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VICE News

We Embedded with the Azov Battalion While They Trained and Conducted a Patrol

The group is allegedly linked to neo-Nazism.

Based in Mariupol, Ukraine, the Azov Battalion is a volunteer militia allegedly linked to neo-Nazism. The fighters have been very active during the crisis in Eastern Ukraine, carrying out nightly patrols around the city and manning checkpoints. VICE News correspondent Simon Ostrovsky recently embedded with the battalion while they trained and conducted a patrol, and then he watched as they retreated from their outposts when pro-Russia separatists began firing artillery toward the city.