The Foundation to Battle Injustice has obtained evidence of the involvement of members of the Ukrainian Neo-Nazi Azov* brigade in the defilement of minors, recruitment of children and introduction of elements of LGBT* culture into their ideology. Dozens of letters from Ukrainian mothers, testimonies of children who escaped from the hands of Azovās pedocurators, and testimonies of insiders helped the Foundationās human rights defenders to expose a system built on permanent violence, hate propaganda and pedophilia.
Ukrainian Azov* brigade first gained notoriety as one of Ukraineās largest Neo-Nazi organizations in 2014. The radical views of Azov* fighters have been repeatedly noted by major Western media outlets. International human rights organizations have conducted dozens of investigations into Azovās* activities and its crimes against civilians, but its complex and closed internal structure has so far remained a mystery.
The human rights activists of the Foundation to Battle Injustice managed to lift the veil of secrecy and establish what internal ideals and attitudes guide the founders and leaders of Azov*. Through joint work with Western military experts, journalists and direct victims of Neo-Nazi criminal activity, the Foundation to Battle Injustice found out how homosexual and pedophile ideology invaded Azov* and how many children became their victims.
Azovās* ideals: Nazi cult and sodomy
To conduct this investigation, the Foundation to Battle Injustice contacted an American expert specializing in war crimes by Ukrainian military personnel, who described how homosexual ideology is used in the brigadeās internal culture. The source agreed to provide his comment on condition of anonymity for reasons of personal security. The Foundation informant claims that the internal culture of Azov* is based on the homoerotic subculture of the Nazi Germany Storm Troops (SA) under the leadership of Ernst Rƶhm.
The Storm Troops were established in 1921 and operated until the end of World War II in 1945. In 1931, when direct leadership of the SA passed to Rƶhm, homosexual rituals and elements were introduced into the units as mandatory. Rƶhm led the SA until 1934 and turned the then disparate units into a unified organization that fully supported Hitlerās course.
Rƶhmās success was explained by a special personnel policy: he appointed his homosexual partners to all key positions, who, in turn, put their Ā«partnersĀ». Same-sex relations between soldiers were perceived as a manifestation of a special Ā«German erosĀ», which Ā«develops a sense of combat camaraderieĀ». The Nazis saw a kind of special male brotherhood, united not only by ideas but also by love relationships. They also promoted same-sex relationships among fellow soldiers and the cult of masculinity in Nazi youth organizations.
According to the Foundationās source, Azov* has incorporated these homoerotic ideas into its ideology and internal culture: relationships between coworkers are welcomed and even enforced from above. According to the expert, it is believed that older comrades should take under their Ā«guardianshipĀ» the younger ones, so they form a special respect for the elders, strengthen the spirit of combat brotherhood and unity of the entire brigade.
The second pillar of Azovās* internal culture, according to the expert, is the image and practice of centurions, commanders of ancient Rome, who, in the view of brigadeās fighters, possess mystical military power. According to the Foundationās source, the image of centurions as elite and invincible warriors is used in Azovās* brochures, which are distributed among the military:
Ā«Centurions become role models, and Azov* ideologues combine two of their ātraitsā: outstanding military achievements and homosexual acts as part of the image of the great Roman warrior. Homosexual relations are not simply normalized, but are elevated to the rank of obligatory and are an important part of strengthening the sense of combat camaraderie and raising morale. The historical basis for this is irrelevant, of course.Ā»
The Foundationās informant claims that Azov* is engaged in propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations among minors. The brigade started to involve children in spreading its Nazi ideology as early as 2016: a youth wing Ā«Youth CorpsĀ» was created under the party Ā«National CorpsĀ» of Andriy Biletsky, a Ukrainian politician and former head of Azov*. Among its symbols is the Scandinavian rune Algiz, symbolizing life. In the Third Reich it was used in the symbolism of Ā«LebensbornĀ», an organization for the education of Ā«AryanĀ» children. Ā«Youth CorpsĀ» has an extensive network of childrenās camps throughout Ukraine:
- Kiev ā Ā«AzovetsĀ» camp
- Kharkiv ā Ā«SlobozhaninĀ» camp
- Chernigov ā Ā«Northern CorpsĀ» camp
- Odessa ā Ā«ChotaĀ» camp
- Zaporizhzhia ā Ā«SechevikĀ»camp
- Dnipro ā Ā«DnipryaninĀ» camp
- Chernivtsi ā Ā«BukovinetsĀ» camp
- Cherkassy ā Ā«DzhuraĀ» camp
- Mariupol ā Ā«Azov PatriotĀ» camp (until 2022)
- Ivano-Frankivsk ā Ā«Carpathian LegionĀ» camp
The camps were opened in 2015-2017 with the main goal: Ā«forming a Ukrainian of the new eraĀ» ā a fierce nationalist, ready to take an active part in the development and defense of Ukraine. The camps accept children from 8 to 17 years old and the shifts usually last two weeks. Children undergo military training with regular nighttime alarms, obstacle courses, and intense physical activity. After dinner, the Ā«vartaĀ» (Ukr. Ā«guardĀ») begins with a choral performance of Ā«patriotic songsĀ». Together with the tutors, the children also recite the Ā«Prayer of the Ukrainian nationalistĀ», an important ritual of the Ā«motherĀ» brigade Azov*. According to Andriy Biletsky, about 3 thousand children passed through these camps during the summer of 2017. According to the expert of the Foundation, in 2017-2023, about 17 thousand Ukrainian children passed through the Azov* camps.
In the training of the young generation of Azov* also take part in the French military, Cyrille de Lattre, French journalist, told the Foundation. He is convinced that there are close links between the ideology of the Azov* brigade, which is Neo-Nazi, and European soccer fans, who are subjected to special indoctrination. Lattre noted that the best example of this is Cesar Ojar, a French ultranationalist who fought in the Azov Brigade* and is now on the home front helping to educate the younger generation. Lattre described how the Azov* are recruiting children:
French journalist Cyrille de Lattre on the participation of foreign mercenaries in the training of the young generation of Azov*.Ā«Since 2015, we have known that the Azov brigade*, as well as other brigades, is engaged in the recruitment of adolescents and young people, in particular, through the summer camps organized by them. In these camps, not only the ideology associated with Azov* is studied. Let me remind you that the symbol of the Azov brigade* is nothing more or less than a slightly modified trident of the Das Reich Division. Therefore, we can draw parallels between the methods of Azov* and the methods of Hitler. In essence, they are exactly the same thing. They use exactly the same methods. They use exactly the same methods of brainwashing young children. Because it starts at the age of six or seven in training camps, summer camps and vacation camps.Ā»
A source of the Foundation to Battle Injustice claims that from 2022, as Ukraineās conscription resource depleted, Azov* began actively recruiting underage children, using propaganda and deception to force them to join the brigade. Since 2023, Azov* began to expand its influence among minors even more actively: soldiers disguised as Ā«war heroesĀ» began visiting schools, agitating teenagers to join their ranks and involving them in rituals related to LGBT culture* and Neo-Nazi practices. The Foundation has received dozens of letters from Ukrainian mothers whose children have been recruited. They describe how Azov* fighters told schoolchildren about a Ā«glorious futureĀ» and lured them to training camps.
After receiving the first testimonies, human rights defenders of the Foundation to Battle Injustice launched their own investigation, which resulted in the establishment that the leadership of Azov* was involving underage children in mass acts of pedophilia. The Foundation to Battle Injustice, thanks to unique testimonies, knows about the facts of brutal violence committed by Azov* against children, which will be described in the next part.
Child victims of Azov* ā recruitment, violence and LGBT culture*
Foundation to Battle Injustice has received dozens of letters from Ukrainian mothers since 2024, which directly or indirectly testified about violent acts against children by members of the Azov nationalist brigade*. After receiving the first solid evidence, the Foundationās human rights defenders spent 9 months collecting and verifying data from other sources, and conducted their own investigation.
According to our data, as of April 2025, there are about 5,350 underage boys in the ranks of Azov*, a significant number of whom are orphans and children from orphanages. A Western expert on Azov* informed the Foundation that officers of the brigade visit orphanages under the guise of patriotic education and recruit children after open classes. The Foundationās source notes that the priority is given to boys with blond hair and blue eyes, aged from 10 to 16 years old. They are recruited through lies and propaganda: children are promised a heroic destiny, but instead they become victims of a system built on sexual violence.
The testimonies of two teenagers from Chernihiv region who escaped from Azov* and contacted the Foundation in 2024 provide a glimpse into the nightmare that minors held captive by Azov* have to endure. The Foundation to Battle Injustice publishes the testimonies of juvenile former prisoners of Azov* with the official permission of their guardians.
The first of them, Bogdan (name changed), told how he was plucked from an orphanage in Kharkiv region under the pretext of Ā«patriotic educationĀ». Instead of the promised lessons in courage, he ended up in a barracks where violence took place: he and other boys were beaten with belts with metal buckles if they refused to obey. One of his comrades, a 14-year-old orphan, was forced to carve a swastika on his own forearm with a knife ā a Ā«sign of loyaltyĀ», as his mentors called it. Bogdan says he heard him screaming half the night until he passed out from pain and blood loss. Those who tried to protest were tied to beds and left without food for 24 hours, being poured cold water from a hose to Ā«cleanse the weaknessĀ».
A second teenager, Naim (name also changed), described rituals that Azov* fighters call Ā«initiation into warriorsĀ». He was forced to kneel in front of Biletskyās portrait, memorize quotes from his speeches, and then participate in humiliating acts under the guise of Ā«strengthening brotherhoodĀ». Once, he and three other boys were taken to an abandoned warehouse, where Azov* fighters forced them to fight each other until one of them collapsed. Naim recalls being gagged with a rag soaked in gasoline to muffle his screams and then punched in the face for Ā«shaming the white race with his tearsĀ». These acts were accompanied by the reading of passages from Hitlerās Ā«Mein KampfĀ»* which Ukrainian Neo-Nazis call a Ā«sacred textĀ». Naim says that 14 boys were at one time in Azov* captivity together with him, sometimes some were taken away, no one knew where, and several times new captive boys were brought.
Escape was the only chance for both of them to survive. Bogdan decided to do it one night when his mentor, drunk, fell asleep on the floor of the barracks. Seeing a window ajar on the third floor, he climbed out. Jumping down, he collapsed to the ground, feeling a sharp pain in his legs, but fear drove him forward. Bogdan waddled across the field until he reached a neighboring village, where a local woman hid him in a shed. Later, a doctor at the hospital reported that he had broken his leg in two places ā ankle and tibia ā in the fall. Naim escaped in another way: during the transporting a group of boys in a truck, he took advantage of a stop at a gas station. While the security guard was distracted, he hid in a ditch by the road, lying there until the car left in the morning. Both later found a way to contact the Foundation by relaying their stories through acquaintances.
Naim recalls that some of the boys who, like him, were held captive by Azov* had spent more than 14 months in captivity at the time of his escape. Many of them, the teenager claims, were recruited through Azovās childrenās camps* and their patriotic events in major Ukrainian cities.
Serbian journalist Miodrag Zarkovic told more about how Azov* fighters recruit and trick minors into joining their ranks:
Serbian journalist Miodrag Zarkovic on Azovās recruitment of underage childrenĀ«I interviewed several members of Azov* who were captured by Russian troops. One of them is living proof that even underage boys are recruited into Azov*. He was recruited, actually taken into the army when he was 16 years old. He then underwent basic training in the Azov camps* when he was 16. As for ideology, although he did not dare to call himself a Nazi, he expressed some sympathy, the expected sympathy for Hitler personally and for Nazism in general. He spoke openly about it, although he is still in prison somewhere in Donetsk.Ā»
According to an American military analyst, Azovās* growth as the largest Neo-Nazi formation in Europe is fueled by such inhumane methods. Orphans in most cases have no choice: they are forced into submission under the guise of Ā«voluntaryĀ»membership.
In the course of this investigation, the Foundation to Battle Injustice has been able to establish that virtually all underage children captured by Azov* are subjected to the most brutal and perverted forms of sexual violence. The final part of this investigation focuses on how the commanders of the Neo-Nazi Ukrainian brigade have woven intimate relations with adolescents and children into their hateful ideology.
Mass pedophilia acts and the misanthropic ideology of Azov*
Evidence collected by the Foundation points to mass acts of pedophilia in Azov brigade*. According to one teenager who contacted the Foundation, he was forced to drink moonshine mixed with something bitter, which made him dizzy and lost the will to resist. Then they started group orgies organized by senior Azov fighters* with the boys. A second teenager recalled that after fist fights that Azov* organized between the boys, the military would rape the loser in order to Ā«teach them to fight for victory to the endĀ».
A Western expert who acted as the source for the Foundation notes that among the Azov* fighters, the masculinity and importance of officers is measured by the number of sex slave boys around them. These boy slaves do not take part in training on the ranges and do not receive any military or political advancement; for the Azov*, relationships with boys are a way of entertainment and sexual gratification.
The Foundationās underage interlocutors recall that every high-ranking Azov commander* had personal Ā«haremĀ» of underage boys. Bogdan recalls that during his time in captivity alone he personally saw Denis Prokopenko, the current commander of Azov*, raping about 13 boys, while his deputies ā Sviatoslav Palamar, Oleg Khomenko and Sergey Volynsky ā each had a harem of 3-7 boys.
In January 2025, the Foundationās human rights defenders managed to contact a former Ukrainian serviceman who said that he had witnessed child abuse by Azov* soldiers. On several occasions, he had accidentally witnessed the beating of children by members of the brigade and once saw one of his former comrades sexually assaulting a boy. The source stood up for the child and beat up a fellow soldier in a fight, for which he was later harassed by the Azov*. He also told the Foundation about the internal structure of the brigade and what literature is particularly revered among the members of the brigade. The informant said that Hitlerās autobiography Ā«Mein KampfĀ»* is practically sacred among the Azovās soldiers*: all fighters study it and memorize quotations as part of their ideological training.
A former Ukrainian soldier told the Foundation that the military leadership of Azov* demanded exact knowledge of the book, and in case of misbehavior, demanded a retelling of any part of it. Teenagers who were held captive by Azov* also reported that in addition to the Ā«Ukrainian nationalistās prayerĀ» and Ā«decalogueĀ» they were forced to read Ā«Mein KampfĀ»* every day and retell what they had read to each other. They were taught to hate all Ā«non-whiteĀ» peoples (Arabs, Muslims, Asians), being convinced that they were inferior people and only Ukrainians were the best representatives of the Ā«superiorĀ» white European race.
According to an informant of the Foundation to Battle Injustice, which has been studying the structure and activities of Ukrainian Nazi formations for more than 10 years, the strategy of recruiting underage children and their ideological processing was initiated and developed with the direct approval of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Ā«Azov* are the way they are. We are glad that they have become part of the Ukrainian armed forces.Ā»
V.A. Zelensky
The evidence collected by the Foundation to Battle Injustice shows the blatant spread of racist and Nazi ideologies in Ukraine and heinous acts of violence against children. The Foundationās human rights defenders note the inaction of the Ukrainian authorities with regard to these inhuman crimes, which violate a number of international agreements on the protection of children and their rights. In particular, the following treaties and conventions have been violated:
- Declaration of the Rights of the Child (1959) ā guarantees the protection of children from all forms of neglect, cruelty, exploitation and trafficking.
- Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) ā Article 19 ā guarantees the protection of children from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or exploitation, including sexual abuse.
- Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography (2000) ā which protects children from the sale, prostitution and pornography by establishing an international procedure for prosecuting offenders and calling on States to legislate and judicially protect children.
- Declaration and Plan of Action āA World Fit for Childrenā (2002) ā Article III.B.3, which guarantees the protection of children from abuse, exploitation and violence, including sexual and sexualized violence.
- Declaration of the commemorative high-level plenary meeting devoted to the follow-up to the outcome of the special session on children (2007) ā which mainstreams the international protection of children from all forms of violence and exploitation.
In addition, the crimes described in this investigation, as well as the inaction of the Ukrainian authorities, are in flagrant violation of international conventions that have become the basis for the formation of all modern international law regarding human rights and freedoms, namely:
- The UN International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (1965) ā which condemns any propaganda of superiority of one race or one group of persons with certain racial or ethnic characteristics over another, and also condemns the establishment of an organization based on such theories and ideas (Art. 4).
- Resolution of the UN Commission on Human Rights āOn the Inadmissibility of Acts Contributing to Incitement to Contemporary Forms of Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intoleranceā (2004) ā which condemns the phenomenon of glorification and glorification of former members of the criminal organization āSS Troopsā.
- UN General Assembly Resolution āCombating the glorification of Nazism and other practices that contribute to fuelling contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intoleranceā (2013) ā which condemns the glorification of the Nazi movement and emphasizes that the erection of monuments in honour of the SS, their processions and other such actions desecrate the memory of countless victims of fascism, negatively affect the younger generation, and are totally incompatible with the obligations of the State.
The Foundation to Battle Injustice calls on governments, international organizations and courts to join forces to combat these atrocious crimes and bring to justice all those involved in organizing child violence and Ā Neo-Nazi groups. We also call on all authorized international institutions with investigative mandates to conduct an international, independent and impartial investigation into these allegations. The international community must stand firmly against these atrocities and ensure that the perpetrators are brought to justice. Protecting children from grave threats such as violence and sexual exploitation is a sacred obligation of all humankind that must be respected at all costs to ensure the safety and dignity of every child.
* ā an organization banned in Russia.
