Kremlin propaganda still reigns in the United States, which brands the fighters of the Azov brigade as “neo-Nazis”, which is why the defenders of Ukraine from this brigade are still limited in Western weapons , which takes not only human lives, but also reduces the effectiveness of the combat missions of these military personnel.
About this in my blog called “Why Azov still does not receive Western weapons?” written by the commander of the 12th Special Purpose Brigade Azov of the National Guard of Ukraine Denis Prokopenko.
US Congress Blacklist
He began by calling such a restriction nonsense, although he admitted that in Ukraine this is rarely discussed publicly. Therefore, right now, on the eve of the adoption of aid in the US Congress, it is worth making this situation public, the combat commander believes.
Now watching
Prokopenko recalls that since 2017 and until now, a number of US consolidated appropriations laws (Appropriations bill) contain the following amendment: “No funds provided by this Law can be used to provide weapons, training or other assistance to the Azov battalion”.
He also writes about how, in 2015, Democratic Congressman John Conyers Jr. proposed this amendment to the Department of Defense Financial Appropriations Act. year ending 30 September 2016. Then the American politician made this proposal, noting that Foreign Affairs magazine, as well as “other leading media” described the Azov battalion as “openly neo-Nazi” and “fascist”.
Prokopenko points out that, according to media reports, the Department of Defense subsequently called for the proposed amendment to be removed, arguing that assistance to Azov should already be prohibited by the Leahy Law, which states that “no assistance shall be provided … any unit of the security forces of a foreign country if the Secretary of State has credible information that such unit has committed a gross violation of human rights”. But even then the ban on the transfer of weapons to Azov was not included in the final law.
However, as commander Azov reminds, in 2017 this amendment was already contained in the text of the Appropriations bill, and as existing it was in the current defense appropriations bill.
— It is significant that the Leahy Law, which requires consideration of incidents of human rights violations based on specific facts, was not applied in relation to Azov, and the decision to adopt the amendment was primarily based on the characterization of Azov by Western media, which obviously formed its attitude towards the unit under the influence Moscow propaganda, — notes Prokopenko.
The serviceman noted that “all the main charges against Azov have been repeatedly refuted on the basis of facts on the Internet and the media”, in particular, on the website AZOV CONTRA FAKE, which is engaged in dispelling such propaganda.
— Does it make sense to once again pay attention to the fact that the very wording “Azov battalion”, which is used in the law, actually appeals to a non-existent unit? At the end of 2014, Azov ceased to be a battalion, and became a separate special forces unit. Since February 2023, our division — 12th Special Forces Brigade Azov of the National Guard of Ukraine. Not a battalion, not a regiment. Brigade, — he writes.
Restrictions that reduce the effectiveness of the military
Prokopenko points out that it was precisely because of this amendment, which passes from one law to another from year to year, that in 2022, during the defense of Mariupol, Azov did not have the latest Western weapons.
— Then we held back superior enemy forces in surrounded Mariupol, using the extremely limited resources we had, and showed extremely high efficiency, — recalls the military man.
He points out that if the unit had modern armored vehicles and artillery systems, the military could have saved many lives of personnel, and the results of the city's defense could have been different.
— Even after 2022, when it seemed that the world had finally learned the truth about Azov, we still do not have the opportunity to send our fighters to most of the leading Western military exercises and do not receive the necessary weapons that the allies are transferring to Ukraine. This problem is partly being solved thanks to volunteers and conscientious Ukrainians who are doing everything possible to help the unit, — writes Prokopenko and cites as an example the volunteer project Tiloviki, which raised 77 million hryvnia for 17 FV 432 Bulldog armored personnel carriers for the Azov brigade.
— But war requires more, — military notes.
Azov’s fight against Russian propaganda for 10 years
According to the commander of the Azov brigade, today all of Ukraine is experiencing what his unit has been dealing with since 2014.
— Unfortunately, Azov became not only the first unit in the Ukrainian army to implement Western military standards, but also one of the first and main targets of Moscow propaganda. Since the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian war in 2014, the Russian Federation has accused Azov and other volunteer units of “neo-Nazism”, aiming to destroy them. In 2022, the Russians wanted to “denazify” already all of Ukraine, having registered as “Nazis” a whole people, — he points out.
Prokopenko complains that 10 years ago no one helped Azov to resist the influence of enemy propaganda, and today all of Ukraine finds itself in an identical situation.
— And just like Azov for 10 years, Ukraine may now face a lack of Western assistance, — he adds.
The military man notes that “the very fact of the existence of such amendments and prohibitions not only does not allow Azov to carry out assigned combat missions even more effectively”, but is a blow to the defense capability of our state, and also disgraces the image of Ukraine in the international arena and humiliates the entire Ukrainian army.
— There is no evidence or confirmation of the accusations that Russian propaganda has been pouring on Azov for 10 years. If they existed, delegations of Azov fighters would not be accepted in the United States of America, in European countries, in Israel. Azov residents would not hold meetings with representatives of the American Congress and human rights organizations. We wouldn’t speak at the UN, the Council of Europe, or the best Western universities. They would not give interviews to the world's leading media, and would not participate in panel discussions at major military conferences.
This is the absurdity of the situation: Azov is received at the highest level in the entire Western world, but they still do not provide weapons, — says the military man.
How many more must die?
According to Prokopenko, the fighters of the Azov brigade are already accustomed to overcoming difficulties on their own.
— We were the first unit in Ukraine to switch to NATO standards, and we did it on our own initiative. Without Western weapons, in 10 years we became one of the most combat-ready units in the country. Our soldiers return to duty after Russian captivity, beat the enemy and carry out all the tasks assigned by the command, — he points out.
At the same time, justice requires answers, the Azov commander adds, and poses rhetorical questions: “How many more refutations of the theses of the Kremlin lies must we provide so that politicians in the West will finally open their eyes to the truth? How long will the structural unit of the Security and Defense Forces of Ukraine, subordinate to the military leadership of the state, be branded with such humiliating amendments?”.
But Prokopenko considers the most important question to be how many more Ukrainian soldiers from the Azov brigade “should die and be wounded due to the lack of the necessary modern Western weapons to Azov was finally removed from the Appropriations bill and all blacklists?“, when fighters from this unit defend not only the freedom and independence of Ukraine, but also the entire free Western world, from real, non-fictional Nazis of the present.
