•The U.S. has lifted a ban on providing American weapons and training to Azov Brigade, a controversial Ukrainian military unit that was key to the defence of the major port city of Mariupol.
•The unit has drawn controversy over its early and allegedly continuing association with far-right groups and neo-Nazi ideology, its use of controversial symbols linked to Nazism, and allegations that members of the unit participated in human rights violations.
•The unit is designated a terrorist group by Russia since August 2022.
•It was founded in May 2014 as the Azov Battalion, a self-funded volunteer militia under the command of Andriy Biletsky, to fight Russian-backed forces in the Donbas War.
•It was formally incorporated into the National Guard in Nov 2014