Changes

According to [[NBC News]] the '''Azov Battalion''' was “founded by an avowed [[white supremacist]] who claimed [[Ukraine]]’s national purpose was to rid the country of [[Jews]] and other inferior races.”<ref>https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/ukraine-has-nazi-problem-vladimir-putin-s-denazification-claim-war-ncna1290946</ref>  The '''Azov Movement''' is neither just a “Nazi militia” or a “regular military unit”. It is a large & successful political movement with deep ties to the [[Kyiv regime]], to [[organized crime]], to domestic and foreign [[intelligence service]]s and to [[extremist]] organizations all over the world.<ref>https://twitter.com/RWApodcast/status/1528023286315204608</ref>   

According to [[NBC News]] the '''Azov Battalion''' was “founded by an avowed [[white supremacist]] who claimed [[Ukraine]]’s national purpose was to rid the country of [[Jews]] and other inferior races.”<ref>https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/ukraine-has-nazi-problem-vladimir-putin-s-denazification-claim-war-ncna1290946</ref>  The '''Azov Movement''' is neither just a “Nazi militia” or a “regular military unit”. It is a large & successful political movement with deep ties to the [[Kyiv regime]], to [[organized crime]], to domestic and foreign [[intelligence service]]s and to [[extremist]] organizations all over the world.<ref>https://twitter.com/RWApodcast/status/1528023286315204608</ref>   

''[[The Guardian]]''  reported in 2015, "while the Azov and other volunteer battalions might be Ukraine's most potent and reliable force on the battlefield against the [Donbas] separatists, they also pose the most serious threat to the Ukrainian government, and perhaps even the state."<ref>https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/10/azov-far-right-fighters-ukraine-neo-nazis</ref>  Its founder, [[Andriy Biletsky]] famously described the Azov Battalion's role in the [[Revolution of Dignity]], "we have fun killing."<ref>https://youtu.be/0C1O2WWqyPQ?t=1035</ref>

''[[The Guardian]]''  reported in 2015, "while the Azov and other volunteer battalions might be Ukraine's most potent and reliable force on the battlefield against the [Donbas] separatists, they also pose the most serious threat to the Ukrainian government, and perhaps even the state."<ref>https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/10/azov-far-right-fighters-ukraine-neo-nazis</ref>  Its founder, [[Andriy Biletsky]] famously described the Azov Battalion's role in the [[Revolution of Dignity]], "we have fun killing."<ref>https://youtu.be/0C1O2WWqyPQ?t=1035</ref> According to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty,

 

According to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty,

{{quotebox-float|"Ukraine's militaristic, far-right Azov movement and its various branches have used [[Facebook]] to promote its antidemocratic, ultranationalist messages and recruit new members since its inception at the start of the country's war against Russia-backed separatists five years ago.  The American social-networking giant has also been an important platform for Azov's global expansion and attempts to legitimize itself among likeminded American and European white nationalists."<ref>https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-facebook-bans-azov-hate-speech-moving-elsewhere/29884807.html</ref>}}

{{quotebox-float|"Ukraine's militaristic, far-right Azov movement and its various branches have used [[Facebook]] to promote its antidemocratic, ultranationalist messages and recruit new members since its inception at the start of the country's war against Russia-backed separatists five years ago.  The American social-networking giant has also been an important platform for Azov's global expansion and attempts to legitimize itself among likeminded American and European white nationalists."<ref>https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-facebook-bans-azov-hate-speech-moving-elsewhere/29884807.html</ref>}}

The [[New Zealand mosque shooting|Christchurch, New Zealand killer]] who murdered 51 [[Muslim]] worshippers in 2019 received training from the Azov Battalion, and wore their insignia on his flak jacket during the shooting.<ref>https://thesoufancenter.org/intelbrief-the-transnational-network-that-nobody-is-talking-about/</ref><ref>https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/15/world/asia/christchurch-mass-shooting-extremism.html</ref>  The Buffalo, New York supermarket shooter who killed 10 civilians in May 2022 likewise employed the Azov Battalion's Black Sun logo on the cover of his 180-page manifesto.<ref>https://twitter.com/stillgray/status/1525601782197817344</ref><ref>https://www.scribd.com/document/574156945/Payton-Gendron-Manifesto#download</ref>

The [[New Zealand mosque shooting|Christchurch, New Zealand killer]] who murdered 51 [[Muslim]] worshippers in 2019 received training from the Azov Battalion, and wore their insignia on his flak jacket during the shooting.<ref>https://thesoufancenter.org/intelbrief-the-transnational-network-that-nobody-is-talking-about/</ref><ref>https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/15/world/asia/christchurch-mass-shooting-extremism.html</ref>  The Buffalo, New York supermarket shooter who killed 10 civilians in May 2022 likewise employed the Azov Battalion's Black Sun logo on the cover of his 180-page manifesto.<ref>https://twitter.com/stillgray/status/1525601782197817344</ref><ref>https://www.scribd.com/document/574156945/Payton-Gendron-Manifesto#download</ref>