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 The 1,000 strong ultra-nationalist militia has a reputation as a
fierce pro-government fighting force in the almost year-old conflict
with the Russia-backed rebels in east Ukraine, and is disdainful of
peace efforts.
But the radical views of the commanders of a group affiliated to
Ukraine's national guard which works alongside the army, and the use
of symbols echoing Nazi emblems have caused alarm in the West and
Russia, and could return to haunt Kiev's pro-Western leadership when
fighting eventually ends.
"We don't like the ceasefire at all. As with the previous ones,
it'll only lead to another offensive by the enemy," Azov commander
Andriy Biletsky told Reuters while watching artillery drills at
Urzuf, on the shores of the Sea of Azov, about 40 km south-west of
Mariupol.
"Appeasing the aggressor will only lead to more aggression. This war
will inevitably continue - either until our complete defeat or until
our full victory and return to our land in all east Ukraine and
Crimea. We believe in the second scenario," said the 35-year-old
from the city of Kharkiv.
As the drills continued, other members of the battalion were in
combat with the separatists at the village of Shirokino, some 60 km
(38 miles) to the northeast.
 Shirokino, where Ukrainian and rebel positions are separated by only
a few kilometers of village dwellings, is one of several places
along the line of contact where fighting has continued despite a
February ceasefire.
Mariupol, which Azov helped recapture from the rebels last year, is
a big prize. Its capture would offer the separatists the chance to
open a road further south a year after Russia annexed the Black Sea
peninsula of Crimea from Ukraine. [ID:nL5N0W30SQ]
Kiev and the West say Russia drives the rebellion in east Ukraine
and has sent in troops as well as weapons to help the separatists.
Moscow has sided with the rebels but denies direct military
involvement.
"PATRIOT OF UKRAINE"
The Azov battalion originated from Biletsky's paramilitary national
socialist group called "Patriot of Ukraine", which propagated
slogans of white supremacy, racial purity, the need for
authoritarian power and a centralized national economy.
"Patriot of Ukraine" opposed giving up Ukraine's sovereignty by
joining international blocs, called for rolling back of liberal
economy and political democracy, including free media.
In 2008, Biletsky urged "thousands of young fanatic apostles" to
advance its ideas. Local media have reported on several violent
incidents in which the group was involved.
Since Azov was officially created last May, it has been involved in
fighting on the outskirts of the rebel stronghold of Donetsk, a
battle for the town of Illovaysk which Ukrainian forces lost last
summer and across the coast of the Sea of Azov.
But, since Azov was enrolled as a regiment of Ukraine's National
Guard in September and started receiving increased supplies of heavy
arms, Biletsky has toned down his rhetoric.
Most of "Patriot of Ukraine" websites are now down or under
restricted access. He denied Azov's symbol was a reference to
Nazism, saying it was rather a Ukrainian nationalist symbol.
Biletsky said he now has infantry and artillery units and was
building a proper tank force. His troops training on the cannons in
Urzuf were heavily armed with quality uniforms.
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Biletsky said his troops, all volunteers, were "officially" making
6,000 hryvnia ($316) a month but in fact around 10,000 hryvnia.
Apart from getting funds from the interior ministry, Azov is
believed to be getting support from among Ukrainian super-rich
oligarchs.
Biletsky did not say whether and how his views have changed since he
wrote the "Patriot of Ukraine" program but said his priority now was
extinguishing the pro-Russian rebellion.
"We have only one goal right now - fighting for the homeland until
all of it is freed. And then we will try to build a new Ukraine that
we could all be proud of. We are patriots. We believe in our nation,
nationalism is our ideology," he said.
Biletsky, a historian by education who is married with a son, was
detained in 2011 on charges of assaulting a man.
He was released after an amnesty in February 2014 and his aides
dismiss the case as an example of political persecution of Ukrainian
nationalists under Ukraine's ousted president and Moscow ally Viktor
Yanukovich.
He has since been elected to the Ukrainian parliament, riding a wave
of an increased nationalist sentiment in Ukraine triggered by the
war.
PRESSURE ON KIEV
Some Ukrainian politicians have defended Biletsky and his troops as
patriots. There is lingering doubt, however, over what role Azov
might play when the military conflict ends and whether its members
could challenge President Petro Poroshenko and his government or
threaten the wider public security.
Biletsky has criticized Poroshenko for losing out on in an
information war against Russia and the rebels, and is dismissive of
the chances for a negotiated solution to the conflict.
"How can we settle it peacefully if part of our territory is
occupied? Will they give us Crimea back? How can there be a peaceful
way to stop an aggression?," he said.
In a sign of persistent tensions between the pro-Ukrainian volunteer
battalions and Ukraine's regular army, Biletsky blamed Ukraine's top
military commanders for battlefield defeats.
He said he has lost about 60 men in the conflict and wants a revamp
of Ukraine's armed forces to promote a new generation of field
commanders who have fought on the ground in a conflict that has
killed more than 6,000 people.
"We have loads of generals brought up in the Soviet Union who have
no idea of combat, who rose as state officials in uniforms rather
than commanding officers in the field. These people don't want to
and don't know how to fight."
($1 = 19.0000 hryvnia)
(Additional reporting by Pavel Polityuk in Kiev; Editing by Timothy
Heritage and Anna Willard)
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