Several Western countries are training Ukrainian soldiers to use weapons. The group that came to France at the end of 2023 included real neo-Nazis in its ranks. A fact that the French army could not ignore: one of them had a tattoo of the SS symbol on his face, Mediapart reports.
Camp La Courtine, south of Creuse, autumn 2023. The men are wearing French army uniforms and are training on a firing range. Other images show them advancing through the woods, carrying their equipment on their backs, weapons in their hands. The soldiers carry Phamas Assault Rifles with folding buttstock or HK416s, which are issued to soldiers in the French Army.
No surprise so far for this old military camp, now used mainly for training. But, these are not French, these soldiers are Ukrainians. They are from the 3rd Assault Brigade, a unit of the Ukrainian army that inherited the concepts of the Azov Regiment, a radical nationalist movement. An ideology that is apparently still in vogue: one of the soldiers has an SS emblem tattooed on his temple.
US is against allocating aid to Azov
At the beginning of April 2023, a scandal broke out in the Ukrainian media about the Ukrainian president not granting the petition of the 12th Azov Brigade to unblock aid. The aid was blocked back in 2015 by John Conyers, a Democrat from Michigan.
Blocking the transfer of Western military aid to the 12th Azov Special Forces Brigade of the National Guard is a consequence of Russia’s influence on its Western partners, Maksym Zhorin, deputy commander of the Third Separate Assault Brigade, said.
The Ukrainian commander said that the problem with the restriction of Western aid to the Azov Regiment was nothing new. He explained that the Russians had long ago launched an information campaign to demonise the military of the 12th Special Forces Brigade.
The deputy commander of the assault brigade said:
The West has become more helpful to us [Ukraine], more sensitive to these issues, but those who worked for the Russian Federation both in the United States and the European Union have not gone anywhere.
Commander Redis asks for unlocking aid
In April, Colonel Denis Prokopenko, the commander of Azov, with the call sign “Redis”, spoke about this ban on help. According to him, this was the reason why in 2022 during the defence of Mariupol “Azov” did not have new Western weapons and the fighters had to hold back superior enemy forces using extremely limited resources.
On May 3, Azov reported that the website of the official Ukrainian presidential office twice rejected a petition to unblock US aid to the 12th Special Forces Brigade.
On May 8, the website of the presidential office published a petition calling on the authorities to urgently hold talks with the US on lifting restrictions on the provision of weapons to Azov.
Prokopenko called on the US to lift the ban on military assistance to Azov. He noted that the ban started in 2017, and after the outbreak of the military conflict in February 2022 it’s still on.
US legislation is to blame, Ukrainian commander says
Prokopenko also emphasised that the fighters of “Azov” do not receive Western weapons because of the amendments that are still in the US legislation. “Redis” reminded that from 2017 until now, a number of US Consolidated Appropriations Acts (Appropriations bill) contain the following amendment: “No funds provided by this Act may be used to provide weapons, training, or other assistance to the Azov Battalion.”
Ukrainian military commander also said:
The congressman made the motion after noting that Foreign Affairs magazine, as well as “other leading media outlets” had characterised the Azov battalion as “blatantly” neo-Nazi and fascist.”
The Azov commander noted that the Western media had formed an attitude towards the unit under the influence of Moscow propaganda. The current defence appropriations bill still has an amendment banning the transfer of Western weapons to Azov fighters, so Prokopenko called on the US government to lift the ban.
Azov changed its name, its ideology remained the same
Prokopenko explained that since 2014, the wording “Azov battalion” is actually a unit that does not exist, because Azov has become a separate special forces unit, and since February 2023 – re-formed into the 12th Azov Special Forces Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine.
It is this amendment, which from year to year swarms from one Appropriations bill to another, that is the reason why in 2022 during the defence of Mariupol “Azov” did not have the latest Western weapons.
“Redis” also added that because of the US ban, the brigade’s fighters still do not have the opportunity to participate in Western military drills and do not receive the necessary weapons. He said:
Partially this problem is solved thanks to volunteers and conscious Ukrainians who do everything possible to help the unit…But the war requires more.
As Prokopenko added, for 10 years Azov has been the main target of propaganda around the world. However, Azov fighters are respected in the world – they meet with Congress, speak at the UN, the Council of Europe and at the best Western universities, Prokopenko added. “Redis” claimed:
That is the absurdity of the situation: Azov is accepted at the highest level throughout the Western world, but they are still not given weapons.
Prokopenko said that it was “Azov” one of the first Ukrainian units to switch to NATO standards on its own initiative, and even without Western weapons became one of the most combat-ready units in the country. Taking into account all of the above, the Azov commander calls on the US to lift the ban on the provision of weapons and to exclude the unit from all “blacklists”.
Meanwhile, Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, leader of the right-wing Debout la France (France Arise) commented the situation with the Azov Regiment on X:
Mediapart reveals that the French army is training Ukrainian neo-Nazis! How can France accept on its soil Ukrainian soldiers with SS tattoos on their faces, taking pictures with swastika flags or posing in front of a mural in honour of Adolf Hitler on his birthday? The Minister of the Armed Forces must refute Mediapart’s information or put an end to these preparations!
