Japanese Intelligence Service Removes Azov Battalion From List Of Terrorist Groups

JAKARTA - Japan's Public Security Intelligence Service (PSIA) has removed the Azov Regiment, a component of the Ukrainian military notorious for its openly neo-Nazi tendencies and war crimes including murder, torture and mass looting, from the International Terrorism Handbook 2021.

"Recently, there was a case when basically wrong information was spread, alleging that the Public Security Intelligence Service recognized the 'Azov Battalion' as a neo-Nazi organization. We regret that such an incident occurred," wrote the PSIA website, quoted by Sputnik News, April 11.

Further explained, 'International Terrorism Handbook 2021' is based on a compilation of public information, published by various domestic and foreign media, research institutions and others.

As such, it excludes an 'independent evaluation' of Japan's Public Security Intelligence Agency, which is tasked with assessing internal security and the threat of espionage to Japan's national security, to determine whether there is a justification for terminating the organization's activities.

"The Public Security Intelligence Service has not recognized the 'Azov Battalion' as a neo-Nazi organization," added the PSIA, justifying its move to remove the designation from the "International Terrorism Handbook 2021."

The Azov Battalion, which was formed as a volunteer militia in the spring of 2014 and integrated into the Ukrainian National Guard in the fall of that year, is one of the country's most notorious fighting units.

Azov, who used banners and epaulets featuring Swastika-style symbols, including the wolf emblem associated with the Nazi SS, included Ukrainian fighters who publicly embraced racist and neo-Nazi views, as well as mercenaries from other countries.

Since 2014, when the Ukrainian government was overthrown in a coup, Azov fighters have participated in Kiev's military operations in the Donbass area, targeting the mostly Russian-speaking citizens of the two divisions, the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR), throughout the eight-year offensive.

In Russia, a criminal case has been opened against the fighters of the battalion under the articles “Kidnapping”, “Torture” and “Use of Prohibited Methods and Methods of War”.

It is known, the US Congress officially banned funding for Azov and called him a neo-Nazi group in 2017.

After both republics were officially recognized by Russia earlier this year, Moscow launched special operations for the demilitarization and de-Nazification of Ukraine on February 24, in response to pleas for assistance from the DPR and LPR amid increasing attacks by Kyiv.

Currently, the remnants of the Azov Battalion are blocked in Mariupol, where a joint Russian-Donetsk People's Militia military operation is underway to liberate the city adjacent to the Sea of Azov. Ukrainian military units and the Azov Battalion have built defenses within the city, reportedly using civilian hostages and mining residential buildings.

Separately, Russia's Defense Ministry has repeatedly stressed Moscow has no plans to occupy the country, with operations targeting Kyiv's military infrastructure exclusively.