The video, captured by a Ukrainian fighter’s helmet camera, shows soldiers advancing in trenches and firing with assault rifles and mortars attached to them.
According to the text uploaded to YouTube, the video shows how the men of the 3rd separate assault brigade strike the positions of the Russian mercenary company Wagner on the Bahmut front.
The text claims that the operation was a success and the enemy was destroyed. The video has collected more than four million views in a couple of weeks.
The infamous Wagner would seem to have a tough opponent. It is a new military unit linked to the nationalist, social-political Azov movement.
A far-right politician Andrii Biletsky announced at the end of January in Telegram that the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade is now part of the Ukrainian Ground Forces.
Biletski said that their battle path starts from the most difficult direction, Bahmut.
– The winter will definitely be hot, Biletski finished his message.
Biletski is the first commander of the original Azov regiment, known as the defender of Mariupol, and the leader of the far-right National Corps party, which is part of the Azov movement.
Read more: Such is the “Nazi battalion” Azov regiment, which, according to Russia, is the reason for the war in Ukraine
The goal is to unite the Azov units
The 3rd Separate Assault Brigade is a long-awaited unit whose purpose was to unite all units of the Ukrainian Territorial Defense Forces using the Azov title under one command, a researcher describes in a video call to Kacper Rekawek.
He works at The Center for Research on Extremism at the University of Oslo. Rekawek has familiarized himself, for example, with foreign fighters fighting in Ukraine.
The Azov Assault Brigade is therefore different from the original, famous Azov Regiment of the National Guard of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine. But veterans of the Azov Regiment are to lead the new assault brigade.
Regional defense forces linked to the Azov movement have operated in Kyiv, Dnipro and Kharkiv, among others.
However, according to Rekawek, uniting all Azov units under one command has not been completely successful.
For example, the notorious Kraken regiment, founded by Azov veterans operating under the Ukrainian military intelligence, did not join the new assault brigade.
Kraken, which operates in the Kharkiv region, consists of, among other things, football hooligans, porters and “salirot”, he says The Washington Post magazine (you will switch to another service). Kraken has been accused of mistreating Russian prisoners of war.
The Battle of Bahmut was of great importance to Azov
The confrontation with Wagner in Bahmut is, from the point of view of the Azov movement, a great way to gather attention and glory, Rekawek estimates.
The Russian armed forces and Wagner’s forces have been trying to surround Bahmut for months. The battles in the area are among the bloodiest of the Russian war of aggression.
According to the researcher, the Azov movement can present Bahmut’s situation in such a way that the “alleged Nazis” are now participating in an epic battle against the greatest evil, that is, Wagner’s mercenary army consisting of criminals released from prison and the Russian far-right.
Wagner’s forces have been accused of war crimes in Ukraine and African countries.
Rekawek states that he does not know to what extent the videos released by the Azov Assault Brigade depict authentic combat situations.
– I have heard that they would have one battalion in the Bahmut area. One battalion can mean 100 to 600 men, but they suffer heavy losses.
Rekawek reminds that Ukraine has many different forces in Bahmut, so the importance of the Azov assault brigade for Ukraine is small, but the presence of the Azov movement is of great value.
Russia can gain an advantage in propaganda
The participation of the new Azov unit in the Bahmut battles may also benefit Russian war propaganda.
The researcher estimates that if Russia captures Azov’s soldiers, it will try to milk all possible benefits out of the matter.
– This is like a ping pong match. On one side is Wagner and on the other is Azov. They respond to each other in the same measure, because apparently this war is allegedly about “denazification”, Rekawek describes.
However, according to him, it is unclear whether the rank and file of the Azov Assault Brigade has anything to do with Ukrainian nationalism. According to Rekawek, the crowd is said to be ordinary “boys from the neighborhood”.
According to Rekawek, it is also not known how many soldiers the new assault brigade has. In principle, there could be 1,000–2,000 of them, but the unit is constantly trying to recruit new people to its ranks. According to Rekawek, it refers to a staff shortage.
The original Azov regiment of about 1,200 fighters suffered heavy losses during the siege of Mariupol. In the end, Russia captured the city. Hundreds of Azov soldiers remained Russian prisoners of war. According to Rekawek, currently the Azov regiment is undergoing reorganization.
In August, the Russian Supreme Court defined the Azov Regiment as a terrorist organization. The decision enabled long prison sentences for members of the regiment.
A political dimension in the background
At the moment, it is a mystery how widely the Azov movement and the National Corps party will seek to use the new attack brigade politically, says Rekawek.
According to him, political representatives of the National Corps immediately arrived at the Bahmut front to claim that they were defending Bahmut when soldiers from the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade were said to be fighting in the area.
The Azov movement can claim that the Assault Brigade is their new military branch. But in practice they don’t manage it, Rekawek states.
– Political leaders cannot sit in Kiev and give orders to a military unit. But if they have “comrades” as officers, then they can claim it as a fraternal unit.
According to Rekawek, it now seems that the Azov movement is trying to gather attention and political gain with the help of the new attack brigade.
You can discuss the topic on Friday 17.2. until 11 p.m.