The battalion has said it repeatedly denies “allegations of fascism, nazism and racism,” in response to claims it had associations with White supremacists and neo-Nazi ideology.
The US State Department said Tuesday that Russian disinformation “has actively worked to discredit” the unit. “They have long tried to conflate Ukraine’s National Guard Unit of 12th Special Forces Brigade Azov with a militia formed to defend Ukraine against Russia’s invasion in 2014, called the “Azov Battalion,” a State Department spokesperson said. “That militia disbanded in 2015 and the Special Forces Brigade Azov is unrelated to that militia.”
And at the mere notion that they might have been involved in those activities, the US State department had cut their funding eligibility until it could be certain otherwise. It’s like you wanted to be proven misinformed when you posted this.