Not really shocking:
Newly leaked documents appear to indicate that the FBI actually used taxpayer dollars to fund a Ukrainian National Guard unit whose members are linked to neo-Nazi ideology and have ties to the riot in Charlottesville, Va., in August 2017, just a few months after then-President Donald Trump’s term had begun.
The documents identify the “Azov Battalion” as the recipient of those funds, as well as reveal a great deal of coordination between neo-Nazi groups based in the U.S. and the Ukrainian National Guard unit.
According to the documents, the funds were diverted to these various organizations in an attempt to destabilize the West, and the U.S. in particular, during Trump’s presidency by inflaming racial tensions, which continued throughout his term and culminated in the “Floyd’s Rebellion” riots throughout 2020, En-Volve.com reported last week.
[...]
According to Jacobin Magazine, which linked to a criminal complaint filed by FBI Special Agent Scott Bierwirth in October 2018 (
.pdf file here), a 2018 bureau affidavit states that the Azov Battalion “is believe to have participated in training and radicalizing United States-based white supremacy organizations,” to include members of the Rise Above Movement (RAM), some of whom were prosecuted for planned assaults on counterprotesters at events like the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville.
Added DailyVeracity.com: “While the US government focuses on jailing and sanctioning right-wing dissidents in the US using the help of tech companies, uncovered documents reveal the US indirectly sent taxpayer dollars to neo-nazi groups and Charlottesville rioters abroad. This means that funding of the Azov Battalion specifically designed for countering Russian influence within Ukraine, indirectly helped train one of the most prominent groups prosecuted after the 2017 Charlottesville rally.”
The Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University in California,
which tracks the RAM organization, also noted:
RAM was hosted by Olena Semenyaka, head of the National Corps, the political wing of the Azov Battalion, a unit of the Ukrainian National Guard with neo-Nazi and white supremacist affiliations. Semenyaka later stated that Rundo and his compatriots “came to learn our ways” and “showed interest in learning how to create youth forces in the ways Azov has.” During their visit, the RAM members joined the Azov Battalion for sparring at the Reconquista Club, a mixed martial arts (MMA) club affiliated with the group. Rundo entered an MMA competition for white supremacists from across Europe, supposedly the first American to take part in the history of the event. While in Kiev, Rundo also got a tattoo of the Viking warrior logo of White Rex, a clothing label founded by Russian MMA fighter and Azov Battalion associate Denis Nikitin.
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The U.S. military is also aware of the situation.
“A number of prominent individuals among far-right extremist groups in the United States and Europe have actively sought out relationships with representatives of the far-right in Ukraine, specifically the National Corps and its associated militia, the Azov Regiment,” says
a 2020 report from the West Point US Military Academy’s Combating Terrorism Center. “US-based individuals have spoken or written about how the training available in Ukraine might assist them and others in their paramilitary-style activities at home.”
Newly leaked documents appear to indicate that the FBI actually used taxpayer dollars to fund a Ukrainian National Guard unit whose members are linked to neo-Nazi ideology and have ties to the riot in Charlottesville, Va., in August 2017, just a few months after then-President Donald Trump’s...
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