Subsequently, predominantly Russian Crimea was annexed by Moscow. But the Donbas conflict, fueled by ethnic nationalism on both sides, rumbled on. It lured volunteers from across Ukraine, the Russian Federation and further afield. Militias on both sides coalesced around charismatic leaders.
One was Andriy Biletsky, a hardcore Ukrainian nationalist who had been imprisoned for political violence in 2011. He founded Azov and then the far-right political party, the National Corps. Representing that group, he entered mainstream politics and occupied a seat in Ukraine’s parliament from 2015 to 2019.
Though Michael Colborne, the author of a 2022 book on Azov, notes unproven allegations that Azov has connections to Kremlin spy agencies – which would suggest an incredibly shadowy “black flag” operation – there is no doubt that Azov played a key role fighting to eject Russian separatists from Mariupol in 2014. It then battled them, for years, in Donbas.
At a time when Kiev’s regular military was weak, the unit, and other militias, won funding from Ukrainian oligarchs. In November 2014, Azov was officially incorporated into the Ukrainian National Guard as a “special purpose regiment.”
