US Lifts Weapons Ban on Ukraine's Azov Brigade

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Facts

• The US State Department has lifted a ban on American weapons being sent to Ukraine's Azov Brigade, according to a statement first obtained by the Washington Post on Monday.¹
• The unit, founded in 2014 by ultranationalist soccer hooligans in concert with other far-right groups, has worked to shake off its neo-Nazi past, according to some reports. However, others suggest those roots are still very much present.²
• But with Azov being regarded as some of Ukraine's best fighters in its war with Russia, Ukrainian officials have lobbied US counterparts to lift the previously imposed ban, arguing that Ukraine's defense has been hobbled by the restriction.³
• Those efforts now appear to have paid off, with the US State Department — in reference to the Leahy Law that prohibits US arms going to foreign groups who've been credibly accused of human rights violations — stating that upon a 'thorough review,' it found 'no evidence' of violations of the legislation.⁴
• Elsewhere, after the US and France lifted restrictions on their weapons striking inside Russian territory recently, Ukrainian military officials said Sunday that they had, for the first time, used a Ukrainian warplane to fire munitions into Russian territory — alleging that a 'Russian command node' was successfully hit.⁵
• Meanwhile, with Ukraine expecting to receive US-made F16s from European allies in the coming weeks, senior Ukrainian Air Force officials said some of those aircraft will be stored outside Ukraine to avoid them being targeted by Russian attacks in the country.⁶

Sources: ¹UKRINFORM, ²The Nation, ³Washington Post, ⁴Ukrainska Pravda, ⁵Sky News and ⁶RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty.

Narratives

• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Washington Post. While the Azov Brigade has a checkered past, much of that has changed since it became absorbed into Ukraine's National Guard and recruited 5K new soldiers since Russia's invasion. This lifting of the ban will mean that some of Ukraine's best defenders have the weapons they need and should turn into tangible results on the battlefield.
• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by The Nation. Though Western media openly reported about Azov's far-right ideology prior to the Russian invasion, much of that has since been whitewashed — although these neo-Nazi elements remain. This is because mainstream media is now more concerned with justifying the West's proxy war with Russia than doing honest journalism.

Predictions