War in Ukraine LIVE: The Russian army says it will now focus on the east of the country… – 20 Minutes

3:33 p.m .: What is the Azov regiment constantly pointed out by Moscow? Neo-Nazi militia for some, Ukrainian heroes for others: the Azov regiment, entrenched in besieged Mariupol, is at the heart of a propaganda war between kyiv and Russia, one of whose declared war aims is the “denazification” of Ukraine. Since its creation in 2014, at the start of the war against pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, the battalion, since integrated into the National Guard – which reports to the Ukrainian Ministry of the Interior – has fueled all fantasies. by far-right activists, including Andriï Belitsky, from the paramilitary organization Patriots of Ukraine, he initially recruited volunteers and wore emblems, such as the “Wolfsangel” (wolf hook), reminiscent of those of the division SS Das Reich. “In 2014, this battalion actually had a far-right background. But the regiment was then “de-ideologized”, it became a regular unit (…) Those who join it do not go there out of ideology but because it has the reputation of being a particularly combative unit tenacious,” says Andreas Umland, an expert at the Stockholm Center for Eastern European Studies.