MYTH 3: SINCE 2014, FIGHTERS OF THE AZOV BRIGADE HAVE BEEN PERSECUTING RUSSIAN-SPEAKING CIVILIANS IN THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES OF DONETSK AND LUHANSK REGIONS

Anniversary of the liberation of Mariupol. June, 2017

Anniversary of the liberation of Mariupol. June, 2021

Ukraine is a post-colonial territory, which for centuries was forcibly incorporated into the Russian Empire. In order to unify the population, the Russian Empire authorities destroyed the cultural heritage of the countries it occupied, banned national languages and imposed the Russian language on all people living within the borders of its territories.

The USSR, which succeeded the Russian Empire, continued the same policy of oppressing peoples and their identities to consolidate its own tyranny. The Soviet Union exterminated national elites, censored culture and education, and created narratives convenient to itself. Because of that, a large number of people in Ukraine speak Russian, which is actively used by the Kremlin propaganda.

The military invasion in 2014, like the full-scale aggression in 2022, was justified by "protecting the rights of Ukraine's Russian-speaking population". This myth is paired with the Russian propaganda narrative that the western part of Ukraine has a feud with the eastern part.

The well-known American historian, Yale University professor Timothy Snyder, who specializes in the history of Eastern Europe and, in particular, Ukraine and Russia, noted:

The Ukrainian language endured several centuries of real oppression when the Russian Empire banned not only the publication of books in it, but also the use of Ukrainian both in school and in public life. In addition, Russian remained a privileged language in both the Russian Empire and the USSR. That is why many Ukrainians have become Russified over several generations.

Azov is the ultimate proof of the artificial nature of the conflict in eastern regions of Ukraine initiated by Russian special services in 2014. Azov's personnel comes from all parts of Ukraine. Brigade commander Denys Prokopenko was born in Kyiv, chief of staff Bohdan Krotevych is a Crimean, and deputy brigade commander Sviatoslav Palamar is from Lviv. Many Azov residents were born in the eastern regions of Ukraine: Mariupol, Donetsk and Kharkiv. For many Azov residents, Russian is their native language, but this in no way contradicts their patriotism, love for Ukraine and sense of their own identity. In 2014, it was these people who became the backbone for the creation of Azov, as the Russian army occupied their hometowns.