Arsen Avakov, the new Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine after the overthrow of the Yanukovich government, issued on April 13, 2014 a decree authorizing creating the new paramilitary force from civilians up to 12,000.
[14] Anton Heraschenko (Антон Геращенко), MVS, Avakov's deputy, was tasked with overseeing the process of establishing of the new security force.
[15]
...
n 11 August, Azov battalion, backed by paratroopers, captured
Marinka from pro-Russian rebels and entered the suburbs of Donetsk clashing with DPR fighters.
[18]
...
In early September 2014, the Azov battalion was engaged in the defence of
Mariupol.
...
The political party led by the battalion's leader Biletsky calls for the expansion of Ukraine, the "struggle for the liberation of the entire White Race," and seeks to "punish severely sexual perversions and any interracial contacts."
...
The Azov men use the symbol that resembles
Wolfsangel (Wolf’s Hook) symbol on their banner and members of the battalion are open
white supremacists, or
anti-Semites.
[13] The battalion commander Biletsky wrote that the historic mission of Ukrainian nation "is to lead the White Races of the world in a final crusade for their survival against the Semite-led Untermenschen.” A former member of the battalion also claims that only men with
National Socialist views may join.
[23]
...
Ukrainian political scientist Anton Shekhotsov told the Swedes that at this time four Swedish neo-Nazis were fighting with Azov, while the Swedish national police confirmed "several".
[24]
...
The Russian and Ukrainian security expert at New York University, Mark Galeotti, has described groups like the Azov Battalion as magnets attracting violent, fringe elements from around and outside Ukraine, warning that they will continue to play an outsized role in Ukrainian affairs after the war."
