April 17, 2025
The rise of Nazism in Germany was accompanied by the rise of its armed militants. These were used to fight opposing political parties and militia formations. They were ruthless.
The units were later known as the Waffen-SS:
After release from prison Hitler decided that he needed a paramilitary group to protect him personally. That group should be steadfastly faithful and loyal to him alone; not least to protect him from possible SA intrigues. Therefore Hitler established a personal bodyguard in his hometown München (Munich). Initially this group numbered only ten men with one officer. It was first called "Stoßtruppe Hitler" (Shock Troops Hitler). Again the title derived from divisional assaults groups from World War I. Later it was renamed "Schutz Staffel" (SS or Protection Squad).
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By 1932 the SS had some 30,000 men,...
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In March 1935 Hitler renounced the Treaty of Versailles and announced the expansion of the German Army and the formation of the SS Verfügungstruppen (SS VT or SS special purpose troops) as the core of a full military division. This unit was financed by the police budget to counter any Army fears.
After the start of the war the 'armed evil' grew further:
By 1939, four regiments (Standarten) had been organized.
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During the following winter and spring, regiments that had fought in Poland were expanded into brigades and later divisions.... These three divisions were to be the nucleus of the Waffen-SS in its subsequent rapid expansion.
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At the end of 1940, the Waffen-SS numbered slightly more than 150,000 men. By June 1944, it had grown to 594,000. Intended as an elite force, the Waffen-SS evolved due to the exigencies of war from the original SS concept of a military organization imbued with Nazi ideology and loyalty to Hitler into a polyglot force of decreasing combat effectiveness.
The Waffen-SS was not part of the regular army. It had its own financial resources. It recruited and trained its own officers through Nazi youth organizations. These were 'true believers'.
There are a lot of parallels between the rise of the Waffen SS and the Ukrainian Nazi formation known as Azov.
Azov started as a violent hooligan gang in Kharkov. It mixed nordic myth and Nazi ideology. It found rich oligarchs as sponsors and in exchange provided them with the necessary muscles to solve 'business conflicts'. It has its own youth organization and international network.
Already in 2014, after the U.S. instigated a coup against the elected government of Ukraine, the fascist background of the newly installed government was shining through. Prime Minister Yatsenyuk, selected by the State Department's Victoria Nuland, designated the Russian speaking people in east Ukraine who opposed him as "subhumans" i.e Untermenschen in Nazi speak.
In December 2014 the BBC(!) warned of the growing Nazi menace in Ukraine:
the ultra-nationalists have proven to be effective and dedicated fighters in the brutal war in the east against Russian-backed separatists and Russian forces, whose numbers also include a large contingent from Russia's far right.
As a result, they have achieved a level of acceptance, even though most Ukrainians are unfamiliar with their actual beliefs.
The volunteer Azov Battalion is a case in point.
Run by the extremist Patriot of Ukraine organisation, which considers Jews and other minorities "sub-human", external and calls for a white, Christian crusade against them, it sports three Nazi symbols, external on its insignia: a modified Wolf's Hook, a black sun (or "Hakensonne") and the title Black Corps, which was used by the Waffen SS.
Azov is just one of more than 50 volunteer groups fighting in the east, the vast majority of which are not extremist, yet it seems to enjoy special backing from some top officials:
- Interior Minister Arsen Avakov and his deputy Anton Gerashchenko actively supported the parliament candidacy of Andriy Biletsky, the Azov and Patriot of Ukraine commander
- Vadim Troyan, another top Azov official and Patriot of Ukraine member, was recently named police chief for the Kiev region
- Mr Korotkykh is also an Azov member
Ukraine's media have been noticeably silent on this subject.
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[A]lthough Ukraine is emphatically not run by fascists, far-right extremists seem to be making inroads by other means, as in the country's police department.
Ukraine's public is grossly under-informed about this. The question is, why doesn't anyone want to tell them?
A year after the 2014 coup the CIA secretly started to train Ukrainian paramilitary groups for an insurgency against an eventual Russian invasion:
The CIA is overseeing a secret intensive training program in the U.S. for elite Ukrainian special operations forces and other intelligence personnel, according to five former intelligence and national security officials familiar with the initiative. The program, which started in 2015, is based at an undisclosed facility in the Southern U.S., according to some of those officials.
The trainees included Azov units:
Despite sometimes open acknowledgement of its Nazism - its former commander once said the "historic mission" of Ukraine is to "lead the White Races of the world in a final crusade for their survival" in "a crusade against the Semite-led Untermenschen" - Azov was incorporated into the country's National Guard in 2014, owing to its effectiveness in fighting Russian separatists. US arms have flowed to the militia, NATO and US military officials have been pictured meeting with them, and members of the militia have talked about their work with US trainers and the lack of background screening to weed out white supremacists.
Given all this, it would be more of a surprise that the neo-Nazis of Azov haven't been trained in the CIA's clandestine make-an-insurgency program. And we're already seeing the early signs of blowback.
In 2022, three days after the launch of Russia's military operation in Ukraine, I warned that these units would come to haunt the west:
CIA support for Ukrainian Nazis has a long history.
Op-Ed - LA Times
A new Nazi insurgency in eastern Europe is an exceptionally bad idea. Fascist groups from everywhere would join in. A few years from now it may well lead to Nazi terror in many European countries. Have we learned really nothing from the war on Syria and the ISIS campaign?
Meanwhile 'western' media who had previously condemned Nazi units in Ukraine started to whitewash them:
Recently the New York Times, like many other 'western' outlets, has changed its language when reporting about the fascist Ukrainian Asov Battalion.
What was once "a Ukrainian neo-Nazi paramilitary organization" which even the FBI said is notorious for its "association with neo-Nazi ideology" was first relabeled as merely "far right" before it became a normal "unit in the Ukrainian military".
While propagandizing Nazi units the media have failed to point out the dangers of their growth:
During the war Azov has grown through active recruiting from "the Azov Battalion, a Ukrainian neo-Nazi paramilitary organization" into the Azov Regiment and, after losing in Mariupol, into a brigade size unit.
It has since, like the Waffen-SS previously, continued to grow and has now reached the size of a corps:
The very first corps formation within the National Guard is now a reality. On April 15, 2025, the Azov Brigade, along with several other National Guard units, officially announced the establishment of the new 1st "Azov" Corps of the Ukrainian National Guard, marking the creation of the Guard's first operational corps.
The formation of a corps is based on the 12th Special Purpose Brigade "Azov" has been anticipated for many months.
The 12th Brigade, now the 1st Azov Corps, is the main fascist unit in the National Guard. It had the resources and time to celebrate its new status with 3:48 minute 𝕏 propaganda video.
Another Azov unit, the 3rd Brigade is part of the regular Ukrainian military. It is also designated to expand into a corps:
According to Yuriy Butusov, the 3rd Assault Brigade will be restructured into the 3rd Army Corps. The new formation will be led by none other than Andriy Biletsky, the founder of the brigade and the Azov movement.
In NATO formations a corps has between 20,000 and 45,000 soldiers. While the newly formed ones in Ukraine are currently still smaller their designation as corps points to further growth.
Already the two Azov corps are 𝕏 the world's largest armed neo-Nazi formation. They are growing further through their own recruiting structures and youth organizations as well as by absorbing other 'nationalist' units.
These forces will become a serious danger for Europe:
Thomas Fazi @battleforeurope - 𝕏 9
A heavily Nazified army right on the EU's border that will turn against European countries for "stabbing them in the back" as soon as the war comes to an end. Ukraine is the real security threat to Europe, not Russia.
A first taste of the backlash from the western support for Nazis in Ukraine has created came with an assassination attempt against then presidential candidate Donald Trump:
Yesterday one avid U.S. supporter of the fascists in Ukraine tried to assassinate the Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump:
Jack Poso @JackPosobiec - 𝕏 1835493731639636383
EXCLUSIVE: Attempted Trump assassin Ryan Routh appeared in a propaganda video for the AZOV BATTALLION in May 2022
Embedded video
Routh, himself being too old to fight, had tried to hire foreign mercenaries to fight on the fascist side in Ukraine. He obviously targeted Trump because he had promised to dictate an end to the war in Ukraine.
As I have warned since years back:
Many more such incidents, predominantly in Europe, are likely to follow.
Reprinted with permission from Moon of Alabama.