• GOP = Gang Of Putin •
Russian and Nazi forces celebrating the dismemberment of Poland in 1939.
They held a parade together.
• GOP = Gang Of Putin •
House Democrats Just Demanded These Neo-Nazi Groups Be Prosecuted as International Terrorists - VICE
Avakov dismisses criticisms of Azov battalion | KyivPost - Ukraine's Global Voice
Funny, it sure doesn’t sound like they disbanded.
The exact opposite, in fact.
Only superficially. In 2014 when Russia invaded Crimea and eastern Ukraine, the Ukraine military was in a terrible state and could muster only ~6,000 soldiers with any training. It was decided to have this force (ragged as it was) protect Kyiv. Russia had positioned ~75,000 troops on Ukraine's eastern border and controlled the border. The Russian invasion was an existential threat to Ukraine (recall the Russian plans for a Novorossiya). Into this vacuum went two volunteer battalions (Donbass and Azov) of primarily Russian speakers from eastern Ukraine who did not want to see the country partitioned by Moscow. Another volunteer battalion from western Ukraine (Red Sektor) was composed of mostly far-right Ukraine nationalists. These three volunteer battalions suffered heavy casualties (up to 1,000 at Illovaisk alone) but stemmed the Kremlin invasion and designs on partitioning Ukraine at the Dneiper River (approx. 50% of Ukraine). The Azov recaptured the major city of Mariupol (450,000) from Russian forces and Donbass recaptured Slavyansk, Kramatorsk, etc.
Two separate reports from the OSCE (official eastern Ukraine monitor) identified a handful of unverified accusations of torture by the Azov Battalion between 2014-2015. In 2016 the Donbass and Azov battalions were rolled into the Ukraine National Guard. Other volunteer battalions that were incorporated into the UA included the Aidar and the Dnipro battalions. All Red Sektor forces were excluded and play no role today in the defense of Ukraine. In 2016 Ukraine also introduced military conscription. It was decided then to leave the seasoned Donbass, Azov, Aidar, and Dnipro regiments and battalions face the Russians in the east, as new conscript regiments and battalions were trained by NATO instructors (US/Canada/Britain/Lithuania/Latvia/Poland) at the Yavovriv Combat Training Center at Yavovriv, western Ukraine. In 2019 the Ukraine armed forces total 255,000 active with 1,000,000 in reserve. There are also ~15,000 contract soldiers. 65,000 UA troops are assigned to the eastern Ukraine ATO which includes the battalions mentioned above and additional mechanized battalions and naval forces.
Almost constantly, government officials from the US and the EU (block/nations) visit Ukraine and tour the ATO. The same is true of western military brass and NATO instructors. Currently, elements of the 101st Airborne Division are in Ukraine on a Yavovriv CTC rotation. Elements of the US and British militaries visit the ATO to learn firsthand Russian land war doctrine and tactics. None of this would be transpiring if Nazis were running around. Nazis in Ukraine is a common theme of Kremlin disinformation. Yet the data from Ukraine elections from 2014-2019 show that far-right candidates garner <2% of the nationwide vote and not enough for party representation in the Verkhovna Rada (Parliament). There are currently no far-right MPs sitting in Ukraine's parliament. Contrast this with the 40 Deputies of the Liberal Democratic Party of Vladimir Zhirinovsky in the Russian State Duma. The LDPR is far-right and ultra-nationalist.
• GOP = Gang Of Putin •