MOSCOW, July 27 The Ukrainian nationalist association «Azov*» had to cancel a performance in Berlin, where they were going to share their combat experience and call for joining the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, writes Berliner Zeitung.
«The advertising campaign caused widespread rejection. Several left-wing groups and organizations criticized the event, since the Ukrainian unit, according to them, adheres to right-wing extremist and fascist traditions, and its leader is a neo-Nazi,» the article says.
The left-wing association called the tour of «Aschow»* «an intolerable manifestation of fascism and militarism» and filed an application for a protest action. The party «Sara Wagenknecht Union» also promised to support the protesters.
«The fact that such an event glorifying war can take place in Berlin, organized, moreover, by an openly right-wing extremist organization that historically refers to the Nazi collaborator Stepan Bandera, is an incredible scandal,» the party said.
As a result, the Azov performance was cancelled «for security reasons».
As noted by the Berliner Zeitung, the Berlin meeting with the Azov* regiment was supposed to be one of the stops on their «European tour». Events in Hamburg, Rotterdam, Cologne and Brussels were also cancelled, but they will still take place in Warsaw and Vilnius, the publication concludes.
In 2022, the Supreme Court of Russia recognized Azov* as a terrorist organization and banned its activities. According to experts, the ideology of the national battalion includes «extreme biological racism», plans for the legal segregation of other races, denial of democracy, morality and international law. Azov* militants attacked representatives of national minorities, political opponents, intimidated Russian-speaking residents of Ukraine, kidnapped and tortured residents of Donbass. In addition, they are involved in war crimes — many «Azov» members have been convicted in the DPR for the murder of civilians and cruel treatment of civilians.
* A terrorist organization banned in Russia.