Arms assistance allowed

USA lifts sanctions against Azov brigade

Members of the Azov Brigade at a memorial service for fallen comrades

(Bild: APA/AFP/Yuriy Dyachyshyn)

The controversial Ukrainian Azov Brigade may now also receive US weapons. A previous embargo has been lifted by Washington.

The brigade has gained international fame since the fierce fighting for the port city of Mariupol in 2022. For the government in Kiev, the entrenched fighters were seen as heroes in the fight against the Russian aggressor. The latter, in turn, used the volunteer unit founded by right-wing extremists in 2014 for its propaganda as an example of alleged "Nazi rule" in Ukraine.

USA: Brigade today differs from the early days
In the early days of the volunteer battalion, which was founded shortly after the start of the conflict in eastern Ukraine in 2014, its fighters caused a stir with neo-Nazi symbols such as the wolf muzzle. One of the battalion's founders was the well-known right-wing extremist Andriy Biletsky. 

After months of siege in 2022, the Azov fighters surrendered to the Russian army.

(Bild: AP)

In 2016, the human rights organizations Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch accused Azov fighters of human rights violations, including torture. However, Washington has now declared that the current brigade, which has long been part of the Ukrainian National Guard, is different from the militia from the early days. 

Moscow accuses Washington of "flirting with neo-Nazis"
Moscow criticized the lifting of the US arms embargo on Tuesday and reiterated its accusations against the brigade. The decision shows that the US government "will do anything to suppress Russia (...) and is even prepared to flirt with neo-Nazis", said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.