- Azov battalion, the far-right militia defending the port city of Mariupol, eastern Ukraine, runs the course for children
- During the week-long course, they teach so-called ‘Azovets’ how to fire weapons and survive in a conflict zone
- Camp comes under command of Andriy Biletsky, who once admitted that the battalion ‘do not like ceasefire at all’
- Conflict broke out in April 2014, when separatists rebelled against rule of Kiev’s new Western-looking government
By STEPH COCKROFT FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 18:10 EST, 12 August 2015 | UPDATED: 03:20 EST, 13 August 2015
They’re the ultra-Nationalist swastika-loving battalion which is openly against the ceasefire agreed with pro-Russian separatists.
Now extremists from the Azov unit, a far-right neo-Nazi militia defending the port city of Mariupol in southeastern Ukraine, are teaching children as young as six how to fire guns in an attempt to entice them into the country’s bloody conflict.
Disturbing pictures have emerged from a military summer camp held on the outskirts of Kiev which show members of the voluntary group teaching so-called ‘Azovets’ how to behave as young fighters.
The children – which include girls and boys, some as young as six – are seen loading their guns, before taking part in exercises in which they crawl along the ground and fire at the enemy.
The camp comes under the command of Andriy Biletsky, who once admitted that the battalion ‘do not like ceasefire at all’. The Azov men use the neo-Nazi Wolfsangel (Wolf’s Hook) symbol on their banner and several members are white supremacists or anti-Semites.
The conflict broke out in April last year, when separatists rebelled in eastern Ukraine against the rule of Kiev’s new Western-looking government.
Since April 2014, more than 6,500 people have been killed in the war-torn country with experts warning the crisis could carry on for years, despite a peace deal being brokered in the Belarus capital Minsk in February.
h/t spaceclown99