As War Escalates, Ukrainian Volunteer Battalion Remains Sidelined

The vehicle yard at the Ukrainian National Guard Azov Battalion’s base here looks like the set of a Mad Max movie.

The Azov Battalion operates about a dozen T-64 tanks at its base in Urzuf outside Mariupol. Nolan Peterson/The Daily Signal

URZUF, Ukraine—The vehicle yard at the Ukrainian National Guard Azov Battalion’s base here looks like the set of a Mad Max movie.

There is a semi-truck tractor covered in welded black armor parked next to a fleet of busses, minivans, pickup trucks, and hatchback Volkswagens all painted in camouflage patterns—some sporting bullet holes. The up-armored semi-truck tractor was used when the Azov Battalion stormed Mariupol in June 2014 to take the city back from separatist control.

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