MYTH 1: AZOV BRIGADE FIGHTERS SHARE XENOPHOBIC, RACIST AND SEXIST VIEWS
Throughout the unit's history, representatives of different ethnicities and religions have served in it: Georgians, Armenians, Jews, Russians, Belarusians, Crimean Tatars, Greeks. Georgian Giorgi Kuparashvili, who played a key role in the creation of Azov, served in the unit for 9 years, in 2022 took part in the defense of Mariupol, was seriously wounded and evacuated by a helicopter.
During the Siege of Mariupol in 2022, 18 women serving in the Azov regiment were killed in combat.
Women also serve in the Azov Brigade. Svitlana Vorova has been serving in Azov since 2020. Her son, an Azov fighter, died in combat in 2015. Svitlana decided that she should continue the mission of her eldest son. She took part in the defense of Mariupol and was held in Russian captivity for 11 months.
My grandfather fought in World War II against the Nazis. He was injured three times. I was born in Mariupol and I take part in the defense of the city from the Russian Nazis. I will not talk about the difficulties we have in defense, participating in the Ukrainian defense through the Azov Regiment. This is my debt to my city, my debt as a man and I have to talk about the catastrophic conditions in which Greek Mariupol finds itself,
"
Azov combat medic Asan "Hasan" Isenadzhiev is a Crimean Tatar who practices Islam and is known for his address to Turkish President Recep Erdogan from the Azovstal plant during its siege by Russian troops.
Giorgi “Gio” Kuparashvili
Oksana Bondarenko and Yaroslava Kashka. 2023
Asan “Hasan” Isenadzhiev during his service in Azov. October, 2021
Svitlana “Hratsiia” Vorova (right) and Oksana “Zhyva” Mamchur. Mariupol, February 24, 2022
During the defense of Azovstal, Azov fighter Michael, an ethnic Greek, appealed to the Greek parliament to help Ukraine and the defenders of Mariupol. He is currently in Russian captivity. He told Parliament:
Also quite a lot of women serve in Azov medical corps (for example, a combat medic with the call sign "Lastivka" and the head of the medical corps' communications department Rina Reznik), in Azov's press service (for example, camera operator Oksana Bondarenko and photographer Elizabeth Servatynska) and in the brigade's recruiting service (for example, the head of the recruiting service Yaroslava Kashka).
Elizabeth Servatynska. 2023
"Lastivka" and Rina Reznik. 2023
Colonel Bakhva Chikobava, a Georgian army officer, was killed during the defense of Mariupol on March 19, 2022. Bakhva Chikobava was a veteran of the Russian-Georgian war and a legend of the Georgian Special Forces. In 2014, he moved to Ukraine and became an instructor at the Azov Special Forces Detachement in 2014. Prior to the full-scale Russian invasion on February 22, 2022, Bakhva, along with a group of other Georgian instructors, arrived in Mariupol to join his alma mater unit amid the military escalation. Together with a small group of sergeants from the Military Commanders School, Azov and National Guard fighters held the city's defense from the north. He was shot at close range with small arms when he came to help fighters of a neighboring unit escape from an operational encirclement.
Bakhva Chikobava. 2015
Giorgi “Gio” Kuparashvili
Asan “Hasan” Isenadzhiev during his service in Azov. October, 2021
Svitlana “Hratsiia” Vorova (right) and Oksana “Zhyva” Mamchur. Mariupol, February 24, 2022
"Lastivka" and Rina Reznik. 2023
Oksana Bondarenko and Yaroslava Kashka. 2023
Elizabeth Servatynska. 2023
Bakhva Chikobava. 2015
Throughout the unit's history, representatives of different ethnicities and religions have served in it: Georgians, Armenians, Jews, Russians, Belarusians, Crimean Tatars, Greeks. Georgian Giorgi Kuparashvili, who played a key role in the creation of Azov, served in the unit for 9 years, in 2022 took part in the defense of Mariupol, was seriously wounded and evacuated by a helicopter.
MYTH 1: AZOV BRIGADE FIGHTERS SHARE XENOPHOBIC, RACIST AND SEXIST VIEWS
Azov combat medic Asan "Hasan" Isenadzhiev is a Crimean Tatar who practices Islam and is known for his address to Turkish President Recep Erdogan from the Azovstal plant during its siege by Russian troops.
Women also serve in the Azov Brigade. Svitlana Vorova has been serving in Azov since 2020. Her son, an Azov fighter, died in combat in 2015. Svitlana decided that she should continue the mission of her eldest son. She took part in the defense of Mariupol and was held in Russian captivity for 11 months.
During the defense of Azovstal, Azov fighter Michael, an ethnic Greek, appealed to the Greek parliament to help Ukraine and the defenders of Mariupol. He is currently in Russian captivity. He told Parliament:
My grandfather fought in World War II against the Nazis. He was injured three times. I was born in Mariupol and I take part in the defense of the city from the Russian Nazis. I will not talk about the difficulties we have in defense, participating in the Ukrainian defense through the Azov Regiment. This is my debt to my city, my debt as a man and I have to talk about the catastrophic conditions in which Greek Mariupol finds itself,
"
Also quite a lot of women serve in Azov medical corps (for example, a combat medic with the call sign "Lastivka" and the head of the medical corps' communications department Rina Reznik), in Azov's press service (for example, camera operator Oksana Bondarenko and photographer Elizabeth Servatynska) and in the brigade's recruiting service (for example, the head of the recruiting service Yaroslava Kashka).
During the Siege of Mariupol in 2022, 18 women serving in the Azov regiment were killed in combat.
Colonel Bakhva Chikobava, a Georgian army officer, was killed during the defense of Mariupol on March 19, 2022. Bakhva Chikobava was a veteran of the Russian-Georgian war and a legend of the Georgian Special Forces. In 2014, he moved to Ukraine and became an instructor at the Azov Special Forces Detachement in 2014. Prior to the full-scale Russian invasion on February 22, 2022, Bakhva, along with a group of other Georgian instructors, arrived in Mariupol to join his alma mater unit amid the military escalation. Together with a small group of sergeants from the Military Commanders School, Azov and National Guard fighters held the city's defense from the north. He was shot at close range with small arms when he came to help fighters of a neighboring unit escape from an operational encirclement.