Battalion “Azov” was established on May 5, 2014 in the city of Berdyansk as a battalion of the special purpose militia patrol service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine on the basis of the decision of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine. The battalion was formed on the basis of the Ukrainian guerrilla unit “Black Corps”, which voluntarily participated in the Anti-Terrorist Operation in eastern Ukraine, in particular in Kharkiv region and the Azov region in 2014.
Photographers Vyacheslav Ratinsky and Anatoly Stepanov documented the first training of Azov fighters, solemn conductions to the front of the first volunteers, as well as the fighting in the village of Shyrokyne, where the battalion maintained a long defense.
“Black housing”
The special purpose battalion of the Ministry of Internal Affairs “Azov” was created on May 5, 2014. Its predecessor was the formation of the “Black Corps”, which participated in the ATO in the Donbas. The detachment consisted mainly of representatives of the eastern and southern regions of Ukraine. The members of the battalion were called “black men”, contrasting with the “green men” — Russian soldiers in green uniforms without identification signs, who occupied the territory of Crimea.
The formation “Black Corps” was created by the recently released political prisoner Andriy Biletsky on the night of February 28 to March 1, 2014. The base of the detachment was formed by a member of the party of Biletsky “Patriot of Ukraine”, Kharkiv ultras and active participants of Euromaidan. On the same night, the “Black Corps” stormed the Oplot club, the main headquarters of pro-Russian activists in Kharkiv. On March 1, 2014, Andriy Biletsky defended the Kharkiv Regional State Administration with the formation of the “Black Corps”.
On the night of March 15, 2014, the “Black Corps” unit fought with pro-Russian forces on Rymarska Street in Kharkiv. This was the first combat clash in which the pro-Russian side suffered casualties. As a result of the firefight, the separatists had at least two dead and five seriously wounded. The Ukrainian side had no losses. In the morning, the fighters of the detachment “Black Corps” after long negotiations laid down their arms and surrendered to the militia. After several days of arrest and trial in Poltava, the participants of the “Black Corps” were released.
“Black Corps” was completed during March-April 2014 in Poltava region. Subsequently, the headquarters of the detachment moved to Kiev. The training and mobilization center of the detachment is located in the building of the old building of the hotel “Kozatsky”, which was seized by activists during the Revolution of Dignity. Groups of fighters recruited and trained here periodically carried out raids on Kharkiv region. At this time, black uniforms appear in the squad — a purchased form of guards. The squad was nicknamed “black men”.
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On May 1, 2014, the last Black Corps raid on Kharkiv took place. As a result, the mass demonstration announced by pro-Russian forces with the subsequent seizure of power in Kharkiv did not take place.
“Azov”
During 5—7 May 2014, the Black Corps raided the city of Mariupol. The “Black Corps” successfully repelled an attempt to capture the city police department, eliminated the ambush at the entrance to the city and captured the first Minister of Defense of the “DPR” Igor Hakimzyanov, along with him about 30 other militants. During the raid, the formation of the “Black Corps” was legalized and on its basis a battalion of special purpose militia “Azov” was created.
On September 17, 2014, by order of the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, the battalion “Azov” was reorganized and expanded into the special purpose militia regiment “Azov” of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In the elections to the Verkhovna Rada, Andriy Biletsky won in the 217th district of Kyiv and became a People's Deputy.
On November 11, the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine signed an order to transfer the regiment “Azov” to the National Guard of Ukraine, with the subsequent completion of it to the combat standard of the brigades of the National Guard. Today the unit “Azov” is a separate special purpose unit “Azov” of the military unit 3057 of the National Guard of Ukraine. In February 2023, a separate special purpose detachment “Azov” became the 12th special purpose brigade “Azov” of the National Guard of Ukraine.
As part of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, the unit “Azov” participated in military operations on the territory of the Anti-Terrorist Operation, the Joint Forces Operation, as well as throughout Ukraine.
At the beginning of May 2014, the Azov battalion numbered 150 fighters and took part in the liberation of Mariupol. In August, the battalion was in Ilovaisk, where the Ukrainian military was surrounded. On August 20, the commander of “Azov” Andrei Biletsky, after the loss of seven fighters, ordered the battalion to be withdrawn from the encirclement. After leaving Ilovaisk “Azov” held the defense near Mariupol. The fighters managed to hit the tank of the militants, destroy the SAU and the enemy's mortars.
Since the beginning of February 2015, the fighters of the Azov regiment together with the battalion “Donbass” and the 37th brigade of the Armed Forces participated in the offensive operation, during which they managed to establish control over a number of settlements: Pavlopil, Berdyansky, Shyrokyny and Lebedinsky.
The fighting in the village of Shyrokyne practically leveled the settlement with the ground. On July 1, militants said that they declared Shyrokyne a demilitarized zone as a “gesture of goodwill”. “Azov” was also withdrawn from the front line, the marines took its place.
Wires to the front
Ukrainian photographer Vyacheslav Ratinsky photographed the wires of volunteers of the future regiment “Azov” to the front in 2014-2015. At first they were sent from the courtyard of the hotel “Cossack”.
Then there were several dozen fighters. Instead, at the beginning of the summer of 2014, about a hundred fighters had already gathered on Sofia Square in Kyiv. “The boys were brought by several buses, the event was announced and there were many journalists and photographers on the square,” recalls Vyacheslav Ratynsky. - Sofia Square is a very symbolic place. It's like a hundred years ago in an old photo-video chronicle with Petlyra and Hrushevsky and the units of the Sichov Riflemen”. Ratinsky adds that the rallies were held very solemnly: the boys were in uniform and balaclavas, marched, stopped in the square and read “Prayer of the Ukrainian Nationalist”. Their relatives and girls came to escort the fighters. After the Revolution of Dignity, Ukraine received considerable attention from the foreign press, so the wires of the fighters were shot by many foreign photographers.
“The time and place of training of the fighters were also announced to the press, because the military were interested in stories about themselves. I loved shooting the training of Azov fighters, it was always bright and dynamic. The theme of the military, in particular volunteers, was popular, and I was interested in it,” explains Vyacheslav Ratynskyi. At the time, it was difficult to agree to join the regular army, although open training was held at training grounds from time to time, but volunteer formations were open to communication. “It was easy to arrange filming with volunteer battalions and easy to work with,” says the photographer.
In training, the fighters were with their faces open. Vyacheslav Ratynskyi says that he filmed training at the end of 2014 and in the summer of 2015. “Now I have a feeling of dejave, because now in the same place I am shooting new young volunteers, but still the same old war. I wonder where the guys from the 2014-2015 photos are, are they all alive and healthy? Probably not all, because in those photos I find guys with amputations.”
In battle
Ukrainian photographer Anatoly Stepanov filmed Azov fighters at positions in the village of Shyrokyne, located east of Mariupol. The village was one of the strategic points on the path of a possible offensive on Mariupol, so at the end of summer 2014, on the western outskirts of Shyrokyne, the Ukrainian military began to build fortifications. The forward positions of the Russian military were at a distance of up to two kilometers from the village. It was Shyrokyne that was not fully controlled by Ukrainian forces or separatists.
At the beginning of September, armed formations of the so-called “DPR” struck Ukrainian positions with artillery and, with the support of tanks, went on the offensive. The attack was repulsed, the Ukrainian units suffered casualties wounded and withdrew from their positions. On September 5, “Azov” fighters returned to their positions and repulsed a new assault. On the same day, the First Minsk Agreement was signed, according to which a truce was to begin. The village of Shyrokyne fell into a 30-kilometer security zone, from which heavy weapons were to be withdrawn, and received neutral status. However, until February 2015, groups of “DPR” militants were based in the village, and their armored vehicles entered the village.
Already on January 24, 2015, the head of the so-called “DNR” Oleksandr Zakharchenko announced the beginning of the offensive on Mariupol. On February 10, the “Shyrokyn Operation” of Ukrainian forces began, during which it was supposed to divert separatist formations from Debaltseve and protect Mariupol from shelling. By the end of the day, Ukrainian fighters, including Azova, were in complete control of Shyrokyne, although there continued fighting with high densities of fire on both sides. The second company of the regiment “Azov” carried out the stripping of Shyrokyny.
During the subsequent fighting, the fighters of “Azov” were entrenched in Shyrokyne and Lebedinsky. On February 11, heavy fighting continued in the direction of Shyrokyne — Sakhanka, and on February 13, “DPR” groups went on a counterattack on Shyrokyne. The next day they used tanks and artillery, but the Ukrainian military destroyed the enemy. On February 15, on the terms agreed at the talks in Minsk on February 12, the active phase of the Shyrokyn operation was suspended. Although Shyrokyne came under the full control of Ukrainian forces, fighting in its vicinity continued in the following years.
Anatoly Stepanov several times came to shoot Azov fighters near Shyrokyne. “The first time I just agreed with Azov and came to them at the base in the eastern part of Mariupol. The guys put us and colleagues in a pickup truck and we went to work,” recalls Anatoly Stepanov. “The second time I agreed with the commander and came to the fighters in a village near Shyrokyne.”
Anatoly Stepanov photographed “Azovites” on the territory of the boarding house in Shyrokyne. Its buildings on several floors actually faced the sea itself. The buildings were heavily smashed by artillery, and the positions of the military were located in loopholes hollowed out in the walls. “From there, another part of Shyrokyne, occupied by separatists, was already visible. To get there, you had to go through a road that was shot by snipers. This is what the military told me,” says Anatoly Stepanov. “I have a photo of a soldier returning back to the base on this road.”
Anatoly Stepanov lived for several days in a kindergarten bombed by separatists together with the commander of the pseudo-Donbas. In the kindergarten, the soldiers slept and went from there to serve. Soldiers of “Azov” were also there - in the evening they played football, rested. “When he returned from the shooting, they started covering us with AGS: we left — and a shell fell on the road 50 meters from us,” recalls Anatoly Stepanov.
Vyacheslav Ratynskyi— Ukrainian reporter and documentary photographer. Born in Zhytomyr. He has been living and working in Kyiv for the past 11 years. Graduate of the Faculty of Journalism of Ivan Franko National University of Lviv. He has been published in many Ukrainian publications (“Reporters”, “Hromadske”, “NV”, “Focus”, Forbes, “The Kyiv Independent” and others), as well as in a number of foreign publications (Time, The Guardian, The Wall Street journal, The Washington post, The New York Times, El Pais, Radio Freedom Europe, BBC, Reuters, Der Spiegel). Participated in many exhibitions in the USA, Europe, Japan and other countries. His photos have been published in several books.
Photographer's social networks:
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Anatolii Stepanov— Ukrainian photojournalist who has been documenting the war in Ukraine since 2014.
In 2004 he completed a course at the photo school Viktora Marushchenko. Since then, he has worked in the field of professional photography as a freelancer and as a full-time photographer. Collaborates with agencies such as AP, Reuters, AFP, EPA, Sipa; had publications in magazines: National Geographic, Spiegel, Stern, Time and others.
Photographed Euromaidan. December 1, 2013, during the storming of Bankova Street, the “golden eagles” beat Anatoly: they broke his head, broke his arm, crushed the equipment.
In 2014, he began photographing the war in the territory Donetskand Luhanskaareas. Author of the photo project “Nezalezni” (m. Chicago, USA), one of the film's operators “My war. Two Lives of Vasily Slipak”(2017).
Participant of collective and personal photo exhibitions in Ukraine, Germany, France, USA.
Photographer's social networks:
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The material was worked on:
Researcher of the topic, author of the text: Katya Moskalyuk
Bildeditor: Vyacheslav Ratynskyi
Literary Editor: Julia Foutei
Site Manager: Vladislav Kuhar
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