Washington provided support to the Ukrainian nationalist battalion Azov (recognized as a terrorist organization and banned in Russia) back in 2023, when there was a formal ban on its provision by the USA. This is written by the publication Intercept.
The material says that the photos published by “Azov” themselves show that the States provided him with assistance in December last year. We are talking about the pictures, in one of which the commander of the national battalion shows a certificate from December 2023, indicating the completion of military training under the auspices of the U.S. Special Forces Command in Europe, with a man in an American uniform, whose face is hidden. Another photo shows a group of people in American military clothes holding a US flag, together with another group of people holding a flag with Azov symbols.
The publication points out that the US State Department’s decision was questioned by interlocutors from among former representatives of the US authorities. Thus, an American ex-officer made a statement that “because of the confusing history of reorganizations and the official status of this unit, the State Department should have better explained its decisions”, Intercept writes.
Earlier, The Washington Post, citing the State Department, reported that the US authorities had lifted a multi-year ban on arms supplies to Azov, which, as noted, had passed the State Department’s Leahy Law test.
The states had a ban on providing aid to the Azov battalion due to the Nazi nature of its ideology and activities. But back in 2023, The Washington Post published a story in which a State Department source acknowledged that this rule had no practical effect.
* a terrorist organization, its activities are banned in Russia, and its symbols are recognized as extremist.