The Azov unit plans to form an international battalion to boost its numbers, its commander has revealed
Ukraine’s notorious neo-Nazi Azov unit is seeking English-speaking fighters to form an international battalion, which would supposedly help with soldier shortages at the front, The Guardian reported on Friday, citing a commander known by the call sign Karl.
Despite the general mobilization, lowering the conscription age, and toughened penalties for draft evasion, Kiev’s army has been facing personnel challenges amid heavy losses due to Russia’s advances on the front line.
“We are fighting to not let Russia become closer to Europe,” Karl told the news outlet, arguing that if Ukraine falls, Moscow would go on to threaten other European countries – which the Kremlin has dismissed as ridiculous.
Karl noted that “Ukraine is smaller than Russia” and therefore needs the help of outside forces to be able to fight the Russian army. According to the commander, foreigners seeking to join Azov must complete a recruitment process, including interviews in Kiev, which involve psychological assessments and a polygraph test to ensure they are not working undercover for Moscow. Initial training is to last two to three months, after which those willing to remain are expected to join infantry assault units. He added that Azov largely hopes to recruit people with prior military experience.
Established as a volunteer unit in 2014 and incorporated into Ukraine’s National Guard a year later, Azov has faced accusations of committing war crimes and was formally designated a terrorist organization by Russia in 2022. While the original Azov Battalion was eliminated in the 2022 Battle of Mariupol, its co-founder, prominent Ukrainian nationalist and white supremacist Andrey Biletsky, raised the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade under the Azov banner in 2023.
In June last year, the US lifted a previously placed ban on military assistance to Azov, stating it found no evidence linking the brigade to human rights abuses. Russia, which considers Ukraine’s ‘denazification’ one of the goals of its military operation against the Kiev regime, criticized the decision, with Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov saying at the time it represented “Washington’s blatant support for radical nationalist elements in Ukraine.”
Since the escalation in February 2022, Moscow has stated that foreign “mercenaries,” who Kiev describes as volunteers, have been aiding Ukraine’s army, therefore making their countries of origin part of the conflict. In September last year, the Russian Investigative Committee reported that it concluded investigations against 785 foreign mercenaries involved. Moscow has warned that foreign nationals fighting for Kiev are legitimate military targets on the battlefield.
Ukraine has struggled to mobilize sufficient forces to hold the front while coping with mass desertions. According to a recent report, 1,700 members of a brigade trained in France fled without firing a shot. The country’s military also revealed earlier this week that roughly half a million Ukrainian men are suspected of evading service.
