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The Azov Regiment, which has far-right and ultra-nationalist
roots, has been one of the most prominent Ukrainian military
formations fighting against Russia in eastern Ukraine.
Russia has regularly cited Azov in support of its assertion that
Ukraine is controlled by "fascists". Russian state propaganda
has compared Azov fighters to World War Two-era Nazis, whose
defeat by the Soviet Union remains a core part of Russian
national identity.
Previously based in the eastern Ukrainian port city of Mariupol,
many of the regiment's personnel were captured by Russian forces
when the city fell in May after an almost three month long
siege.
Officials in the Donetsk People's Republic, the Russian-backed
entity which claims Mariupol as part of its territory, said in
May that captured Azov Regiment fighters could face the death
penalty under the self-proclaimed republic's laws.
(Reporting by Reuters; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)
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