US lifts weapons ban on Ukrainian military unit

The Biden administration will allow a Ukrainian military unit with a checkered past to use US weaponry, the State Department said Monday, having lifted a ban imposed years ago amid concerns in Washington about the group’s origins, reported from the Washington Post.

The Azov Brigade, known for its tenacious but ultimately unsuccessful defense of the Azovstal steel mill in Mariupol early in Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, is regarded as a particularly effective fighting force. But it was barred about a decade ago from using American arms because US officials determined that some of its founders espoused racist, xenophobic and ultranationalist views, and UN human rights officials accused the group of humanitarian violations.

Now the brigade, a one-time volunteer militia absorbed into the Ukrainian National Guard in 2015, will have access to the same US military assistance as any other unit. The policy shift was disclosed as Kyiv starts the summer fighting season and faces down a Russian military that has intensified its pressure on objectives in eastern Ukraine and the country’s energy infrastructure.

"After thorough review, Ukraine’s 12th Special Forces Azov Brigade passed Leahy vetting as carried out by the US Department of State,” the agency said in a statement, referring to the "Leahy Law” that prevents US military assistance from going to foreign units credibly found to have committed major human rights violations. It is named for former senator Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), who wrote the legislation.

The State Department found no evidence of such violations, its statement says.

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