T. Belman. When reading stories of alleged Russian atrocities in the city of Mariupol, it is best to remember that that city is the headquarters of the Azov Regiment. It controls the city.
“In the summer of 2014, the modest forces of Azov participated in the recapture of Mariupol from pro-Russian separatists. It has operated as a regiment since fall 2014 and according to media reports, it had around 1,000 fighters before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as well as artillery and tanks.”
“Ukrainian authorities on Sunday said the Russian military bombed an art school in which about 400 people had taken refuge” according to a ToI post.
The school was being used to protect the soldiers of the Azov Battalion and it was for this reason that Russia bombed it. Furthermore the Azov Battalion was preventing citizens from leaving the city in order to protect themselves. They are preventing the city from surrendering.. The civilians are being held hostage by them
TASS reports: Neo-Nazis rob Mariupol residents, kill those who resist them — Russian official
Here’s a look at survivors who just managed to escape Mariupol you won’t see on CNN or NBC. They break down in tears describing how Azov Nazis hold the city’s population hostage; ‘executed the convoys of civilians who tried to evacuate’ to Russia.
https://rumble.com/vwp2d1-ukrainian-family-that-managed-to-escape-from-the-city-of-mariupol.html
So do not be quick to believe what you are told. Reserve judgment until more is known.
The Upcoming neo-Nazi Concert in Ukraine That No One Is Talking About
KIEV — A venue that has staged a number of popular music acts over the years is playing host to something considerably less mainstream this Saturday: On the anniversary of the date Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, a popular club in the Ukrainian capital will be hosting a neo-Nazi concert.
Mariupol is defended by the Azov Battalion, an ultranationalist militia with ties to extremists across Europe.
[..]
The city of Mariupol, which has a population of 500,000, is primarily being defended by the Azov Battalion. This is one of the places, along with Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and the country’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, where Russia is conducting its war particularly brutally. Since early March, the city has been under siege and subjected to heavy bombardment. There is no electricity, little water and scarce food supplies.
Mariupol: Azov’s headquarters
Mariupol is also where the Azov Battalion, which is part of the Ukrainian National Guard and thus subordinate to the Interior Ministry, has set up its headquarters. Its fighters are well trained, but the unit is composed of nationalists and far-right radicals. Its very existence is one of the pretexts Russia has used for its war against Ukraine.
Initially, Azov was a volunteer militia that formed in the city of Berdyansk to support the Ukrainian army in its fight against pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine. Some of its fighters came from the small but active far-right group Pravyi sektor (Right Sector), whose core members were from eastern Ukraine and spoke Russian. Originally, they had even advocated the unity of East Slavic peoples: Russians, Belarusians and Ukrainians. Some were soccer ultras, others were active in nationalist circles. Such associations would be described as “free comradeships,” or organized neo-Nazi groups, in Germany, Andreas Umland from the Stockholm Center for Eastern European Studies, told DW.
Far-right connotations
Umland said Azov had drawn early attention by using the the Nazi Wolfsangel symbol as its emblem. “The Wolfsangel has far-right connotations, it is a pagan symbol that the SS also used,” said Umland. “But it is not considered a fascist symbol by the population in Ukraine.”
The Azov Regiment wants the symbol from the Nazi era to be understood as stylized versions of the letters N and I, standing for “national idea.”
Andriy Biletsky, the 42-year-old founder of Azov, is a history graduate of the National University of Kharkiv. He was active in Ukraine’s far-right scene for years. In the summer of 2014, the modest forces of Azov participated in the recapture of Mariupol from pro-Russian separatists. It has operated as a regiment since fall 2014 and according to media reports, it had around 1,000 fighters before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as well as artillery and tanks.
The Ukrainian government decided to incorporate the ultra-nationalists into state structures in 2014.
In 2015 and 2016, a movement emerged that formed the political arm of Azov. Biletsky resigned as a commander and created the National Corps party with former fighters. However, it had little electoral success. Biletsky did enter parliament via direct mandate but was not reelected in 2019. He is reportedly currently fighting on the front near Kyiv.
Contacts with far-right movements
In 2019, there was an attempt by US Congress to designate the regiment as a “terrorist organization” but this did not happen. Nevertheless, for years, Azov has maintained contacts with far-right movements abroad, including in Germany according to the German government’s answer to a question related to this issue by the Left Party parliamentary group.
Umland said a legend had grown around Azov because of Russian propaganda. He said that volunteer fighters, including Azov, had been accused of looting and improper behavior in 2014.
“Normally, we consider right-wing extremism to be dangerous, something that can lead to war,” Umland said. But in Ukraine, it is the other way around, he argued. The war had led to the rise and transformation of marginal comradeships into a political movement. But their influence on society is overrated, he said. For most Ukrainians, they are combatants fighting an overbearing aggressor.
This article was originally written in German. It has been altered to include the author’s name.
On the other hand, if this is Russia’s position, we will just have to defeat them, won’t we’. America, that is. Israel must remain neutral.
https://www.lindaikejisblog.com/2022/3/russian-state-tv-demands-that-america-return-alaska-and-californias-fort-ross-to-russia-threatens-nuclear-strike-on-us-in-response-to-sanctions-and-calls-for-public-hangings-in-ukraine.html?fbclid=IwAR134rqSWWLNO_vhnIk-HS05x4WZuMJBtBNeja-LYVSHl8TlmYe6xcBHWj4
@Adam Dalgliesh
Why wasn’t your heart breaking for the dead Donbass children even once in the last 8 years?
Because they deserved to die?
Bellingcat reported back in 2019 that the Azov batallion had new (as of then) leaders who disassociated the organizations neo-Nazi past and condemned Nazism and fascism. The organization then recruited numerous new members who had no connection with Nazi or fascist groups. Bellingcat opined that ‘probably ‘ the majority of Azov members now (as of 2019) were not Nazis or Nazi sympathizers.
Bellingcat, a site which monitors the Ukraine war very closely with Daily reports, does not mention anything about Rykovsky.
Bellingcat has reported extensively in the past on violence and atrocities committed by extreme rightwing groups in Ukraine, including the “Tradition and Order” group which is alleged to have kidnapped and tortured Rykovsky. I believe they would report this alleged crime if it has actually occurred.
It does have an article about “Russian disinformation,” which claims that the Russian media services have been publishing many fake photos of Ukrainian forces committing atrocities in Miriuopol. Some of the photos are photoshopped. Others were taken at other times and places and falsely labelled as having been photographed during the recent fighting in Miirupol. Some actually show Russian forces committing atrocities in Mariupol and falsely describes them as Ukrainian forces.
“There’s none so blind as those who will not see”
–Eng;ish proverb.
From AP via Yahoo News
I read yesterday that the battle around Mariupol had Russian forces moving into the city, going street by street, clearing it. Following this I read from Felix and Reader that Zelensky had outlawed the opposition and his excuse was Marshal Law. Later, Sundance reported the media had been unified with only one voice. The rapid escalation of events is very telling. The loss of the reported 60K forces at Mariupol will greatly diminish the Ukrainian nationals in their efforts, and it includes the Azov and Aidar battalions among others who were cherished as their most successful fighting force, apart from their atrocities that have been documented by BBC over the years. Once Mariupol falls, things will be very different for the Ukrianian nationals and this escalation seems to support this view is not unknown to them.
Mariupol is very important to Russia. It used to be part of the two provinces that broke away in 2014 but was lost to the Nazis. The recovery of this city would give the two provinces access to the sea and would give
Russia a land bridge to Crimean.
From what I gather , the Nazis know they are going to lose the city and so are themselves bombing it and killing the residents. Then they blame Russia. The Nazis are preventing people from exiting the city and essentially holding them as hostages.