These days, an appeal by 40 members of the US House of Representatives to recognize the Azov Regiment a terrorist organization received notable publicity. The command of the Azov regiment states that this appeal is nothing but an information attack on Ukraine, its sovereignty and national security.
Azov Regiment is one of the most well-known and most combat-ready Ukrainian units. Its military fame has earned it the respect of millions of the Ukrainians, including those living outside the country. It was Azov that released Mariupol in 2014 and launched the successful Pavlopil-Shyrokyne offensive in 2015. From the beginning of this year until September, the Azov fighters have carried out the service on the frontline of the Joint Forces Operation in the Svitlodarsk Bulge area, where they brilliantly performed multiple combat operations and inflicted countless irreparable losses upon the enemy. By its valour, our regiment has been repeatedly proving loyalty to Ukraine and the Ukrainian people, and demonstrating its willingness to fight for Homeland in order to destroy completely the Russian occupier on our land.
The Azov Regiment, as the official structure of the National Guard, is subordinate to the Ministry of the Interior of Ukraine and the General Staff, so we believe that by equating Azov to terrorists, 40 members of the US House of Representatives equated to terrorists all other Ukrainian units defending Ukraine on the front. We consider utter nonsense the reason which allegedly gave impetus to such appeals in the US, for no evidence of the Azov unit’s involvement in terror acts in New Zealand has ever existed and is a banal lie and a slander. We would like to recall that similar statements have already taken place in the United States in 2015-16. At that time, attempts to denigrate Azov resembled a product of pro-Russian propaganda, yet they were not destined to succeed.
Azov, on its part, continues renewing its combat capability after spending the last eight months on the frontline, and is preparing to perform new combat missions.