THIS IS NOT NORMAL
The Azov Regiment has existed in some form or another since 2014. The unit became famous for its motivation and hard fighting in the Battle of Mariupol in 2014. They started as a pro-government militia but had quickly expanded to first Battalion and then Regiment size. They were incorporated into the Ukrainian National Guard during the reforms of the Ukrainian Military and Militias. The Azov Regiment is, and always was explicitly a Nazi Regiment.
The Azov Regiment was, and remains, the only explicitly Nazi military formation on the planet today. In the main they are Banderites, called so because their inspiration, Stepan Bandera, the notorious World War II era Nazi collaborator. Ironically Bandera himself was arrested and sent to a Concentration Camp for several years, after having committed several Pogroms on behalf of the Nazis against Ukrainian Jews and Roma. The Nazis never were willing to take his notion of an independent Ukrainian Fascist State under the Nazi umbrella seriously if led by a Ukrainian Slav. Instead they used Bandera as a partisan against the Soviets. He was a fanatic anti-Semite and anti-communist, and eventually did lead attacks on German as well as Soviet forces. Now he has been white washed to being a "Nationalist" by media in Ukraine and here. While technically accurate, a "Genocidal Nazi Bootlick Nationalist" is more accurate.
The Azov Regiment itself is not like other military formations and I don't mean in terms of combat power or capabilities. It has it's own Political Party, the National Corps, a Veterans Reserve Corps, a Youth Corps, and a massive media wing. This formation is considered by many in Ukraine and outside to be the Elite of the Ukrainian Military, though others would refute that statement. The Siege of Azovstal has been a very impressive act of military bravery worthy of the Waffen-SS. I don't use SS comparison lightly; the similarities are uncanny, and include their insignia. The main symbol of the Azov Regiment as pictured above is the Wolfsangel, which was used heavily by the Nazis, and Waffen-SS specifically. Pictured below we also see the background Sonnerand, which is likewise an explicitly Nazi symbol.
Since 2014 this Ukrainian Waffen-SS has acted very much in the spirit and practice of their inspirations. They are known for many human rights abuses during the War in Donbass. While the political movement is small, it bears remembering that it also allies itself to other Far Right Ukrainian Nationalist Parties. In 2019 the Azov Regiment is alleged credibly to have threatened President Zelenskey with assassination if he ratified the MINSK II Agreement and withdrew any forces from the Donbass Region. According to the EU, Human Rights Watch, and others, the Azov Regiment and associated units have committed a myriad of horrifying war crimes including mass murder, rape and torture. Compounding this is the evidence of war crimes since the February Invasion has started, which as I've noted before are myriad. As I have noted in previous blogs (check out Foreign Fighters for more) Azov also recruits foreign Nazis from around the world to fight with them.
It is not this one military formation that brings me such concern; The Azov Regiment itself is in the process of surrendering or being killed in Azovstal by the Russian Military. What concerns me so deeply is their veneration. Instagram now has Azov stickers you can send to your Nazi supporting friends. I cannot understate how big a deal this is. We have so completely white washed this formation that you can now send gifs and stickers of your favorite Nazis via Social Media. Try it on Facebook Messenger or Instagram.
I know it may seem a little silly to be more worried about the popularity of these individuals than the fact we and others are arming them for free, but I am. The martyrdom language in our discourse is endemic, and the white washing of literal Nazis has achieved it's objective and more besides. We saw just this week the murderous rampage of a Neo-Nazi in the United States that shared much of the iconography of the Azov Regiment. This hateful scum, while not actually related to Azov in any way, shares a common set of beliefs, politics and world view to them. There may not be direct connection, but there is a shared ideological position, and a shared sense of the path forward (Nazism).
The picture I have included is alleged to come from Azovstal, and shows a likely Azov Soldier, Christ-Like in a beam of light. The implication of he being blessed by God is laid on pretty thick. This was shared by the World and National Security Reporter for Politico. It was commented very favorably on by Illia Ponomarenko, the reporter for the Kyiv Independent, and self proclaimed "Anointed Azov guy." Meanwhile CNN repeats Azov Regiment Press claims as if Nazis in a war are people to be trusted at face value. They don't even stipulate where they get their coverage from. This is not OK. CBC does note in the top corner where their videos and interviews from Azovstal come from, and they have noted that the Azov Regiment is a "Far Right military unit." I'm not inherently against using their footage with proper context, but this is nowhere close to enough context for this organization.
Yes Illia, it is quite the time indeed to be alive, you Nazi boot-lick. I feel like in the past three months I have been yelling into a void and going insane. Meanwhile the ever useless Joe Biden has decided that this is the moment to channel his inner Woodrow Wilson. Avowing piously that the USA will not enter the War, he is dumping some $40b of free weapons into Ukraine. The UK Ministry of Defense has already admitted to actively arming the Azov Regiment with anti-aircraft weapons. The CAF admitted to training the Azov Regiment. It's remarkable actually that the only real policy choices Biden has actually made have resulted in the catastrophic fall of Afghanistan and the arming of literal Nazis.
The deliberate veneration of literal Nazis might be the most deeply alarming turn that our country, and the West more generally, has taken since the (ongoing) rampant Islamophobia of post 9/11 in my opinion. It could be even more worse; it's not like Neo-Nazis are any less Islamophobic, among their many hatreds. It will not help to white wash what they are, it will not help to say they have reformed away from explicit Nazism or any of the other excuses we use today.
We are today, a nation that supports Nazis. Don't be surprised when Nazi chickens come home to roost.
Ian, Mar 17th 2022