The Azov Battalion is history

Azov founder Andriy Biletsky with two of his volunteers, June 2014. (My News24, via Wikimedia Commons)

They were Ukraine’s most visible and powerful neo-Nazis. Now they’re beaten, peace may be closer.

Ukraine’s Azov Battalion, the country’s most visible and powerful neo-Nazis, are history.

In two senses…

• They won’t be forgotten, nor should they be.
• They’ve now been encircled and are facing defeat.

Their Waterloo is at Mariupol, the city they used to guard and police. They are being defeated there by the Russian Army and the militia of the Donetsk People’s Republic.

Basic facts about the Azov Battalion…

Its name refers to the Azov Sea, which is east of the Crimean Peninsula. Members of the Battalion come from various parts of Ukraine, but they established their base in the city of Mariupol, a port city on the Azov Sea’s north coast.

The Battalion’s original insignia includes two symbols which were also used by Hitler’s SS — the wolf-hook (Wolfsangel) and the black sun (Sonnenrad). There is also a simplified version without the black sun.