Last week’s event wasn’t Azov’s first Stanford tour – a delegation was also welcomed there last fall. Ironically, one of Stanford’s own institutes published a report chronicling Azov’s white supremacy mere months before the brigade’s visit.

When asked about Azov’s return to campus, a university spokesperson told me via email on June 27 that the event was co-sponsored by the Ukrainian Student Association at Stanford at the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures. “The university does not take positions on outside speakers that groups within our community want to hear from,” they added.

But Azov’s visit concerns an issue Stanford has taken a position on: Nazi symbolism.

The flyer advertising the Azov event contains the brigade’s official insignia, which is the wolfsangel, yet another hate symbol used by both the Third Reich and today’s neo-Nazis.

This isn’t the first Stanford incident involving Nazi imagery. However, the lack of response on Azov stands in sharp contrast to Stanford’s actions in previous cases. 

n 2019, Stanford was embroiled in controversy after left-wing cartoonist Eli Valley was invited to speak on campus. Valley, whose artwork features grotesque satire using Nazi imagery, was met with protests. Indeed, it led to university officials issuing a lengthy statement condemning antisemitism.

This March, the school addressed the discovery of swastikas in a dormitory by stating, “Stanford wholeheartedly rejects antisemitism, racism, hatred, and associated symbols, which are reprehensible and will not be tolerated.”

When more antisemitic attacks followed in April, Stanford’s president said: “I want to make it very clear that we will not tolerate antisemitism and the symbols of antisemitism here on campus. It is something we need to eradicate.”

Yet despite these declarations of commitment to combating antisemitism, Stanford has not responded to repeated inquiries about the university’s position regarding the Azov event displaying the wolfsangel.

We seem endlessly surprised at politicians like Donald Trump who refuse to accept responsibility for actions that enable bigotry. It shouldn’t be surprising, considering demagogues don’t bother with responsibility; that’s what makes them demagogues. 

But what about a pillar of education and enlightenment like a prestigious university? What’s Stanford’s excuse? 

Calling out neo-Nazism: Void where prohibited

Our tolerance of Azov seems even more alarming when we consider reactions to neo-Nazism that don’t involve the brigade.

In 2018, Rep. Matt Gaetz was caught inviting a Holocaust denier to the State of the Union. Gaetz’s decision to platform hate on Capitol Hill was condemned by colleagues and the ADL.

But there have been no denunciations of numerous lawmakers who welcomed Azov fighters to Washington. This includes Rep. Marcy Kaptur, who was photographed with an Azov veteran whose Twitter contained pictures of him wearing a shirt with 1488 (neo-Nazi code) and “likes” of a Hitler photo and “Death to Kikes” graffiti. 

Indeed, Azov delegations to Washington proudly advertise their meetings on the Hill. 

Or see how Jewish media and the State Department took the trouble to condemn musician Roger Waters for wearing a fascist uniform during concerts (this is part of Waters’ performance of The Wall, a satire of fascism).

The very same day, The New York Times exposed the prevalence of Nazi symbols in Ukraine’s armed forces, which receive billions in American weapons. You’d imagine this news would be at least as concerning as a musician’s costume. Yet neither the State Department nor Jewish watchdogs reacted to it (and neither the State Department or the ADL have responded to my requests for comment).

The American Jewish community must condemn neo-Nazism without exception, not just when geopolitically convenient. They can start by calling on institutions like Stanford to stop platforming Azov.

[fuckyeahmarxismleninism]

By Susann Witt-Stahl

In January, U.S. tech giant Meta, which owns Instagram, Facebook and other social media outlets, removed Azov from its list of dangerous organizations. Since then, Azov as a movement – ​​which, in addition to the combat units, also includes militias for terrorizing opposition members and minorities inside Ukraine, a political party, its own fashion and music labels and a merchandise network – has been able to operate worldwide without restrictions. With its ever-expanding propaganda machine, Azov not only produces fascist warmongering, ideologies of a master race and heroic myths, but also targeted disinformation: above all, the lie that Azov has broken away from Nazism, which is the lie that politicians and the media in the European Union and the United States put forward, being disseminated on a large scale.

[troythecatfish]

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[head-post]

Farion’s murder as a result of far-right split in Ukraine

The murder of Ukrainian former MP Iryna Farion has shocked the Ukrainian political elite. The first versions of the investigation and the name of the suspect were announced at a briefing of the Interior Ministry on Friday. Meanwhile, one right-wing group has already claimed responsibility for the murder.

Ukrainian Interior Ministry briefing on the murder of Iryna Farion

The Ukrainian Interior Ministry jointly with the Prosecutor-General’s Office held a briefing in Lviv on July 26 on the detention of a suspect in the murder of former Verkhovna Rada MP Iryna Farion. At the briefing, the officials explained how they had reconstructed the chronology of the murder and also partially presented the evidence base of detainee Vyacheslav Zinchenko’s involvement in the crime.

Suspect in the murder of Farion 18-year-old young man arrived in Lviv on July 9, there through the service Booking he rented a flat, and on the 14th and 18th – two more, with balconies. The last one he used the day before the murder.

The things he was wearing at the time of the crime (glasses, panama, shorts and a false beard, which he never used) Zinchenko sent himself through the post office in Lviv. At different stages – during the reconnaissance, the crime and afterwards – he changed his clothes.

In advance, the suspect searched for information about Farion on the Internet, as well as about pro-Russian MPs in Ukraine.

On the day of the murder, 20 July, Farion was waiting for a taxi at the entrance of her house. At that time, the killer approached her from behind and shot her in the head from a distance of no more than two metres. The former MP later died in hospital.

The shooter fled from the scene of the crime, and two days later left for Dnipro by train. The law enforcers who identified him carried out the detention in the flat where his mother was.

Interest in far-right movement

Even before the briefing, Ukrainian media and the Ukrainian investigation reported the detention of suspect Vyacheslav Zinchenko, an 18-year-old resident of Dnipro. The suspect’s father is currently at the front. He told journalists that Vyacheslav had no motives to shoot Farion, he was a patriot and was preparing to serve in the AFU.

The media are actively spinning the topic of his interest in the right-wing radical Ukrainian groups C 14 and Right Sector.

In one of the messages, the detainee mentioned the Russian neo-Nazi group National-Socialism/White Power (NS/WP), claiming international ties, which claimed responsibility for Farion’s murder on July 24.

NS/WP’s Telegram channel published a video that likely shows the moment of Irina Farion’s murder and in which a woman’s screams can be heard. Comparing this excerpt with the crime scene, one can recognise significant terrain coincidences. Along with the video clip, the neo-Nazis released a “manifesto” explaining the motive for Farion’s liquidation.

Ukrainian media about anti-Semitism and right-wing ideas

Ukrainian media reported that Vyacheslav was interested in pro-Ukrainian nationalist groups. The detainee was subscribed to the neo-Nazi group NS/WP on social networks, where he made racist statements against Jews. It is also alleged that Vyacheslav left numerous anti-Semitic and racist comments in other far-right groups.

The detainee also claimed that “the top of the right-wing movement serves the Jews’ and they “allowed the Jews to take power.” He also wrote: “Azov, Right Sector and now are fighting for the interests of Jews.” He also added:

The Jewish president directly states that we (Ukrainians) are fighting for some “European values” – a multicultural future under the auspices of the European Union.

According to Vyacheslav, the Ukrainian “Right” after Maidan betrayed their ideas and abandoned their ideology. He also said that the Rights should take matters into their own hands and continue to follow their ideas.

The murder of former MP Iryna Farion has shocked the Ukrainian public and appears to be a wake-up call as it shows the corrosion of the Ukrainian state organism and law enforcement structures. Such a brutal way of settling scores with each other is very dangerous thing and Ukrainian law enforcers need to take control of the situation.

Read more HERE

[thoughtlessarse]

Last week, the Biden administration said it would allow the Azov Brigade, a Ukrainian military unit, to receive U.S. weaponry and training, freeing it from a purported ban imposed in response to concerns that it committed human rights violations and had neo-Nazi ties. A photo posted by the unit itself, however, seems to suggest that the U.S. was providing support as far back as December of last year. The photo, in tandem with the administration’s own statements, highlights the murky nature of the arms ban, how it was imposed, and under what U.S. authority. Two mechanisms could have barred arms transfers: a law passed by Congress specifically prohibiting assistance to Azov, and the so-called Leahy laws that block support to units responsible for grave rights violations. The State Department said this month that weapon shipments will now go forward after a Leahy law review, but won’t comment on if and when a Leahy ban was in effect. The congressional prohibition, the U.S. says, does not apply because it barred assistance to the Azov Battalion, a predecessor to the Azov Brigade. The original unit had earned scrutiny for alleged human rights violations and ties to neo-Nazi and white supremacist ideologies. The U.S. has not made clear about when the apparent ban started, but a deputy Azov commander and media reports indicate some type of prohibition has been in effect for nearly a decade — though the congressional ban has only been in effect since 2018. “There was a request for resources for the 12th Special Forces Brigade, which prompted a Leahy vetting process, in which they were found to be eligible,” a State Department spokesperson told The Intercept, suggesting the approval process did not deal with any existing bans. (The State Department did not respond to questions asking for clarity if that was the case.) One former American official said that because of the unit’s byzantine history of reorganizations and official status, the State Department should better explain its decisions. “Given the history of the Azov Regiment, the Azov Battalion, and the Azov Brigade, the State Department’s ought to provide a more detailed rationale for the finding that the Brigade is eligible pursuant to the Leahy law,” Charles Blaha, the former director of the State Department’s Office of Security and Human Rights, told The Intercept. “My guess is that the Department found that the Brigade is a ‘new unit,’ distinguishable from the Battalion and the Regiment. If that’s correct, the Department should say so.”

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[panimoonchild]

Save people who protect us no matter what

Don't forget that about 700 Azovites are still in captivity. You cannot imagine the terrible conditions they are kept in. The people we managed to bring back look like bones and skin. And one again huge thanks to Frank Wilde ❤️‍🩹

Please keep spreading our voices and donate to our army and combat medics (savelife.in.ua, prytulafoundation.org, Serhii Sternenko, hospitallers.life, ptahy.vidchui.org and u24.gov.ua).

[nando161mando]

Boris Johnson welcomes the Neo-Nazi Azov Battalion to the UK Parliament

A delegation from the Azov Battalion media unit took part in a roundtable discussion in Westminister to explore obtaining the release of Azov detainees in Russia. While in parliament, the Azov members received a warm welcome from former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

[norman-couple]

Yakusa gang meme bet volunteering for the azov battalion Ukraine war 2023

[celticanglopres]

[jloisse]

«Nous vous attendons avec impatience»: Kiev appelle la Légion étrangère française à participer aux combats… aux côtés des terroristes du bataillon Azov

La préparation des esprits suit son cours: le régime de Zelensky s’en fait écho.

La vidéo promotionnelle fait l’éloge de la prestigieuse force d’assaut française, sans hésiter à y intégrer les drapeaux jaunes du bataillon Azov.

[fuckyeahmarxismleninism]

Check out the new issue of Struggle-La Lucha:

Capitalism's toxic nightmare in Ohio; Stop food stamp cuts; Joe Rogan lies about Black workers; Biden continues Trump campaign against Cuba; U.S.-backed Nazis expand in Ukraine; and more.

Download PDF free at http://struggle-la-lucha.org