Ukraine’s Azov battalion has been the main force defending the city of Mariupol. The group has a reputation for fighting fiercely, but it has also said to hold far-right views. In 2016 the United Nations accused it of violating international humanitarian law. In 2019, 40 US congress members unsuccessfully tried to designate the Azov as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation. Russian President Vladimir Putin referenced the presence of such units within the Ukrainian military as one of the reasons for launching his so-called “special military operation – to de-militarise and de-Nazify Ukraine”. The unit has denied it adheres to Nazi ideology as a whole, but Nazi symbols such as the swastika […]
Russian forces have intensified their bombardment of the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol as street fighting has raged on Tuesday, a day after Mariupol authorities rejected Moscow’s ultimatum to surrender, Ukrainian officials said. Russian shelling is turning the southern city into the “ashes of a dead land”, the city council said on Tuesday. Russia’s RIA news agency said Russian forces and units of Russian-backed separatists had taken about half of the city, citing a separatist leader. Al Jazeera’s Zein Basravi reports from the western city of Lviv, Ukraine – Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe – Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish – Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera – Check our website: […]
As Russian troops move further into Ukraine, many civilians are volunteering to fight alongside Ukrainian soldiers and defend their towns and cities. Men from different angles of life, different ages and levels of military training have decided to leave the safety of the European Union and support Ukraine against the Russian invasion. Al Jazeera’s Charles Stratford reports from Zapporishia, in Eastern Ukraine. – Subscribe to our channel: http://aje.io/AJSubscribe – Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AJEnglish – Find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aljazeera – Check our website: https://www.aljazeera.com/ #UkraineWar #Zapporishia #RussiaUkraineWar
