Who are Ukraine's ASOV Regiment
In Vladimir Putin recently mentioned one reason for launching his attack into Ukraine was to de-militarize and de-Nazify Ukraine. What was he talking about? Was it a comment in western liberalism that if anyone disagrees with a leftist belief, they are a Nazi? Hardly.
The ASOV battalion is a volunteer military organization that was formed in mid 2014. It originated out of the Ultra Nationalist Patriot of Ukraine and the neo-Nazi Social National Assembly (SNA). Both groups hold neo-Nazi beliefs and have been known to attack and injury or kill migrants and others who do not share their beliefs.
In 2014 the Ukraine government recognized ASOV to assist in fighting Russian separatists and utilized them as part of the Ukrainian military.
The United Nations Human Rights Office (OCHA) accused ASOV or Human Rights Violations for occupying and storing weapons in civilian buildings, raping and looting civilians and torturing individuals in the region known as Donbas. Donbas was one of the regions recently recognized by Putin as independent from Ukraine.
The U.S. Congress has repeatedly requested that the U.S. designate ASOV as a foreign terrorist organization.
