Ukraine Brigade Defending Retreat Against Russia Offensive Has Murky Past

• Ukraine’s 3rd Separate Assault Brigade is supporting the withdrawal from the city of Avdiivka.
• The battle-hardened unit has a contentious political history.
• It emerged from a brigade linked to far-right groups and neo-Nazism.

Ukraine’s 3rd Separate Assault Brigade has been deployed to support the withdrawal from the city of Avdiivka in the Donetsk Oblast, announced on Saturday.

The brigade is fighting to stabilize the frontline by counterattacking Russian forces attempting to encircle Ukrainian forces in Avdiivka to conduct an orderly retreat, the Institute for the Study of War reported.

“Despite the fact that the occupiers are suffering disproportionate losses, the situation in Avdiivka remains extremely difficult,” said the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade’s Telegram account.

The brigade is led by a right-wing politician and former white nationalist

While it is one of Ukraine’s most battle-hardened units, the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade’s roots are controversial.

The brigade emerged from the Azov regiment and is led by a right-wing politician and former white nationalist, Andriy Biletsky.

In 2010, Biletsky said Ukraine is meant to “lead the white races of the world in a final crusade … against Semite-led Untermenschen (subhumans),” it was reported.

Biletsky founded the contentious Azov regiment, a volunteer militia, in 2014. Some of its members wear symbols of the Third Reich and have been backed by the alt-right and neo-Nazis in the US.

In 2018, The Guardian wrote that Andriy Biletsky had “toned down his rhetoric in recent years.”

The 3rd Seperate Assault Brigade was created through a merger of the Azov special forces units established by former Azov veterans following the siege of Mariupol in 2022.

In 2023, Biletsky said there was “no split” between the Azov Brigade and the 3rd Assault Brigade,” Ukrainska Pravda reported.

“The evolution of the Azov unit as a part of the Armed Forces will continue. We will embody military prowess, cold rage against the enemy and the desire to liberate our own in the fight against the occupiers on the way to our final victory. The time for the decisive battle has come,” per a translation by Ukrainska Pravda.

The brigade went on to receive acclaim for its role in defending the outskirts of Bakhmut throughout 2023. It also took part in the liberation of Kherson.

But fringe beliefs plaguing Ukrainian volunteer units have been weaponized by the Kremlin. Putin notoriously justified the full-scale invasion by claiming it was a “denazification campaign” and Nazis ran the Ukrainian government.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s democratically-elected president,Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is Jewish. His national approval rating peaked at over 90%.

Far-right ties have been documented on both sides of the war.

In 2022, the Russia-backed Donetsk People’s Republic rewarded one of its soldiers with a medal for killing Ukrainian “nationalists.” The fighter was pictured wearing neo-Nazi symbols while receiving his medal.

Adviivka has fallen

Ukrainian troops withdrew from the war-torn eastern town of Avdiivka on Saturday after months of fierce fighting.

In a post on Facebook, Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander in chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, wrote that he had decided to pull out of the region “to avoid encirclement and preserve the lives and health of servicemen.”

Withdrawn troops have been moved to “more favorable lines,” and they were “taking measures to stabilize the situation and maintain our positions,” Syrskyi continued.

Biletsky praised the fighting spirit of his men who fought to defend Avdiivka.

“I thank the soldiers for the worthy fight they gave the enemy in Avdiivka in the face of the total numerical superiority of the Russians in manpower, equipment, and shells. They did everything and more. I am grateful to everyone for their resilience,” said the commander of the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade, on Telegram.