Your comments on AZOV are just Russian propaganda to be honest.
I am certain
@Feanor can answer more capably than I, but my two cents, for whatever it's worth:
It may seem so to someone who has not been following the situation in Ukraine for many years, as some on this thread have done, and are only following recent reports from Western media. Azov has been a real problem in Mariupol (and elsewhere) for years, and there used to be reports in the Western press (mainly British, German and Swedish mainstream news sites have popped up in my searches over the years). Here is an oldie but goodie from 2014:
The battalion's far-right volunteers' desire to 'bring the fight to Kiev' is a danger to post-conflict stability
www.theguardian.com
There have been many disturbing reports about their behavior toward civilians during the seige of Mariupol, mainly on social media. The reports coming out on social media of course cannot be verified (a number seem quite credible, but I have seen a few I might class as propaganda). but the Greek press did report on some of this in the early days of the siege when inhabitants of Mariupol could still charge their phones and complain to the Greek embassy (there is a large ethnic Greek minority population there, and Azov is not fond of them). Here is a report from
Ethnos, a Greek newspaper founded in 1913 and one of the top ten most I visited news sites in Greece (hardly some popup internet propaganda site):
Excerpt (Google translate): "According to him, Mariupol is defended by Azov's hard-line Ukrainian battalion, with which the Russians are unable to negotiate. Azov's battalion is currently mining building blocks in Mariupol. If battalion members choose to fight up to one, even millions of dead can not be ruled out. "Things are very difficult for the Greeks in the area. The Russian-speaking separatists of the eastern provinces took control of four other Greek villages. At the moment the road to Mariupol is open. I understand that the Ukrainians have chosen to fortify themselves in the cities. "What I do not understand is why they do not allow civilians to leave them", Mr. Eftychidis emphasizes...". The rest of the article is almost exclusively his strong criticism of Putin and the invasion. The gentleman being quoted is a Greek economist with years of experience working in former Soviet republics Eastern Europe.
Τι λέει στο ethnos.gr ο Θράσος Ευτυχίδης
www.ethnos.gr
There have been many reports of bad behavior over the years:
The regiment, which has been accused of neo-Nazi ties, has since been absorbed in the national army.
www.aljazeera.com
Excerpt: "A
2016 report by the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OCHA) has accused the Azov regiment of violating international humanitarian law. The report detailed incidents over a period from November 2015-February 2016 where Azov had embedded their weapons and forces in used civilian buildings, and displaced residents after looting civilian properties. The report also accused the battalion of raping and torturing detainees in the Donbas region."
You can do your own internet search and find many more articles about Azov.
Not once have I seen anyone here claim that Azov's nasty doings justify the Russian invasion. Personally, my heart breaks for the civilians of Mariupol, mercilessly bombarded by Russians from without and allegedly grossly mistreated by Azov from within. Those who recently made it out of the city have bitterly complained in interviews on social media about both the cruel Russian bombardment and the heinous actions of Azov toward ordinary civilians. We will have to wait for verification of their accusations against Azov, and it will be awhile -- perhaps until some time after the war is over and international human rights investigators can go in and do their jobs (as was the case in Libya and some other lesser-known conflicts). Some of these claims will have to remain question marks for the time being.
There is no question that the great majority of civilian deaths in Mariupol were caused by Russian bombardment. Again, whatever nasty business Azov got up to, their bad actions do not excuse Russian bad actions. This would normally go without saying, but emotions run high at times these days.
www.wsj.com
