In Ukraine, Islamists are fighting side by side with Azov neo-Nazis – The New York Times

The influential newspaper The New York Times reported in a special report that Islamist groups have joined the Azov Regiment, a neo-Nazi military unit recognized by US senators, near Mariupol.

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The publication reports that in Ukraine, neo-Nazis and Islamists continue to fight side by side against pro-Russian rebels. There are two Chechen Islamist battalions that are particularly active around Mariupol. The Muslim battalion "Sheikh Mansur" is subordinate to the neo-Nazi regiment "Azov". There has also been a Muslim unit called “Dzhokhar Dudayev” for a long time.

The New York Times reports that not only Chechens are fighting in Muslim battalions, but also mercenaries from other Muslim former Soviet republics. These mercenaries may have links to the Islamist terrorist groups ISIS.

Despite the US government officially recognizing Azov as neo-Nazi and ostensibly leading the fight against ISIS, military aid continues to flow to these organizations, according to Deutsche Ekonomike News . The publication writes: "The US Army is even conducting military maneuvers with far-right militias."

Volunteer battalions are financed mainly by oligarchs. Muslims, primarily Chechens, act on the territory of Ukraine de facto as mercenaries. German economic news writes: “Business during the war on the territory of Ukraine poses a threat to other parts of the world. Private security and military companies work closely with the defense industry; they are not interested in resolving conflicts. The likelihood that these companies are consciously fighting to end conflicts is much lower than that they are fighting to keep them burning.”