The Biden administration has lifted a ban on arms shipments to the Ukrainian military unit known as the Azov Brigade, a former militia with ties to far-right hate groups. The State Department said Tuesday a thorough review turned up no evidence the brigade’s members have committed human rights abuses. The Azov Brigade was founded in 2014 by a self-avowed neo-Nazi and white supremacist. Meanwhile, delegates from 90 nations are set to gather in Switzerland this weekend for a Ukraine peace summit, though Russia and key nations, including China, will not be participating. Swiss President Viola Amherd on Monday outlined the summit’s goals.
President Viola Amherd: “We want to discuss ways for a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine based on international law and the U.N. Charter. We want to develop a common understanding for a possible framework to reach this goal. And we want to decide on a schedule together how both parties can be tied into a future peace process.”
Whenever I comment on the relationship between that brigade and neo-fascism, someone points out that I am repeating Putin’s rhetoric, so I wonder why there are those who are so interested in dispersing attention from a neo-fascist alliance.
Because the political leanings of a combat unit has zero bearing on anything. They are not in charge. They are not being allied with. They have aligned interests in fighting a greater evil.
So any attempts to pretend it matters does clearly, nakedly, come from a place of wanting to push back against supporting Ukraine’s defense.
To be fair in this particular point it does matter. US military aid is conditioned on a human rights basis unit by unit.
That said, Ukraine basically broke this unit down and rebuilt it to get rid of the extremists several years ago.
There is no doubt about this relationship, but highlighting it by zooming into it and ignoring the broader context is effectively doing what putin is doing