In the last 24 hours, many Ukrainian soldiers surrendered to Russia forces who were continuing their resistance from Mariupol at Azavstol Steel plant. After this surrender Kremlin is planning to take full control of the city.
Russian Defence Ministry Spokesperson said that In the past 24 hours, 771 fighters of the Azov nationalist battalion holed up in the Azovstal steel works surrendered. Overall, 1,730 fighters, including 80 wounded servicemen, have surrendered since May 16 and, on the other side Ukraine said 264 soldiers, including 53 wounded, had left.
The Ukraine and the west are now concerned about the future of their surrendered soldiers. Russian officials are confusing the world and there are various stand points for the treatment of prisoners of war.
The Kremlin said Putin had personally guaranteed the prisoners would be treated according to international standards. Whereas, speaker of the State Duma (Russia’s lower house), Vyacheslav Volodin said that “Nazi criminals should not be exchanged.” And one more Russian lawmaker said that [they are] animals in human form, they should be executed.
However, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said Kyiv aimed to arrange a prisoner exchange for the wounded once their condition stabilizes.
Noteworthy is that Russia’s justification of the war was that it wanted to “denazification” and to protect the Russian speakers from the neo-Nazis. Russia calls neo-Nazis to these Azov unit of Ukraine armed forces who had been defended the Mariupol.
Who are the Azov fighters
Ukraine’s Azov regiment was a voluntary organization in its early days which was formed to fight against Russia backed separatist forces in eastern Ukraine or Donbas region. It was recognized when Russia annexed Crimea and Pro-Russian militia were fighting in the Donetsk and Luhansk region. The Azov regiment derived its name from Sea of Azov where Mariupol is located.
Mariupol is a permanent base of the regiment. It was founded by the Andriy Biletskiy, who is now a lawmaker in Ukrainian parliament. In 2014, it was included in Ukraine National Guard, which is commanded by the Interior Ministry of Ukraine.
Connection with Neo-Nazism
The Azov Regiment is in Centre of criticism for their insignia which is resemble to Nazi‘s hukenkretz. Its a black “wolfsangel,” or a wolf’s hook, a mark that was used by some Nazi units. The Azov say the logo represents the letters N and I of “national idea” and it is not a neo-Nazi symbol.
Critics say that the founder of the voluntary organization, Andriy Biletskiy is a white-supremacist, anti-immigrant extreme-right ideas. In 2014, The Telegraph conducted interviews of volunteers of Azov regiment, where they were found that many are strong belivers of Nazis ideology.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in an interview on 1 May said that ““They are the official army of our state. Anyone who wanted to be involved in politics – they left and are now in politics. Those who decided to serve in the Armed Forces became part of the Armed Forces,”
International response to Azov’s neo-Nazi connections
The US House of Representatives passed a provision in 2018, to block any training of Azov soldiers with US forces for their neo-Nazi connections but, After the Russo-Ukrainian war the provision is being followed or not, there is no clarity. In October 2019 also, a failed attempt were done by the Members of Democratic Party in US Congress to classified Azov Regiment as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.
The Israeli rights groups have also been demanding to stop the arms supply to the Azov Regiment, citing its neo-Nazi connections.
