Voice of America receives confirmation from US State Department about lifting of ban on providing arms for Azov

The US Department of State has confirmed that the long-standing ban on the provision of US-supplied weapons to the Azov Brigade has been lifted. 

Holos Ameryky (Voice of America) with reference to an anonymous State Department official reported that the US had lifted the ban on the transfer of US weapons to Azov after a Department of State inspection found no evidence of gross human rights violations by the National Guard unit.

In the comment, the Department of State noted that Russian disinformation has been working actively to discredit the Azov National Guard Brigade.

Since 2017, Azov has been prohibited from receiving weapons and other assistance provided by the US to Ukraine as part of military aid packages and from participating in US exercises. The restrictions were imposed under the 1961 law, which prohibits the US government from using funds to assist foreign forces if there is reliable information that the unit is involved in gross human rights violations.

Later, the Azov press service said it had received confirmation from the US Embassy in Ukraine that the brigade was now eligible to receive US aid.

"This was the result of long and thorough work that Azov soldiers have systematically carried out to combat the successful results of Russian propaganda. Receiving Western weapons and training from the United States will not only increase the combat capability of Azov, but, most importantly, will help save the lives and health of the brigade's personnel," the Azov press service said, adding that it would like to thank everyone involved in this result.

Earlier, The Washington Post reported that the United States was lifting a long-standing ban on arms supplies to Azov, citing a comment from the State Department.

Recently, Denys Prokopenko, the commander of the 12th Azov Special Forces Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine, called for the removal of Azov from any blacklists that prohibit the receipt of Western weapons in a blog post for Ukrainska Pravda. He noted that there was no evidence or confirmation of the accusations that Russian propaganda had been levelling against Azov for 10 years.