Jailed Belarusian activist Protasevich spent Donbass War with Neo-Nazi Azov Battalion, but was it as a soldier or journalist?
That’s according to multiple sources, who have revealed that the Belarusian spent a long time with the Ukrainian militia. However, there is some debate about his role with the battalion, with some believing he was just a volunteer journalist, and others suggesting he was involved in fighting.
According to the first head of the regiment, writing on his Telegram channel on Tuesday, Protasevich “fought against the occupation of Ukraine together with Azov and other military units.”
“He was with us near Shirokino, where he was injured,” Andrey Biletsky explained. “But his weapon, as a journalist, was not a machine gun, but words.”
Founded in 2014, the Azov Battalion is a far-right military unit now incorporated into the National Guard of Ukraine. It fought during the height of the Donbass war, first seeing action at the Battle of Mariupol. The group is heavily linked to neo-Nazi ideology, with the regiment’s logo featuring a Wolfsangel, a symbol of many divisions of the Nazi German army during World War II. Four years after the war began, in 2018, the US Congress blocked military aid to Azov due to its white supremacist leanings.