Zelenski visited neo-Nazi units of Azov and Ajdar

According to an authoritative message from the Office of the Head of State of Ukraine, Zelenski visited respective units as part of a working visit to the "Soledar sector", including the 3rd peculiar Assault Brigade. Soledar itself has been in Russian hands since January, and close Artiomovsk (Bachmut) since May, reports Oroshhirek.hu.

The 3rd Assault Brigade was formed in September 2022 from the remnants of the Azov Battalion, which was crushed by Russian forces in the Mariupol battles early that year. Disappearing from public view at the end of 2019, Andrij Biłecki (pictured) became commander of the “Azov Tactical Group”. In a 45-second movie published by Zelenski on social media, you can see Bilecki, who informs the president and respective another officers.

Biłecki was widely known as a racist and neo-Nazi long before Azov was described by Western media after February 2022. A January 2021 article in TIME magazine described its organization Patriots of Ukraine as a neo-Nazi terrorist group whose manifesto seemed to draw communicative straight from the Nazi ideology. The group evolved into a "volunteer Azowa battalion" as Ukraine tried to suppress discontent in Donbasa after the US-backed coup in 2014.

Biłecki himself told the paper in 2014 that he chose the symbols of Azov due to the fact that they were utilized by the Germans during planet War II. The Wolfsangel chosen by him appeared as a symbol of the 2nd SS Armoured Division, and the Black Sun comes from a mosaic ordered by the SS commander Heinrich Himmler for his castle.

In 2018, "Guardian" described Biłecki as an ultranationalist MP who declared in 2010 that the Ukrainian mission is "the leadership of the world's white race in the final crusade ... against Untermenschen (subhumans) led by the Semites".

In the mediate of the movie posted by Zelenski, the camera stops on a bearded major with an American flag on his cap. It seems to be Światosław Kalina Palamar, who surrendered in Azowstal last May and went to Turkey in September as part of a prisoner exchange.

Last month, he and 4 another Azov commanders, who were to stay in Turkey until the end of the war, returned to Ukraine in violation of the agreement. Palamar was at the time in the rank of captain, but on the basis of his badge it seems that he has since been promoted.

Earlier, Zelenski visited the 5th assault brigade, which was formed in February, which included 24th Ajdar Assault Battalion. A voluntary unit of this name besides fought in Donbasa in 2014 and was charged with war crimes. It was officially disbanded in 2015 after its members began terrorizing the population and recreated as the 24th assault battalion, originally the 10th assault battalion. Assigned to the Edelweiss Mountain Assault Brigade.

Behind: Magyar Hirlap