Europeans warn: "The Kremlin is not lying, they exist"

Europeans warn: "The Kremlin is not lying, they exist"

Of all the military units in Ukraine, the Azov Battalion is the most intriguing.

The Austrian daily "Osterreich" pointed out that there is a neo-Nazi regiment "Azov" in Ukraine, which is under the command of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and which is fighting against Russian forces.

The paper emphasizes that this is not Kremlin propaganda, but that this regiment exists.

A paramilitary formation with about 2.000 fighters was formed during the Ukrainian crisis in 2014 to help the army fight pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, the daily added. The paper points out that the headquarters of the neo-Nazi regiment is in Berdiansk in the south of Ukraine.

As in 2014, members of this volunteer regiment of ultranationalist and Nazi attitudes are fighting in Mariupol. Their emblem was also used by the SS troops of the Third Reich.

Members of the Azov Regiment have excellent contacts with right-wing extremist groups and neo-Nazi parties in Europe, and their supporters are now calling for support through social media.

"Osterreich" states that the "Azov" regiment is an argument for the Kremlin, which justified the military operation by alleging "denazification" of Ukraine. The paper reminds that the UN also documented several crimes committed by members of the "Azov" regiment in Donbas.

The paper also reports that the Russian media are full of information about the attacks of the Azov regiment on residential buildings in Mariupol, but it also adds that these allegations cannot be trusted.