The writer says the port city has been a base for Ukrainian nationalist detachment Azov since 2014
31 March 2022 - 16:10
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The hospital in Mariupol bombed by Russia. Picture: REUTERS/NATIONAL POLICE OF UKRAINE
In recent articles about Ukraine’s Mariupol, the city is portrayed as a stronghold heroically resisting alleged Russian occupation. However, most authors fail to highlight the fact that since 2014 Mariupol has been a base for the Ukrainian nationalist detachment Azov.
Despite being one of the most infamous Nazi formations in Ukraine, Azov is part of the national guard, making Ukraine the only Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe country with Nazi units incorporated into its law enforcement bodies.
Radicals in Ukraine feel free to preach far-right ideas, display Nazi imagery in public and hold torch marches chanting racist and anti-Semitic slogans. Azov in particular uses the runic insignia of the Nazi SS as their distinct sign, as well as the wolfsangel emblem, alluding to the logo of the 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich.
A 2016 UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights report detailed incidents in 2015-2016 when Azov embedded their weapons and forces in civilian buildings and displaced residents after looting civilian properties. In 2019, 40 US congressmen demanded that Azov be designated a “foreign terrorist organisation”.
Numerous crimes have been committed by Azov during recent weeks. In early March they seized the Mariupol maternity hospital and forced out its personnel and patients, turning it into a legitimate target for the Russian military. Azov fighters were the ones who blew up the Mariupol theatre with civilians inside, an episode blamed by mainstream media on Russia.
Several days ago a woman’s body was discovered at an abandoned school-turned-military compound in Mariupol, with signs of torture and a swastika carved into her stomach — an unparalleled atrocity committed by Azov members. Numerous other incidents involving thugs from Azov torturing people — like with Russian prisoners of war in video footage that went viral — are being investigated by Russian and international bodies.
That is basically the answer to the question of who Russia is fighting in Mariupol and Ukraine.
Alexander Arefiev Embassy of Russia in SA
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments to letters@businesslive.co.za. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
LETTER: Russia is fighting Nazis in Mariupol
The writer says the port city has been a base for Ukrainian nationalist detachment Azov since 2014
In recent articles about Ukraine’s Mariupol, the city is portrayed as a stronghold heroically resisting alleged Russian occupation. However, most authors fail to highlight the fact that since 2014 Mariupol has been a base for the Ukrainian nationalist detachment Azov.
Despite being one of the most infamous Nazi formations in Ukraine, Azov is part of the national guard, making Ukraine the only Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe country with Nazi units incorporated into its law enforcement bodies.
Radicals in Ukraine feel free to preach far-right ideas, display Nazi imagery in public and hold torch marches chanting racist and anti-Semitic slogans. Azov in particular uses the runic insignia of the Nazi SS as their distinct sign, as well as the wolfsangel emblem, alluding to the logo of the 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich.
A 2016 UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights report detailed incidents in 2015-2016 when Azov embedded their weapons and forces in civilian buildings and displaced residents after looting civilian properties. In 2019, 40 US congressmen demanded that Azov be designated a “foreign terrorist organisation”.
Numerous crimes have been committed by Azov during recent weeks. In early March they seized the Mariupol maternity hospital and forced out its personnel and patients, turning it into a legitimate target for the Russian military. Azov fighters were the ones who blew up the Mariupol theatre with civilians inside, an episode blamed by mainstream media on Russia.
Several days ago a woman’s body was discovered at an abandoned school-turned-military compound in Mariupol, with signs of torture and a swastika carved into her stomach — an unparalleled atrocity committed by Azov members. Numerous other incidents involving thugs from Azov torturing people — like with Russian prisoners of war in video footage that went viral — are being investigated by Russian and international bodies.
That is basically the answer to the question of who Russia is fighting in Mariupol and Ukraine.
Alexander Arefiev
Embassy of Russia in SA
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an email with your comments to letters@businesslive.co.za. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
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