Тейк 1.
The Azov men use the neo-Nazi Wolfsangel (Wolf’s Hook) symbol on their banner and members of the battalion are openly white supremacists, or anti-Semites.
“Personally, I’m a Nazi,” said “Phantom”, a 23-year-old former lawyer at the ceremony wearing camouflage and holding a Kalashnikov. “I don’t hate any other nationalities but I believe each nation should have its own country.” He added: “We have one idea: to liberate our land from terrorists.”

Тейк 2.
Mr Biletsky, a muscular man in a black T-shirt and camouflage trousers, said the battalion was a light infantry unit, ideal for the urban warfare needed to take cities like Donetsk.
The 35-year old commander began creating the battalion after he was released from pre-trial detention in February in the wake of pro-western protests in Kiev. He had denied a charge of attempted murder, claiming it was politically motivated.
A former history student and amateur boxer, Mr Biletsky is also head of an extremist Ukrainian group called the Social National Assembly. “The historic mission of our nation in this critical moment is to lead the White Races of the world in a final crusade for their survival,” he wrote in a recent commentary. “A crusade against the Semite-led Untermenschen.”

Тейк 3.
49. Other documented cases appear to be linked to the military presence in densely
populated civilian areas, such as towns near the contact line, and general impunity.
A man with a mental disability was subject to cruel treatment, rape and other forms
of sexual violence by eight to 10 members of the ‘Azov’ and ‘Donbas’ battalions in
August-September 2014. The victim’s health subsequently deteriorated and he was
hospitalized in a psychiatric hospital.
59. A resident of Mariupol was detained by three servicemen of the ‘Azov’
battalion on 28 January 2015 for supporting the ‘Donetsk people’s republic’. He
was taken to the basement of Athletic School No. 61 in Mariupol, where he was
held until 6 February 2015. He was continuously interrogated and tortured. He
complained about being handcuffed to a metal rod and left hanging on it, he was
reportedly tortured with electricity, gas mask and subjected to waterboarding and he
was also beaten in his genitals. As a result he confessed about sharing information
with the armed groups about the locations of the Government checkpoints. Only on
7 February, he was taken to the Mariupol SBU, where he was officially detained.

Тейк 4.
Dmitry – which he said is not his real name – is a native of east Ukraine and a member of the Azov battalion, a volunteer grouping that has been doing much of the frontline fighting in Ukraine's war with pro-Russia separatists. The Azov, one of many volunteer brigades to fight alongside the Ukrainian army in the east of the country, has developed a reputation for fearlessness in battle.
But there is an increasing worry that while the Azov and other volunteer battalions might be Ukraine's most potent and reliable force on the battlefield against the separatists, they also pose the most serious threat to the Ukrainian government, and perhaps even the state, when the conflict in the east is over. The Azov causes particular concern due to the far right, even neo-Nazi, leanings of many of its members.
Dmitry claimed not to be a Nazi, but waxed lyrical about Adolf Hitler as a military leader, and believes the Holocaust never happened. Not everyone in the Azov battalion thinks like Dmitry, but after speaking with dozens of its fighters and embedding on several missions during the past week in and around the strategic port city of Mariupol, the Guardian found many of them to have disturbing political views, and almost all to be intent on "bringing the fight to Kiev" when the war in the east is over.
The battalion's symbol is reminiscent of the Nazi Wolfsangel, though the battalion claims it is in fact meant to be the letters N and I crossed over each other, standing for "national idea". Many of its members have links with neo-Nazi groups, and even those who laughed off the idea that they are neo-Nazis did not give the most convincing denials.