The Daily Populous Wednesday June 12nd, 2024 morning edition
Authored by cbsnews.com and submitted by Alarmed_Mistake_9999

Biden allowing Ukraine to use U.S. weapons for limited strikes within Russia

The United States has lifted restrictions on providing weapons and training for the high-profile Ukrainian military unit the Azov Brigade. The U.S. State Department confirmed Monday that the unit, which has played a significant role in Ukraine's effort to repel the ongoing invasion launched by Russia in February 2022, could now be trained by U.S. military personnel and use U.S.-provided weapons.

The State Department's move reversed a decade-old prohibition imposed on the Azov forces under the Leahy Law, which prohibits the U.S. from supplying weapons or financial assistance "to units of foreign security forces where there is credible information implicating that unit in the commission of gross violations of human rights."

The State Department said it had concluded there was "no evidence of Gross Violation of Human Rights committed by the 12th Azov Brigade."

The Azov Brigade was initially a volunteer force that rose to prominence in 2014, when Russian forces first crossed Ukraine's eastern border and started seizing land. The following year, it was integrated into Ukraine's National Guard. It will now have access to the same U.S. military assistance as any other unit in the National Guard.

According to The Washington Post, U.S. assistance to the Azov unit was barred under the Leahy Law about a decade ago, over concerns about its founder, the ultra-nationalist Andriy Biletsky, and other members having Nazi sympathies. Some members of what was then known as the Azov Battalion were described as being far-right and xenophobic — a narrative that has been repeatedly promoted by Russian propaganda campaigns to justify the invasion of Ukraine.

The State Department did not say when the ban was lifted, but a spokesperson said Monday that the original unit had been disbanded years ago and that vetting of the current brigade had found no evidence of gross human rights violations, leading to the restrictions being dropped.

Members of the Azov Brigade attend the funeral of a member who was killed in battle, in Vinnytsia, Ukraine, May 10, 2024. ROMAN PILIPEY/AFP via Getty Images

The Azov Brigade posted a statement on social media welcoming a "new page in the history" for the unit, saying that "obtaining Western weapons and training from the United States will not only increase the combat ability of Azov, but most importantly, contribute to the preservation of the lives and the health of personnel."

In 2022, Russia's top court officially designated the Azov unit a terrorist group, and speaking Tuesday in Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that "such a sudden change in Washington's position shows that it will do anything to suppress Russia… even flirting with neo-Nazis."

Azov forces played a key role in defending the southern city of Mariupol, refusing to surrender for 80 days as they were holed–up in a sprawling steel mill with little ammunition and under blistering Russian artillery fire, before eventually laying down their weapons.

In Ukraine, the Azov troops have become a potent symbol of Ukrainian resistance in the war against Russia, and many remain in Russian captivity.

Activists and relatives of Ukrainian POWs hold up banners calling for the return of Ukrainian soldiers from Russian captivity during a rally on May 19, 2024 in Kyiv, Ukraine. Oleksii Samsonov/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images

Maximum_Impressive on June 12nd, 2024 at 00:09 UTC »

Mujahedeen all over again.

UNisopod on June 11st, 2024 at 19:23 UTC »

I mean, at this point Azov isn't really the same thing it was at the start of the war. They got sent to do some of the harshest fighting in the south early on and a large portion of their initial membership and leadership has died as a result. Ukraine has since been slowly diluting their ranks by filling in from other units and has pulled back on some of their more overtly Nazi iconography (with less resistance from the newer composition of troops).

So Ukraine gave ultra-nationalists the glory of dying for their country while slowly taking over their "brand", never directly pushing back on them and so not prompting any sort of defensive internal response to the change.

Rodya_Raskolnik on June 11st, 2024 at 17:48 UTC »

Can someone explain why Ukraine doesn’t disband Azov and absorb them into the army?