State Department lifts weapons ban on Ukraine’s Azov Brigade

The U.S. State Department confirmed to WORLD on Tuesday that the controversial unit could now use U.S. weapons provided to Ukraine. Members of the Ukraine National Guard’s 12th Special Forces Azov Brigade have been accused of holding neo-Nazi beliefs and engaging in human rights abuses since 2014. A U.S. spending bill in 2018 prevented U.S. funding from going to the Azov Brigade.

Why did the State Department lift this ban? The department said it had investigated the unit, conducting a process known as Leahy vetting. The unit passed the vetting process, which found no credible information the unit had engaged in what it termed gross violations of human rights.

In its statement to WORLD, the U.S. State Department accused Russia of spreading disinformation about the unit. Ukraine assembled a unit called the Azov Battalion in 2014 during Russia’s invasion of Crimea. That unit then disbanded in 2015. The current Azov Brigade is not the same entity as the previous Azov Battalion, the U.S. State Department told WORLD.

What does Russia have to say about the Azov Brigade? Russian state media quoted a Russian official as saying that Ukraine, with the support of NATO, was using neo-Nazi military formations to attack Russian communities bordering Ukraine. Another Russian state media outlet more directly accused the United States of flirting with Nazism by allowing its weapons to be used by the Azov Brigade.

What did the Azov Brigade have to say? In a statement on its website, the unit said that it had received confirmation from officials at the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine about the State Department lifting the ban. The brigade said receiving U.S. weapons would help it fight Russian forces more effectively and support the welfare of its members. The unit said it was becoming more professional, powerful, and dangerous to Russian forces.

Dig deeper: Read Todd Vician’s report in WORLD Magazine about the Azov Brigade and whether Ukraine has a neo-Nazi problem like Russia claims.