Azov fighters give military training to children, foster patriotism at Kyiv summer camp
▻http://www.kyivpost.com/multimedia/photo/azovets-patriotic-camp-for-children-396138.html
The kids are arguing about who gets which wooden gun.
“That’s my gun,” says one young boy loudly. He likes it because it fits nicely into his small hands.
“That’s a new American version of the rifle,” says an older boy, knowledgeably. “I like it better as well.”
Once the argument is settled, the kids run off to play at being soldiers.
It’s a scene that one could see on playgrounds and at summer camps for kids all over the world.
But this particular camp is run by the #Azov_Battalion founded by lawmaker Andriy Biletsky, its former commander. Located in the wooded area of Kyiv’s Pushcha Vodytsya district, kids at this summer camp aren’t just playing soldiers – they’re getting actual military training from soldiers who have fought on the front line in Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Named Azovets, the camp has been the subject of negative coverage in the Russian media, pro-Russia websites and even U.K. tabloid The Daily Mail.
“Neo-Nazi summer camp: Ukrainian kids taught to shoot AKs by Azov battalion members”, reads Kremlin-controlled RT’s headline for its story about the camp.
“Shocking pictures from inside neo-Nazi military camp reveal recruits as young as SIX are being taught how to fire weapons (even though there’s a ceasefire),” reads the headline in the Daily Mail’s sensationalized and inaccurate article.
The Azovets summer camp accepts children of Azov Battalion members, as well as kids from Kyiv’s nearby Obolon district and further afield. It opened on June 22, runs weeklong programs of activities for groups of 30 to 40 kids. Officially, it is for children aged from nine to 18, but there are kids as young as seven there. A few of the kids had already attended it for several weeks in a row.
What makes the camp most controversial is that it’s run by Azov fighters, some of whom have been labeled as far-right supporters and neo-Nazis. Critics say the battalion’s symbol is an inverted Wolfsangel that has oblique but uncomfortable associations with Nazism.
A boy carries a mat near a big poster which reads ’Idea in Nation, power - in you!’ in Azovets patriotic camp on Aug. 19.
© Volodymyr Petrov
Boys train to take apart AKS-74 in Azovets patriotic camp on Aug. 19.
© Volodymyr Petrov
#patriotic_camp
#Цивільний_Корпус_Азов Corps civil Azov