Changes

As well as questionable activities during the Crimea Blockade, Azov Battalion activists have been accused of involvement in a [[racist]] attack on football fans during the Champions League football match in Kyiv on October 20, 2015 and it was their aggression and threats that prevented a remembrance gathering on January 19, 2016 for slain anti-fascist and anti-Maidan lawyer Stanislav Markelov and journalist Anastasia Baburova.  

As well as questionable activities during the Crimea Blockade, Azov Battalion activists have been accused of involvement in a [[racist]] attack on football fans during the Champions League football match in Kyiv on October 20, 2015 and it was their aggression and threats that prevented a remembrance gathering on January 19, 2016 for slain anti-fascist and anti-Maidan lawyer Stanislav Markelov and journalist Anastasia Baburova.  

In 2018, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a provision blocking any training of Azov members by American forces, citing its neo-Nazi connections.  The House had previously passed amendments banning support of Azov between 2014 and 2017, but due to pressure from the [[Pentagon]], the amendments were quietly lifted.  This was protested by the [[Simon Wiesenthal Center]] which stated that lifting the ban highlighted the danger of [[Holocaust]] distortion in Ukraine.<ref>https://greekcitytimes.com/2022/03/01/greek-in-mariupol-fascist-ukrainian/</ref>

In 2018, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a provision blocking any training of Azov members by American forces, citing its neo-Nazi connections.  The House had previously passed amendments banning support of Azov between 2014 and 2017, but due to pressure from the [[Pentagon]], the amendments were quietly lifted.  This was protested by the [[Simon Wiesenthal]] Center which stated that lifting the ban highlighted the danger of [[Holocaust]] distortion in Ukraine.<ref>https://greekcitytimes.com/2022/03/01/greek-in-mariupol-fascist-ukrainian/</ref>

In 2019, the Soufan Center, created by former FBI agent Ali Soufan, who was involved in a number of counter-terrorism cases, warned about the connection between the Azov Battalion and white nationalists. “In Ukraine, the Azov Battalion has recruited foreign fighters motivated by [[white supremacy]] and neo-Nazi beliefs, including many from the West, to join its ranks and receive training, indoctrination and instruction in irregular warfare,” the report outlined.<ref>https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/canadian-officials-who-met-with-ukrainian-unit-linked-to-neo-nazis-feared-exposure-by-news-media-documents</ref>

In 2019, the Soufan Center, created by former FBI agent Ali Soufan, who was involved in a number of counter-terrorism cases, warned about the connection between the Azov Battalion and white nationalists. “In Ukraine, the Azov Battalion has recruited foreign fighters motivated by [[white supremacy]] and neo-Nazi beliefs, including many from the West, to join its ranks and receive training, indoctrination and instruction in irregular warfare,” the report outlined.<ref>https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/canadian-officials-who-met-with-ukrainian-unit-linked-to-neo-nazis-feared-exposure-by-news-media-documents</ref>