Preparing for War with Ukraines

Fascist Defenders of Freedom

On the frontlines of the new ofensive in eastern
Ukraine, the hardcore Azov Battalion is ready for battle
with Russia. But they're not fhtin for !uro"e, either.
B# A$!% $U&'(AU)U*+ ,-, .-/0
1AR2U3O$, Ukraine ( Blue and yellow Ukrainian 4as 4y over 1ariu"ol's
burned(out city ad5inistration buildin and at 5ilitary check"oints around the city, but at
a s"ort school near a hue 5etallurical "lant, another sy5bol is 6ust as "ro5inent7
the wolfsangel 89wolf tra"9: sy5bol that was widely used in the +hird Reich and has been
ado"ted by neo('azi rou"s.
+he Azov Battalion (( so na5ed for the *ea of Azov on which this industrial city is located
(( is one of dozens of volunteer battalions fhtin alonside "ro(overn5ent forces in
eastern Ukraine. After se"aratist troo"s and ar5or attacked fro5 the nearby Russian
border and took the neihborin town of 'ovoazovsk, this o"enly neo('azi unit has
suddenly found itself defendin the city aainst what Ukrainian 3resident 3etro
3oroshenko called a Russian invasion.
3ro(Russian forces have said they are fhtin aainst Ukrainian nationalists and 9fascists9
in the con4ict, and in the case of Azov and other battalions, these clai5s are essentially
true.
;ith the incursion fro5 the Russian border, 1ariu"ol, which had been "eaceful since "ro(
Russian "rotestors were forced out in 1ay, has beco5e a third theater in the eastern
Ukrainian con4ict alon with the rebel stronholds of <onetsk and $uhansk. 3ro(Russian
forces clai5 this week's advance alon the coast has been 5ade by se"aratist rebels, but
Oleh Odnorozhenko, de"uty co55ander of the Azov Battalion, co5"rised of so5e =--
5en, said the Ukrainians are facin thousands of reular Russian Ar5y troo"s. &e
clai5ed that his 5en have ca"tured dozens of Russian soldiers over the "ast week and
destroyed a Russian fhtin infantry vehicle.
9<es"ite all its wishes, the Russian Ar5y will have a di>cult ti5e takin 1ariu"ol,9
Odnorozhenko said, cradlin his ?alashnikov as two 5ore fhters 6oed la"s with their
wea"ons behind hi5. 9;e have left our "ositions so it's not "ossible to shell us fro5
Russia. +hat's why they ca5e to 'ovoazovsk. 1ariu"ol won't be taken without blood.9
Odnorozhenko said the city's defenders are 9frst and fore5ost volunteer battalions,9 with
nu5bers of 'ational )uard and reular Ukrainian Ar5y troo"s "layin a s5aller role.
Overall, there are 5ore than =- volunteer battalions fhtin in eastern Ukraine, he said.
+he "ervasiveness of these "ara5ilitary units has raised concerns about their in4uence
over the overn5ent. 'ational )uard s"okes5an Ruslan 1uzychuk said the volunteer
battalions "lay a role in the city's defense but insisted that 9all the battalions in the anti(
terrorist o"eration coo"erate accordin to the 5ilitary chain of co55and.9
+he con4ict in eastern Ukraine has co5e, in so5e ways, to rese5ble a battle between
Ukrainian and Russian nationalists. @olunteers fro5 the nationalist rou"s who clashed
with riot "olice on ?iev's 2nde"endence *Auare this "ast winter have flled out the ranks
of the 5any battalions fhtin alonside Ukraine's s5all, dila"idated reular ar5y in the
east, includin Azov.
1eanwhile, the "ro(Russian forces are strivin to reunite what they say are historically
Russian lands to create Novorossiya 89'ew Russia9:. !ach side refuses to see anythin of
itself in the other. +he "ro(Russians call the Ukrainians fascists, who in turn "ortray their
o""onents as i5"erialists. Odnorozhenko said the con4ict involved 9"eo"le with a
!uro"ean identity fhtin with *ovietness.9
But the 9!uro"ean identity9 to which Odnorozhenko as"ires is one estraned fro5
5ainstrea5 !uro"ean and A5erican liberalis5. +he Azov Battalion, whose e5ble5 also
includes the 9Black *un9 occult sy5bol used by the 'azi **, was founded by Andriy
Biletsky, head of the neo('azi rou"s *ocial('ational Asse5bly and 3atriots of Ukraine.
Althouh the *ocial('ational Asse5bly website linked to by the Azov Battalion's social
network "aes said its "rora5 was underoin 9develo"5ent and 5odernization,9 other
5aterials on the site ive a clear idea of the rou"'s "olitical leanins.
9Unfortunately, a5on the Ukrainian "eo"le today there are a lot of 'Russians' 8by their
5entality, not their blood:, 'kikes,' 'A5ericans,' '!uro"eans' 8of the de5ocratic(liberal
!uro"ean Union:, 'Arabs,' '%hinese' and so forth, but there is not 5uch s"ecifcally
Ukrainian,9 read one teBt. 9+he reason for this situation is the 5ass "ro"aanda of trans(
5yths that are forein to us throuh advertisin, television, laws and education. 2t's
unclear how 5uch ti5e and efort will be needed to eradicate these danerous viruses
fro5 our "eo"le.9
Accordin to Odnorozhenko, the battalion's "olitical "latfor5 su""orts the natsiokratiya, a
syste5 of overn5ent devised by the Ukrainian nationalists of the /C,-s and /C0-s, who
fouht *oviet forces but were also uilty of atrocities such as the 5urder of thousands of
Dews and 3oles. 2t su""orts a national overn5ent based on syndicates re"resentin
diferent classes of the "o"ulation, as well as a stron forein "olicy includin the nuclear
re(ar5a5ent of Ukraine, he said.
+he battalion has a nu5ber of forein volunteers, includin nu5erous Russians, four
*wedes and one %anadian, but no A5ericans, Odnorozhenko said (( as two 6ee"s full of
tanned fhters in sunlasses and bandannas rolled into base, a wolfsanel "ainted on
each side.
Althouh he declined to "rovide details, Odnorozhenko said the Ukrainian forces are
de"loyin ar5or, buildin fortifcations, and 9activatin diferent 5ilitary rou"s9 in the
1ariu"ol area. $ocal activists have been diin trenches in so5e "laces outside the city
and oranizin 9civil defense9 forces.
Ukrainian forces have been fallin back in the face of the Russian advance. Accordin to
various re"orts, they had retreated to the west of the town of Bezi5enne 89'o 'a5e9:,
which would "ut the5 within .- 5iles of 1ariu"ol itself.
Besides a stron defense, Ukraine needs the su""ort of the ;est to defeat the invaders,
Odnorozhenko arued. &e called for the !uro"e and the United *tates to take a 5ore
aressive stance on Russia and bein shi""in wea"ons to Ukrainian "ro(overn5ent
forces. Oddly enouh, he co5"ared the con4ict to ;orld ;ar 22, when his battalion's
ideoloical forebears were fhtin *oviet and ;estern troo"s.
9+he blindness and stu"idity of the !uro"ean "olitical elite will lead to Russian aression
bein o"en and unhidden, and Russian forces will soon be everywhere,9 he said. 9A hybrid
warE ;e have the kind of nor5al war that was last seen in !uro"e in /C0=.9
*!R)!2 *U32'*?# F AG3
Posted by Thavam