The Biden administration will allow a Ukrainian National Guard’s unit, Azov Brigade, to use US weapons, the State Department said on 10 June, having lifted a ban imposed years ago amid concerns in Washington about the group’s origins, The Washington Post reports.
The Azov Brigade, recognized for its determined yet ultimately unsuccessful defense of the Azovstal steel mill in Mariupol during the early stages of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, is considered a highly effective combat unit. At the end of the siege of Mariupol, Ukraine ordered the remaining troops in the steel factory to surrender to Russian forces for survival, leaving over 900 in captivity as of early May this year.
Back, in 2015, the US House passed an amendment barring Azov from using the US arms, based solely on media reports labelling Azov as a “neo-Nazi” and “fascist” unit. The image of a “Nazi unit” was amplified internationally by Russian propaganda outlets and was even used by Russia to justify its full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the claims that Ukraine allegedly needs to be “denazified.”
Now absorbed into the Ukrainian National Guard as a formal unit since 2015, the brigade, originally a volunteer militia, will have access to the same US military assistance as any other unit.
“We fight real Nazis of today”: Azov commander slams US weapons ban in plea for aid
“After thorough review, Ukraine’s 12th Special Forces Azov Brigade passed Leahy vetting as carried out by the US Department of State,” the agency said in a statement, referring to the “Leahy Law” that prevents US military assistance from going to foreign units credibly found to have committed major human rights violations. The State Department found “no evidence” of such violations, its statement says.
Lifting the ban had been a top priority for Ukrainian officials, who argue that the brigade could have defended Azovstal more effectively in 2022 with access to US equipment. Additionally, members of the brigade were also prohibited from participating in training sessions organized by the US military.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has frequently cited the racist and ultranationalist allegations against the Azov Battalion to support his claim that Ukrainian fighters and their leaders in Kyiv are neo-Nazis. The shift in US policy is likely to reignite those Russian critiques, the Washington Post notes.
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