August 12, 2022

Azov, a New Terror?


Azov, a New Terror?
Flag of the Azov Regiment Wikimedia Commons, Spekaron

On August 2, 2022, The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation officially declared the Azov Regiment a “terrorist organization”.

The Azov Regiment was founded in May 2014 to fight in the Donbas War. The regiment soon after became a part of the National Guard of Ukraine. Previously stationed in Mariupol, the regiment has continued to battle Russian forces since the February 24, 2022 invasion.

The Azov Regiment has, however, used symbols that may associate it with neo-Nazism, and its leadership over the years has been known to make racist statements. According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, removing Nazi ideology was one of the initial objectives of invading Ukraine

Following the siege of Mariupol, Donetsk People’s Republic officials said captured Azov Regiment troops could receive the death penalty. Now, the highest court in Russia has declared the regiment a terrorist organization. Participants in the regiment could face 10 years in prison, and the leadership could get 20 years.

You Might Also Like

Not My Circus, Not My Monkeys
  • August 07, 2022

Not My Circus, Not My Monkeys

Performers from both the United States and Ukraine are invited to participate in a circus festival in St. Petersburg this fall.
Sanctioning Romance
  • August 06, 2022

Sanctioning Romance

Alina Kabaeva, Vladimir Putin's alleged romantic partner, has been sanctioned by the US Treasury. 
One Prison to the Next
  • July 19, 2022

One Prison to the Next

Russian prisoners with military experience are being recruited to join the fight in Ukraine.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar is a hilarious and insightful memoir by a diplomat who was “present at the creation” of US-Soviet relations. Charles Thayer headed off to Russia in 1933, calculating that if he could just learn Russian and be on the spot when the US and USSR established relations, he could make himself indispensable and start a career in the foreign service. Remarkably, he pulled it of.
Woe From Wit (bilingual)

Woe From Wit (bilingual)

One of the most famous works of Russian literature, the four-act comedy in verse Woe from Wit skewers staid, nineteenth century Russian society, and it positively teems with “winged phrases” that are essential colloquialisms for students of Russian and Russian culture.
Murder and the Muse

Murder and the Muse

KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.
The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas

This exciting new trilogy by a Russian author – who has been compared to Orhan Pamuk and Umberto Eco – vividly recreates a lost world, yet its passions and characters are entirely relevant to the present day. Full of mystery, memorable characters, and non-stop adventure, The Pet Hawk of the House of Abbas is a must read for lovers of historical fiction and international thrillers.  
Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

Maria's War: A Soldier's Autobiography

This astonishingly gripping autobiography by the founder of the Russian Women’s Death Battallion in World War I is an eye-opening documentary of life before, during and after the Bolshevik Revolution.
Marooned in Moscow

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.
Survival Russian

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.
The Samovar Murders

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955