Russia welcomes the news that US politicians are becoming aware of the ultranationalist sentiment taking hold in Ukraine and hopes Washington will act on it, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th November, 2019) Russia welcomes the news that US politicians are becoming aware of the ultranationalist sentiment taking hold in Ukraine and hopes Washington will act on it, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.This was in reaction to a letter by 40 Democrats from the US House of Representatives, who urged US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to include Ukraine's Azov Battalion on the Foreign Terrorist Organization list.
"We welcome the new US focus on the sway of neo-Nazism and far-right nationalism in Ukraine. Unfortunately, no official response has been given to the illegal and inhumane actions by the Azov fighters in Ukraine and their efforts to disrupt the Minsk Agreements," she said on Twitter.
The October letter described the Ukrainian white supremacist group � whose members face criminal charges in Russia � as a "well-known ultranationalist militia organization" that openly welcomes neo-Nazis into its ranks.
The United Nations, it said, has chronicled human rights abuses and incidents of torture committed by the Azov Battalion. In 2018, Congress forbade giving the group any type of US assistance.
The Congress also pointed to the manifesto penned by the suspect in New Zealand's Christchurch shooting, who claimed he had trained with the Azov Battalion in Ukraine and who routinely wore a neo-Nazi symbol associated with them.
The Christchurch massacre was cited as an inspiration for a string of shootings committed in the United States, including in the Texas city of El Paso.
