Ukraine crisis: the neo-Nazi brigade fighting pro-Russian separatists

Andriy Biletsky, in black T-shirt, commander of Ukraine's Azov battalion (Tom Parfitt)

In Marinka, on the western outskirts, the battalion was sent forward ahead of tanks and armoured vehicles of the Ukrainian armys 51st Mechanised Brigade. A ferocious close-quarters fight ensued as they got caught in an ambush laid by well-trained separatists, who shot from 30 yards away. The Azov irregulars replied with a squall of fire, fending off the attack and seizing a rebel checkpoint.

Mr Grek, also known as Balagan, died in the battle and 14 others were wounded. Speaking after the ceremony Andriy Biletsky, the battalions commander, told the Telegraph the operation had been a 100% success. The battalion is a family and every death is painful to us but these were minimal losses, he said. Most important of all, we established a bridgehead for the attack on Donetsk. And when that comes we will be leading the way.

The military achievement is hard to dispute. By securing Marinka the battalion widened the front and tightened the circle, around the rebels capital, as another fighter put it. While Vladimir Putin, Russias president, prevaricates about sending an invasion force into Ukraine, the rebels he backs are losing ground fast.

But Kievs use of volunteer paramilitaries to stamp out the Russian-backed Donetsk and Luhansk peoples republics, proclaimed in eastern Ukraine in March, should send a shiver down Europes spine. Recently formed battalions such as Donbas, Dnipro and Azov, with several thousand men under their command, are officially under the control of the interior ministry but their financing is murky, their training inadequate and their ideology often alarming.

The Azov men use the neo-Nazi Wolfsangel (Wolfs Hook) symbol on their banner and members of the battalion are openly white supremacists, or anti-Semites.

The Azov battalion uses the neo-Nazi Wolfsangel (Wolf''s Hook) symbol on its banner (Tom Parfitt)

Personally, Im a Nazi, said Phantom, a 23-year-old former lawyer at the ceremony wearing camouflage and holding a Kalashnikov. I dont hate any other nationalities but I believe each nation should have its own country. He added: We have one idea: to liberate our land from terrorists.

The Telegraph was invited to see some 300 Azov fighters pay respects to Mr Grek, their first comrade to die since the battalion was formed in May. An honour guard fired volleys into the air at the battalions headquarters on the edge of Urzuf, a small beach resort on Ukraines Azov Sea coast. Two more militiamen died on Sunday fighting north of Donetsk <>. Petro Poroshenko, Ukraines president, called one of them a hero.

Each new recruit receives only a couple of weeks of training before joining the battalion. The interior ministry and private donors provide weapons.

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Ukraine crisis: the neo-Nazi brigade fighting pro-Russian separatists