The State Department announced on Monday that Ukraine’s Azov Brigade, which has a long history of association with Nazi socialism, will be allowed to receive American weapons and training.
Russia immediately denounced the U.S. for supporting Ukrainian “ultra-nationalists” and “neo-Nazis.”
“After thorough review, Ukraine’s 12th Special Forces Azov Brigade passed Leahy vetting as carried out by the U.S. Department of State,” the State Department said. The statement did not say exactly when it lifted the restrictions whether the Azov Brigade already has access to U.S. equipment or not.
The “Leahy Law,” named for former Sen. Pat Leahy (D-VT), is a set of statutory provisions passed in 1997 that prohibit the State Department and Department of Defense (DoD) from giving funds, equipment, or training to foreign security forces that have been credibly accused of major human rights violations.
The original targets of the Leahy Law included Colombian army units accused of rampantly murdering civilians to kill insurgents and collect bounties. Pro-Palestinian activists frequently accuse the Biden administration of violating the Leahy Law by backing Israel’s war against Hamas terrorists in Gaza, due to the high number of reported civilian casualties.
The Azov Brigade is a volunteer militia formed in 2014 to fight pro-Russian separatist militants in eastern Ukraine. The brigade was fully autonomous at first, but within two years it was incorporated into the Ukrainian National Guard and last year it was designated as a special forces unit. The unit stepped up its recruiting efforts after receiving that designation, bringing in thousands of new members.
Since its inception, the Azov Brigade has used symbols reminiscent of Nazi iconography and foreign media organizations rarely have trouble finding Azov fighters who are willing to say Adolf Hitler was misunderstood, the Holocaust never happened, or the swastika is just an ancient symbol of sun worship.
“I have nothing against Russian nationalists, or a great Russia, but Putin’s not even a Russian. He’s a Jew,” an Azov Brigade volunteer remarked to the UK Guardian in 2014.
The early Azov volunteers were not supportive of Ukraine’s central government because they felt it was not doing enough to help them battle separatist forces. Some of them talked about replacing the government with a military junta that could unite Ukraine and force the Russians out for good.
In addition to the pro-Nazi political stands of its founding members, the Azov Brigade has been accused of human rights violations by the United Nations, and by organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. The allegations include mental and physical abuse of both civilian and military prisoners.