Azov Regiment troops pose with captured Russian vehicle in Kharkiv region; source: Azov Kharkiv Telegram channel
US media and politicians are celebrating the Ukrainian offensive in the region north of Kharkiv. What they fail to mention is the fact the Ukrainian assault is being spearheaded by the neo-Nazi Asov Regiment.
“Soldiers of the Azov Kharkiv Special Operations Forces (SOF) and the 14th Mechanised Brigade named after Prince Roman the Great liberated and cleared the entire northeast of Kharkiv Oblast, from the village of Vesele to the city of Vovchansk”, Ukrainska Pravda reports, citing the Telegram Channel of the Azov Kharkiv SOF: “Complete de-occupation of areas of Ternova, Varvarivka, Izbytske, Staritsa . The state border has been taken under control.”
Russian online news site Lenta reports that mercenaries from Academi (formerly Eric Prince’s Blackwater) are also involved in the Kharkiv offensive, citing Russian state-owned VGTRK television journalist Andrey Medvedev. “There is information that PMC (Private Military Company) Academi is actively involved in the operation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the former Blackwater,” Medvedev said.
Independent sources have confirmed the claims. Gateway Pundit has reached out to Academi owner Constellis Group for comment.
Medvedev noted the PMC operators could include not only Americans, but also citizens of other countries, including former military and police officers from South America as well as Ukrainians, citizens of the republics of the former USSR and Eastern Europeans, Lenta writes.
The Azov Regiment was long decried in western media as a neo-Nazi militia, until the Russian invasion of Ukraine, when they were suddenly white-washed as just another part of the Ukrainian military. Congress banned US arms aid to the Azov Regiment in 2018.
A 2016 report by the Foundation for the Study of Democracy for the OSCE accused the Azov Regiment of systematically torturing prisoners.
A report by Amnesty International August 2022 accused Ukrainian forces of “putting civilians at risk and violating the laws of war.” Amnesty also accused Russian forces of committing war crimes in the area of Kharkiv.