Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Palestinian platforms: Settlers storm Al-Aqsa Mosque complex under the protection of the occupation police
Palestinian platforms: The IOF detonated a booby-trapped robot east of the al-Zaytoun neighborhood, south of Gaza City
Syrian Defense: We call on all parties in Sweida to cooperate with security forces and exercise restraint
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: The Lebanese Army is continuing its investigations and will later announce any information that does not affect the confidentiality of the investigation
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: It has not yet been determined whether the detainees belong to ISIS or another organization
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: Around 10 people of different nationalities, including Lebanese nationals, were detained
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: The Lebanese army arrested a number of people in the Matn area of Mount Lebanon with possession it has not disclosed
Gaza Civil Defense spokesman: We have strong indications that there are martyrs, injuries, and trapped people in the Salah al-Din area
Gaza Civil Defense spokesman: Citizens should avoid Salah al-Din Street because anyone who approaches it is at risk of being directly targeted
Gaza Civil Defense spokesman: Reality is that there is a very limited retreat of the vehicles, with the occupation forces providing cover undeer fire up to Salah al-Din Street

ADL refuses to call Ukraine-Pentagon Azov Battalion a "neo-Nazi" unit

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: The Grayzone
  • 9 Dec 2022 16:06
  • 8 Shares
5 Min Read

The Azov Battalion unit, with far-right and ultranationalist roots, is designated as a terrorist organization by Russia.

  • x
  • Azov Battalion members in 2016 (AFP)
    Azov Battalion members in 2016 (AFP)

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), an international Jewish NGO, refused to condemn the Pentagon's honoring of a veteran of the Azov Battalion who dons Nazi-inspired tattoos.

An email dated November 9 sent by the ADL to The Grayzone, an investigative journalist website, stressed that it does not view the Azov as the “far-right group it once was.”

Founded by Andriy Biletsky, who vowed to “lead the white races of the world in a final crusade…against Semite-led Untermenschen,” the group is a pack of neo-Nazis working with the US-backed Ukrainian military. 

It used to be condemned and labeled with Nazism all over it by Western media and the human rights industry - until the war in Ukraine in February 2022. Azov became the Ukrainian military’s defense of Mariupol, and Western media became suddenly inspired to rebrand Azov as a "misunderstood freedom fighter" and use the Kremlin as the anti-thesis.

The ADL seemed to turn a blind eye when Azov used civilians as human shields and executed those who tried to escape. Back in March, the ADL recognized the unit in a report it published, that white nationalists view Azov “as a pathway to the creation of a National Socialist state in Ukraine.” 

In August, Russia's Supreme Court designated Ukraine's Azov Battalion as a terrorist organization.

Email response from the ADL 

After The Grayzone provided the ADL with evidence that Pentagon was harboring a neo-Nazi group, the ADL responded, and offered this defense instead: “When it was created in 2014, the Azov Brigade was a private military group fighting the then annexation of Crimea. During this period, it was a group that had a clear far-right influence.

"In late 2014, the group was brought in as a part of the Ukrainian National Guard and renamed the Azov Regiment. When this happened, the Ukrainian government investigated the group and claims to have expelled it of these far-right members.

Related News

Neo-Nazi militia 'The Base' rebuilds under Trump-era FBI

Zakharova: 'Israel' unwilling to acknowledge neo-Nazism in Ukraine

"It was also during this time that its founder Andriy Biletsky left AZOV and has since worked in the greater Azov movement, including founding a far-right political party, the National Corps. In essence, there was a split between the military unit AZOV and the political goals of its founding members. Of course, this is not to say that they have successfully removed all far-right elements from their ranks, but our Center on Extremism also does not see Azov Regime as the far-right group it once was.”

Read more: Japan removes Azov Battalion neo-Nazi designation

In the same email, the ADL claimed that “the military unit AZOV and the political goals of its founding members split” in 2014, stressing that Biletsky “left Azov and has since worked in the great Azov movement, including founding a far-right political party, the National Corps.” However, the ADL noted no such “split” in 2019 when they labeled the National Corps as the “political wing of Azov.” 

This Ukrainian extremist group, called The Azov Battalion, has ties to neo-Nazis and white supremacists. Our latest report on international white supremacy details how they try to connect with like-minded extremists from the US: https://t.co/GtvssxwzbN https://t.co/gGHMM8L46k

— ADL (@ADL) September 23, 2019

A researcher for the US government-sponsored Bellingcat outlet explained in the NATO-affiliated Atlantic Council in 2020 that Azov “routinely hosts Biletsky (and other former commanders) at its bases and welcomes his participation in ceremonies, greeting him as a leader.”

"Boneface" confessions

According to The Grayzone, an arrest warrant this past November was issued by Italian authorities for Azov fighter Anton Radomsky, on account of planning an attack against a shopping mall near Naples.

An American who fought with Azov in Mariupol named Justin claimed in an interview in October that “Azov Battalion still has a lot of its neo-Nazi presence,” adding that his commander was a “f***** Nazi” who had Adolf Hitler as his desktop background. He further added that he and other soldiers would greet each other with Sieg heil salutes.

Another interview in November featuring an American Azov volunteer named Kent “Boneface” McLellan further stated the neo-Nazi reality. “Boneface” was caught through film by an undercover government informant partaking in paramilitary training with the American Front neo-Nazi unit. According to prosecutors, the group was planning “to kill Jews, immigrants, and other minorities.” 

"Boneface" previously confessed to taking photos of Ukrainian fighters “posing with the corpses of a lynched pregnant woman and a man they said was her husband” in a video called “Kikes get the rope.” 

“There is a ton of liberal whitewashing when it comes to Fascists in Ukraine,” "Boneface" added, as he threw topics such as: “Nazis don’t exist”; “Azov battalion and Azov regiment are different”; “They took all the Nazis out of Azov.”

“I speak out against the whitewashing of Nationalists by the media,” he added. “I use Twitter to mainly troll the (western) left, as they believe Ukraine[‘s] military isn’t full of nationalist ideals.”

Read next: US fears Azov terrorists inhuman acts will go public: Russian embassy

  • Neo-Nazism
  • Azov Battalion
  • Russia
  • ADL
  • Ukraine

Most Read

Hezbollah SG reveals war details on Al Mayadeen for the first time

Hezbollah SG reveals war details on Al Mayadeen for the first time

  • Politics
  • 8 Jul 2025
Major ambush in Gaza kills 6 Israeli troops, injures dozens

Major ambush in Gaza kills 5 Israeli troops, injures 14

  • Politics
  • 8 Jul 2025
Israeli soldiers are seen in Beit Hanoun ahead of an operation by the al-Qassam Brigades, undated (Al-Qassam Brigades Military Media)

'Israel' on blast as media exposes report discrepancies in Gaza ambush

  • Palestine
  • 8 Jul 2025
Yemen Navy sinks ETERNITY C ship, shares footage of operation

Yemen Navy sinks ETERNITY C ship, shares footage of operation

  • Politics
  • 9 Jul 2025

Coverage

All
The Ummah's Martyrs

Read Next

All
The Freedom Flotilla ship Handala as it departs for Gaza, where it aims to break the maritime blockade at a port in Syracuse, Sicily in southern Italy on July 13, 2025. (AFP)
Palestine

Freedom Flotilla's Handala departs Sicily in bid to break Gaza siege

The container ship CMA CGM Laperouse, left, docks at the Georgia Ports Authority's Port of Savannah, Sept. 29, 2021, in Savannah, Ga (AP)
Politics

US shipbuilding woes deepen as tariffs, outdated policies backfire

Gaza war raises ethical questions for ex-Obama, Biden officials
Politics

Mercenary firm tied to Gaza war crimes hires Obama-Biden PR operatives

'Israel' targets children in Gaza collecting water
Palestine

'Israel' strikes Gaza kids fetching water, blames it on 'malfunction'

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS