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In reply to the discussion: A note about the 'Azov Regiment' [View all]SunSeeker
(58,375 posts)Last edited Wed Apr 20, 2022, 12:21 AM - Edit history (1)
Biletsky no longer leads the Regiment; he is now a politician, and has been for years. The Azov Regiment only numbers around 900, and is now under the control of the Ukrainian armed forces. The soldiers of the Azov Regiment deny they are neo-Nazis, although they are definitely right wing. They deny their symbol is the Wolfsangel, they say it is an "I" superimposed over an "N," which stands for "National Idea," similar to the "America First" slogan of right wingers in the US.
The Azov Regiment has been part of the the Ukrainian National Guard since 2014:
A few months after recapturing the strategic port city of Mariupol from the Russian-backed separatists, the unit was officially integrated into the National Guard of Ukraine on November 12, 2014, and exacted high praise from then-President Petro Poroshenko.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/3/1/who-are-the-azov-regiment
And it's not like Putin has any room to talk. He employs the Wagner Group mercenaries, who number in the thousands and are actual Nazis (they named themselves after Richard Wagner, Hitler's favorite composer). Putin used the Wagner Group to do his dirty work in Syria and it is believed he deployed them to Ukraine to assassinate Zelensky.https://news.sky.com/story/ukraine-war-what-is-the-wagner-group-of-secret-russian-mercenaries-12562034
If Putin wants to "de-natzify" Ukraine, he should withdraw his Wagner Group mercenaries from Ukraine.