Ukraine’s Azov Battalion, famed for its near-suicidal bravery and ultra-nationalist views, is spearheading a Ukrainian counter-offensive along the country’s Black Sea coast today.
Posting a picture of their troops on Feb. 10 outside Pavlopil town hall, some 35 kilometers northeast of their base in the strategic port city of Mariupol, the battalion said that it had also seized the villages of Oktyabyr and Shyrokyne on their way to assault the Russian and separatist-held city of Novoazovsk.
“Ukrainian flags are already flying on government buildings in Pavlopil, Oktyabyr and Shyrokyne,” Azov Battalion press officer Andrii Biletskovo told the Kyiv Post live from the offensive.