US lifts weapons ban on Ukraine’s Azov brigade

Reacting to the US decision, Azov said in a statement: “The lies about Azov, which the Kremlin regime have been spreading in the West for years, received a devastating blow today.

“Receiving Western weapons and training from the US will not only increase the combat capability of Azov, but most importantly, will contribute to the preservation of the lives and health of the personnel of the brigade.”

A volunteer militia battalion called Azov was originally set up in May 2014 to fight Russian-backed forces in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region. Later that year it was briefly incorporated as a separate regiment in Ukraine’s interior ministry before being transferred to the National Guard.

Some members of the original battalion were reported to have had links to far-right and ultra-nationalist groups at the time – but a number of them, including the first commander, later left the unit.

The US banned the regiment from receiving US weapons for the alleged links to the far right.

In 2016, a UN report accused the Azov regiment of “looting of civilian property, leading to displacement” in eastern Ukraine.

The current leadership of the Azov brigade says its members have no ties to far-right organisations or any other extremist groups – a claim that has not been independently verified.

Azov fighters are seen by many in Ukraine as national heroes for defending for months the southern city of Mariupol from a brutal Russian assault.

The port on the Sea of Azov was eventually taken by Moscow in May 2022.

Many Azov soldiers are still being held by Russia as prisoners of war, amid accusations that the Ukrainians have been subject to torture in captivity.