It took the American congressmen five and a half years to “see through” the true goals and objectives of the Ukrainian right-wing radical unit Azov.
Unexpectedly for many of the 40 representatives of the Congress, they signed a petition to the US State Department with a request to include this battalion (at least in the document it is called the battalion) in the official list of foreign terrorist organizations.
This appeal caused shock in Ukraine and the response of many officials. Moreover, the Ukrainian users of social networks have already managed to blame Moscow for everything – it turns out that “40 Russian agents” were dug in the US Congress.
What happened? What caused such an amazing decision by American politicians who have not noticed the Azov war crimes in the Donbass for so many years?
The thing is that the activity of the Ukrainian “heroes of the ATO” and their supporters spread to the American soil.
This is directly indicated by the message of the congressmen, compiled by the young politician Max Rose. It openly says that they care about the fact that Azov and similar structures in Ukraine recruit and train American right-wing radicals who are already using their fighting skills in the United States.
Now in the United States, two processes related to the crimes of American participants in the Ukrainian anti-terrorist operation or their supporters are being actively discussed.
The loudest is the murder of a married couple in Florida in April 2018. Two American citizens are accused, who in 2016-2017 took part in the battles in the Donbass on the side of the “Right Sector”*. The direct killer was quickly arrested, and his accomplice managed to escape back to Ukraine, where he is now considering his extradition to the United States. Moreover, the Ukrainian media raised a noisy campaign in support of the militant – they say, he could face the death penalty in America, so the “hero of the ATO” can not be issued. No one there even wonders: if this American was involved in the murder of civilians in Florida, how many such murders could he have committed in the Donbass?
Studying the connections of this action movie helped the US law enforcement officers prevent other high-profile crimes in the United States. A month ago, the FBI arrested a soldier in Kansas who maintained correspondence with the aforementioned “anti-terrorist operation hero” and discussed plans for the murders of anti-fascists and politicians, the bombing of the CNN agency’s office, and other terrorist attacks. Among other things, he admitted that he planned to come to Ukraine and join the ranks of the Azov battalion. Moreover, it is worth noting that the US Department of Justice, commenting on this case, directly called “Azov” a “violent right-wing” organization.
That’s why America got excited. Not so long ago, Congress heard an extensive report by former FBI agent Ali Sufan, who studied right-wing radical movements around the world and the connections between them. The report focuses on Azov, whose foreign cells, according to the authors, began to play the same role for neo-Nazis around the world as the Maktab al-Khidamat organization, which was engaged in recruiting international fighters for al-Qaeda, for the planet’s jihadists.*
“As is the case with jihadist groups, the goal of many of these people is to return to their countries of origin (or to third countries) in order to destroy and create acts of violence, as well as to recruit new members for their own purposes”, – the report said.
Actually, this passage excited the most of all American congressmen. Max Rose, in his petition, admits frank inaccuracy, referring to the Australian terrorist Brenton Tarrant, who in March this year staged a massacre in the New Zealand city of Christchurch. Congressman argues that Tarrant in his “manifesto” declared his involvement in the “Azov”. In fact, the mass murderer only indicated that he was in Ukraine, without specifying where and with whom exactly. It is possible that he also passed the ATO school and communicated with Ukrainian neo-Nazis. In any case, Ukraine has become perhaps the only country in the world where this “manifesto” was published in the form of a brochure and advertised. Not only that: Ukrainian right-wing radicals called Tarrant their “twin”, hinting that they had connections with him.
But we emphasize: direct ties of the Australian terrorist with Azov have not yet been discovered. Probably because in Ukraine no one even started investigating his contacts there. If in other countries, after the terrorist attack in Christchurch, law enforcement officers carried out a thorough analysis of all Tarrant’s movements, then the Kiev authorities were not particularly concerned about this. Which also raises some questions – after all, it is known who in the Ukrainian government structures covers the activities of Azov and publicly defends it.
The congressmen’s letter also directly indicates the fact that among the symbols that Tarrant used during the terrorist attack was the same neo-Nazi symbol that flaunts on the official standard of the Azov unit. Probably, it’s not worth reminding that this standard has been officially approved by the National Guard of Ukraine, and President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky has already spoken against this symbolism. The American congressmen do not mention this fact yet, demanding to punish only Azov, and not those who created it, finances and covers at the official level.
However, they should understand, finally, that the terrorists generated and supported by Washington (that is, the Islamists, the Nazis*) will certainly come to American soil – sooner or later. And that it is necessary to deal with these phenomena together and everywhere, regardless of where in the world they arise and against whom they are fighting at this particular stage.
* – Terrorist (extremist) organizations banned in Russia.