A member of the Azov Battalion has said in an interview with RT that he thought he would meet his end at the Azovstal steelworks besieged by Russian forces.
Correspondent Roman Kosarev spoke with Artem Sirik, his wife, Irina, and their 18-year-old son, Jan, over the weekend. All three captives, who are currently being held in the Donetsk People’s Republic, said they had been part of Ukraine’s infamous Azov nationalist regiment.
When asked if he considered the decision to surrender to be the right one, the man replied ambivalently.
“A decision was made to save lives and avoid unnecessary losses, so I believe it’s the right one. But on the other hand, of course, it’s a blow to one’s reputation,” Sirik said.
The Azov Battalion was formed back in May 2014 as a volunteer unit, with far-right activists making up its core.
The Azov Battalion fighters, along with the Ukrainian military and security services, fought against Donetsk and Lugansk regions following the violent coup in Kiev, which had overthrown a democratically elected government. Petro Poroshenko, who served as Ukraine’s president from 2014 to 2019, praised the volunteer unit as “our best warriors.” In November 2014, the Azov Battalion officially became part of Ukraine’s National Guard.
In mid-May, Russia’s prosecutor general’s office filed a lawsuit with the country’s Supreme Court, asking it to recognize the Azov regiment as a terrorist organization.
The court is expected to deliver its verdict in late June.