US lifts ban on sending weapons to Ukraine’s controversial Azov brigade

Soldiers of 12th Special Forces Brigade Azov of the National Guard at the front line, near Kreminna in January [Efrem Lukatsky/AP Photo]

The United States has lifted a ban on providing weapons and training to the Azov brigade, a controversial Ukrainian military unit that played a central role in the 2022 defence of the southeastern city of Mariupol.

The US State Department said in a statement on Tuesday that there had been a “thorough review” of the current Azov brigade and “no evidence” of human rights violations had been found.