US lifts arms and training ban on Ukraine's Azov Brigade

The United States has lifted restrictions on the supply of weapons and training to Ukraine's leading military unit, the Azov Brigade. The US State Department confirmed on Monday that the unit, which played an important role in Ukraine's efforts to repel the ongoing invasion launched by Russia in February 2022, could now be trained by military personnel American and use weapons supplied by the United States.

The State Department's decision overturned a decade-old ban on Azov's forces under the Leahy Act, which prohibits the United States from providing weapons or financial assistance “to security force units.” foreign countries when there is credible information implicating this unit in the commission of crude attacks. human rights violations. »

The State Department said it concluded there was “no evidence of gross human rights violations committed by the 12th Azov Brigade.”

The Azov Brigade was initially a volunteer force that rose to prominence in 2014, when Russian forces first crossed Ukraine's eastern border and began seizing land. The following year, it was integrated into the Ukrainian National Guard. It will now have access to the same American military assistance as any other National Guard unit.

According to the Washington Post, U.S. aid to the Azov unit was banned under the Leahy Act about a decade ago, due to concerns about its founder, ultranationalist Andriy Biletsky, and other members. having Nazi sympathies. Some members of what was then known as the Azov Battalion were described as far-right and xenophobic – a narrative that was repeatedly promoted by Russian propaganda campaigns to justify the invasion of Ukraine.

The State Department did not say when the ban was lifted, but a spokesperson said Monday that the original unit was disbanded years ago and that review of the current brigade found no evidence of gross human rights violations, leading to the restrictions being dropped.

Members of the Azov Brigade attend the funeral of a member killed in action, in Vinnytsia, Ukraine, May 10, 2024. ROMAN PILIPEY/AFP via Getty Images

The Azov Brigade released a statement on social media welcoming the opening of a “new page in history” for the unit, saying that “obtaining Western weapons and training from the United States will not only increase the combat capability of Azov, but, more importantly, contribute to the preservation of the life and health of personnel.

In 2022, Russia's highest court officially designated the Azov Unit as a terrorist group, and speaking in Moscow on Tuesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that “such a sudden change in the “Washington's position shows that it will do anything to suppress Russia…even while flirting with the New Democrats.” -Nazis.”

Azov forces played a key role in defending the southern city of Mariupol, refusing to surrender for 80 days while holed up in a sprawling steel mill with little ammunition and under intense artillery fire Russian, before finally laying down their arms.

In Ukraine, Azov troops have become a powerful symbol of Ukrainian resistance in the war against Russia, and many of them remain in Russian captivity.

Activists and relatives of Ukrainian prisoners of war hold banners calling for the return of Ukrainian soldiers from Russian captivity during a rally May 19, 2024 in kyiv, Ukraine. Oleksii Samsonov/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images

–Camilla Schick contributed reporting.

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