Loading ...NATO Directorate Warned Azov Remained ‘Fanatics.’ Recruits Acquired Canadian-Made Rifles.
‘It’s true that Azov was brought into the National Guard of Ukraine, but they are fanatics.’
In the first weeks of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Canada’s directorate of NATO policy said that Ukraine’s notorious Azov Regiment continued to be far-right “fanatics” despite their integration into the country’s national guard, emails obtained by The Maple through an access to information request show.
Recruits belonging to the same military unit were photographed last year holding what a leading arms monitoring researcher said were Canadian-made assault rifles fitted with Canadian-made scopes. It is unclear which foreign military supplied the weapons to Ukraine, however.
DND’s repeated denials that it trained or provided support to Azov come against evidence to the contrary that has emerged over the past several years. DND confirmed in an email to The Maple that the ministry still regards Azov Regiment as a far-right extremist group.