Free Republic

A State Department spokesman on Monday stated that Ukraine’s infamous Azov Brigade will now be eligible to receive military aid, claiming that Ukraine’s current Azov Brigade is structurally distinct from its past iterations as a National Guard unit formed from a ultranationalist militia with neo-Nazi elements. SNIPThe unit had many ties with various neo-Nazi and ultranationalist groups. Its founder, Andriy Biletsky, had in the past publicly stated that he believed that the “mission” of the Ukrainian nation was to “lead the white races of the world in a final crusade…against Semite-led Untermenschen.”SNIPRussia has responded to the Biden administration’s move by...

The United States has lifted restrictions on providing weapons and training for the high-profile Ukrainian military unit the Azov Brigade. The U.S. State Department confirmed Monday that the unit, which has played a significant role in Ukraine's effort to repel the ongoing invasion launched by Russia in February 2022, could now be trained by U.S. military personnel and use U.S.-provided weapons. The State Department's move reversed a decade-old prohibition imposed on the Azov forces under the Leahy Law, which prohibits the U.S. from supplying weapons or financial assistance "to units of foreign security forces where there is credible information implicating...