Zelenskyy Celebrates Ukraine’s Revival of Paramilitary Units—Yes, Including ‘Azov’
Feb. 14, 2023, 2022 (EIRNS)—Ukraine’s new Minister of Internal Affairs Ihor Klymenko was hailed by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy yesterday in his Telegram post, according to Ukrinform: “Ihor Klymenko has been appointed Minister of Internal Affairs (IA) of Ukraine. He knows how and what needs to be done now to ensure that the National Police, National Guard, State Emergency Service, State Border Guard Service, Migration Service and the entire staff of the Ministry of Internal Affairs continue to work effectively and fight for our country’s victory.” He cited as a main task for the IA “that the Offensive Guard, which is currently being formed, becomes a strong element of our Defense and Security Forces.”
Klymenko replied:
“We are already forming the Offensive Guard and need to not only recruit volunteers, but also train them in a short time. We need to form truly combat units that will strengthen the security and defense forces of our country.” The Minister emphasized the need to bring to justice all those who committed war crimes, as well as collaborators. “Every war crime committed by the aggressor must be well documented. We cannot miss a single collaborator or traitor. All of them must receive a fair punishment,”
the Interior Minister emphasized.
What is the “Offensive Guard”? Ukraine’s Internal Affairs Ministry, infamous for their 2014 work under Arseniy Avakov with the Azov Battalion, the Aidar and other paramilitary groups, is now pushing an ‘Azov 2.0.’ Klymenko had announced in the last two weeks that the Interior Ministry has begun forming assault brigades known as the Offensive Guard to liberate the “temporarily occupied territories” of Ukraine:
“The decision to create assault brigades was made by our employees, who have enough rage to beat the enemy. Many of our servicemen who have defended and are defending our country came up with the initiative to recruit people to such units. Therefore, it was decided that all those who are willing, who are patriots, and who lost their homes or relatives due to the war should be united in such brigades. We have already started forming units that are aimed at liberating our territories and reaching internationally recognized borders.... First and foremost, these are people who went through the crucible of 2014-2015.”
The core of the Offensive Guard, then, are the hardened paramilitary leaders, those whom the West has been assured have been folded into the regular army.
Six assault brigades will be formed under the IA’s National Guard, bearing names such as “Hurricane,” “Spartan” and “Azov.” These are assumedly the brigades to take Crimea, the Donbass, Zaporozhye and Kherson. The Hurricane’s tagline is “the disposal brigade of the Russian military.”
The IA’s National Police has one assault brigade, named “Rage.” Their rage is to be deployed against internal enemies, collaborationists and traitors. If their recruits have previously lost a friend or family member in battle, that is even better.
The IA’s spokeswoman Marjana Reva explained that the Offensive Guard begins with “already active policemen and military personnel who have gone through the crucible of war—who know how to defend Ukraine.” New recruits get to choose their preferred brigade, and they get good pay and benefits.
The original 2014 paramilitaries, Azov, Aidar, etc., were key, not because the regular army was too small, but because the regular army could not be counted upon to shoot down their then-fellow citizens in the Donbass. The paramilitaries were organized out of the most violent of the Maidan activists, who, after overthrowing the elected government with State Department funding, they immediately deployed into the Donbass to enforce the coup upon those who had voted heavily for that government. The last week has seen Kiev systematically tap into revenge and rage, to be deployed against those who voted so overwhelmingly to be part of Russia.
(In Telegram yesterday, Zelenskyy reveals his philosophy: “It is impossible to completely erase evil from human nature. Yet, it is in our power to guarantee with words and deeds that the light side of human nature will prevail. The side you and us share. And this stands above anything else.”)
