Azov Battalion

The Special Operations Detachment "Azov" (), also known as the Azov Regiment ( uk, Полк «Азов», translit=Polk "Azov") and formerly the Azov Battalion ( uk, батальйон «Азов», translit=Batalion "Azov"), is a unit of the National Guard of Ukraine formerly based in Mariupol, in the coastal region of the Sea of Azov, from which it derives its name. The unit was founded in May 2014 as a volunteer paramilitary militia under the command of Andriy Biletsky to fight pro-Russian forces in the Donbas War, and was formally incorporated into the National Guard on 11 November 2014.

The group has drawn controversy over its early and allegedly continuing association with far-right groups and neo-Nazi ideology, its use of controversial symbols linked to Nazism, and early allegations that members of the group participated in torture and war crimes. Some experts are critical of the regiment's role within the larger Azov Movement, a political umbrella group made up of veterans and organizations linked to Azov, and its possible far-right political ambitions, despite claims of the regiment's depoliticization. Others argue that the regiment has evolved beyond its origins as street militia, tempering its neo-Nazi and far-right underpinnings as it became part of the National Guard. Since 2014, criticism of the Azov Regiment has been a recurring theme of Russian propaganda, and the unit has been designated a terrorist group by Russia since August 2022.

The regiment's size was estimated to be around 900 to 2,500 combatants in 2017–2022. Most of the unit's members are Russian speakers and come from the Russian-speaking regions of Ukraine. It also includes members from other countries. In the wake of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the regiment gained renewed attention, as one of the reasons given by Russian president Vladimir Putin for the invasion was the "denazification" of Ukraine, to remove the alleged control of the country by far-right forces such as Azov. During the Siege of Mariupol the regiment played a prominent role in the city's defense, and made its final stand at the Azovstal steel plant. Ending the siege a significant amount of regiment's fighters, including the regiment's commander since 2017, Denys Prokopenko, surrendered to Russian forces on orders from the Ukrainian high command.

History

Background and founding, February–April 2014

According to anti-fascist researcher Vyacheslav Likhachev, Azov had many roots. For example, Jewish activist Nathan Khazin has described forming a group of around 26 activists in the Automaidan movement in 2013 who he said formed the backbone of Azov, while other sources emphasise the presence of former Patriot of Ukraine activists.

According to Katerina Sergatskova in Hromadske, parts of the Azov Regiment had its roots in a group of ultras of FC Metalist Kharkiv named "Sect 82" (1982 is the year of the founding of the group)"We are trying to come to power through elections, but we have all sorts of possibilities" – as "Azov" becomes party
, Hromadske.TV (13 October 2016) accused of Nazi leanings. In late February 2014, during the 2014 Ukrainian crisis when a separatist movement was active in Kharkiv, Sect 82 occupied the Kharkiv Oblast regional administration building in Kharkiv and served as a local "self-defense force." Soon after, a company of the Special Tasks Patrol Police called "Eastern Corps" was formed on the basis of Sect 82, which would join Azov in 2015.

On February 2014, Andriy Biletsky, a far-right political activist, founder and leader of the ultranationalist organization Patriot of Ukraine and the related Social-National Assembly (SNA), who had been previously arrested in 2011 accused of robbery and assault, although his case had never reached the courts, was released from prison after the new government considered him a political prisoner of the former Yanukovytch government.Bereza, A.
Andriy Biletsky. How war changed a political prisoner into a commander of the Azov Battalion
'. "Novoye Vremya". 22 October 2014 After returning to Kharkiv, he rallied some activists from Patriot of Ukraine, SNA, the AutoMaidan movement and some ultras groups, and formed a small militia to help local security forces against the local pro-Russian movement in the city. Biletsky's militia, and later the Battalion, was known as the "Black Corps" ( uk, Чорний Корпус, translit=Chorny Korpus), and nicknamed by the Ukrainian media as the "Men in Black" or "Little Black Men", touted as Ukraine's version of Russia's Little Green Men due their secrecy and mystery, as well their use of all-black fatigues and masks in Kharkiv and later in Mariupol. During March 2014, as the unrest in Kharkiv worsened, the Security Service of Ukraine and the Militsiya pulled out from the city, the "Black Corps" started to patrol the streets, helped to protect pro-Ukrainian activists in Kharkiv and attacked pro-Russian ones. On 14 March, members of pro-Russian militant organization "Oplot" (which would later become a separatist military battalion, and the head of the Donetsk branch, Alexander Zakharchenko, would become Head of the Donetsk People's Republic) and of the Anti-Maidan movement, attempted to raid the local Patriot of Ukraine headquarters. The Black Corps retaliated with automatic weapons, and the situation escalated into a firefight between the two groups. Leaving to two dead in the pro-Russian side. At that time, the "Black Corps" had around 60 to 70 members and they were mostly lightly armed.

By April, during the initial phases of the War in Donbas, the Ukrainian Armed Forces suffered a number of defeats and setbacks against the separatists, as they were ill-prepared, ill-equipped, lacking in professionalism, morale, fighting spirit and with severe incompetence in the high command. As a reaction, many willing civilians created militias and paramilitary groups to fight the separatists on their own initiative, known as the " volunteer battalions".Margarete Klein
Ukraine's volunteer battalions – advantages and challenges
Swedish Defence Research Agency Report, RUFS Briefing No. 27, April 2015

As the situation in the Donbas deteriorated, on 13 April 2014, Minister of Internal Affairs Arsen Avakov issued a decree authorizing the creation of new paramilitary forces of up to 12,000 people. The former Black Corps was initially based in Kharkiv, where they were tasked with defending the city against a possible pro-Russian uprising, but as the situation in the city subsided and calmed down, they were deployed to Eastern Ukraine to help in the war effort. They were then sanctioned by the Ukrainian Interior Ministry as a unit of "Special Tasks Patrol Police" and became officially known as the "Azov" Battalion, which was officially formed on 5 May 2014 in Berdiansk.

Initially, the group was mostly funded independently of the state, with a primary financier, Jewish-Ukrainian billionaire and oligarch Ihor Kolomoyskyi. When Azov deputy commander Ihor Mosiychuk made Jew-baiting comments about Kolomoisky, he was removed. Among other early patrons of the battalion were Oleh Lyashko, a member of the Verkhovna Rada, ultra-nationalist Dmytro Korchynsky, businessman Serhiy Taruta, and Minister of Internal Affairs Arsen Avakov. The battalion received training near Kyiv by instructors with experience in the Georgian Armed Forces.

Special Tasks Patrol Police, May 2014

The battalion had its baptism by fire in Mariupol in May 2014, where it was involved in combat during the First Battle of Mariupol as part of the counter-offensive to recapture the city from separatists of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR). On 13 June, together with fellow Special Tasks Patrol Police battalion Dnipro-1, they retook key buildings and strongholds occupied by separatists, killing at least 5 separatists and destroying one enemy BRDM-2 armoured vehicle and one armored truck during battle. After the Battle, Azov remained as a garrison in Mariupol for a time, where they were tasked of patrolling the region around the Sea of Azov to prevent arms trafficking from Russia into separatist hands, and was briefly relocated to Berdiansk.Azov Battalion announced signing of new warriors
, ''TSN News'', 20 May 2014. On 10 June, the battalion dismissed deputy commander Yaroslav Honchar and distanced themselves from him after he made statements critical of looting and debauchery in the Azov battalion. Igor Mosiychuk became deputy commander.

On 10–11 August 2014 the Azov Battalion, together with the Shakhtarsk Battalion, Dnipro-1 Battalion and the Ukrainian Army, supported an assault on the city of Ilovaisk spearheaded by the Donbas Battalion. The performance of Azov was criticized by fellow members of the Donbas Battalion and by a later report by the commission of the Verkhovna Rada on the failures of the Battle of Ilovaisk, which criticized Azov of arriving undermanned and late to the battle, and failing to cover the flanks of other forces. During the initial assault, Azov suffered heavy losses. The Azov Battalion helped to clear the city of separatists and reinforce Ukrainian positions. However, in late August they were redeployed to garrison Mariupol, as a detachment of troops from the Russian Armed Forces was spotted moving into Novoazovsk