The State Department made the announcement on Monday, which was strongly welcomed by Andry Biletsky, leader of the Azov Battalion, who founded the military unit to lead the "white races of the world in a final crusade" against "Semite-led subhumans."
US officials initially barred the Azov Battalion from receiving American arms nearly a decade ago after determining that the unit espoused racist, xenophobic, and ultranationalist views. Additionally, the military unit was accused by UN human rights officials of humanitarian violations, per the Washington Post.
"This is a new page in our unit's history," said Azov in a statement following the State Department's announcement. "Azov is becoming even more powerful, even more professional and even more dangerous for occupiers."
"Obtaining Western weapons and training from the United States will not only increase the combat ability of Azov, but most importantly, contribute to the preservation of the lives and the health of personnel," Azov boasted.
Biletsky, who also leads the National Corps political party, has characterized his ideology as "Ukrainian racial social-nationalism." Despite his Jewish heritage, President Volodymyr Zelensky relied on Azov to conduct the majority of the most intense combat during the initial phases of the 2022 invasion, as they established themselves as an effective fighting force against Russian and separatist forces.
In 2022, Azov made an attempt to reform its brand by asserting that it had relinquished its wolf angel, or wolf's hook, emblem, which had been previously used by the Das Reich division of Adolf Hitler's Waffen-SS.
Ukrainian officials wanted the US to lift the restriction because they believed the Azov Battalion might have defended Azovstal better with US equipment. A Ukrainian source told the Washington Post that Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba discussed lifting the restriction with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken when he visited Kyiv last month.
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