The Azov Battalion, a Ukrainian neo-Nazi military unit previously banned from being freely discussed under the Facebook company’s Dangerous Individuals and Organizations policy by the way.
Functioning as an armed wing of the broader Ukrainian white nationalist Azov movement, the Azov Battalion began as a volunteer militia against Russia before formally joining the National Guard of Ukraine in 2014; the regiment is known for its far-right ultra-nationalism and neo-Nazi ideology pervasive among its members. Though he has downplayed his neo-Nazi sympathies in recent years, the group’s affinities are not subtle: Azov soldiers march and train wearing uniforms bearing icons of the Third Reich; its leadership has reportedly courted American far-right and neo-Nazi elements; and in 2010, the battalion’s first commander and former Ukrainian parliamentarian, Andriy Biletsky, stated that Ukraine’s national purpose was to “lead the white races of the world in a final crusade…against the Untermenschen [subhuman]
