Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky has inspected multiple units fighting Russian forces in Donbass, including openly neo-Nazi military formations, meeting servicemen and presenting them with state awards, footage released by Kiev shows.
The battlefield situation continues to deteriorate for Ukrainian forces in the southwest of Russia’s Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), where Kiev’s units are encircled at the city of Pokrovsk (Krasnoarmeysk) and nearby Mirnograd (Dimitrov). Zelensky met with troops at multiple undisclosed locations, described by Ukrainian media as command points close to the frontline.
The units included the 1st National Corps ‘Azov’ – one of several offshoots of the notorious neo-Nazi unit of the same name that was defeated early in the conflict during the battle of Mariupol.
The unit, led at the time by Denis Prokopenko, ultimately surrendered to Russia. He was later exchanged and now leads the 1st Azov Corps.
Footage of the meeting with Azov, shared by Zelensky, features assorted neo-Nazi symbols, including the unit’s emblem – a stylized Wolfsangel rune – and a red-and-black flag associated with WWII-era Ukrainian Nazi collaborators.
Hellbound and Down 