Today it was revealed how "Azov" is covering its tracks. Today photos and article, which made a lot of noise disappeared from the website of the Ukrainian nationalist battalion. On them the Azov fighters are conducting tests of American grenade launchers. It's reported that they received them not so long ago. That is, it turns out that the nationalists' arsenal has US lethal weapons.
Ukrainian National Guard denies everything, and the US Congress has long ago banned supplying Azov with weapons. So who's not telling the truth?
Alexey Konapko tried to find out.
What comes up quick can't fall, isn't only an old joke, but also the philosophy of the press service of the nationalist regiment "Azov," on their official site, from which, 2 days ago, information about deliveries of US RPGs disappeared.
Arik Toler, expert: "A note on the PSLR-1 grenade launchers used by Azov fighters was removed from the site this morning, it remains unclear where the grenade launchers are now, a few months ago they were on the front line, but the Ukrainian National Guard issued a press release stating that Azov doesn't have such weapons, maybe 2 official websites lied about getting it?"
There is proof that the grenade launchers were there. The website of the company "Spetstekhnoexport" still has a press release about cooperation between "Ukroboronprom" and the US AirTronic, which manufactures RPGs. And in the archived version of the "Azov" Internet portal one can easily find the news about new RPG's trials by the soldiers. With photo evidence: "On July 20, the 3rd company Of the 2nd BOP of the Azov regiment carried out testing of the recently obtained PSRL-1 grenade launchers. During the testing at a distance of 100 and 200 meters, the deviation from the target was no more than a meter. And at a distance of 300 meters the deviation was within the BTR and BMP range".
"Azov" says they didn't have any grenade launchers. And if they did, then just 1. And if not just 1, then only for familiarity and testing, and those were returned. But it's not clear where. Americans are silent, and a photo signed on November 2016, of the contract to supply not 1, but hundreds of RPGs, was posted on the Internet.
Ivan Konovalov, Center for Strategic Studies: "In principle, it's impossible to exclude that if these RPGs were received in the summer, they were then sold by the same Azov commanders and they can be sold to other countries, including, for example, in the Middle East. There are many people there who would like to buy such weapons".
State Department representative spoke at the end of December about the US-approved license for the export of weapons to Ukraine. At the same time, the director of AirTronic, Richard Wendiver, openly stated that his RPGs have been sold to Kiev since 2016. And the Armed Forces General Staff even admitted that they have received anti-tank complexes TOW. This can now also be only found in the archive.
Mikhail Pogrebinsky: "The Congress took a special decision a couple of years ago to ban the sale of weapons to the neo-Nazi battalion Azov. In the US, this group would be dissolved and given prison terms for their symbols, words, and actions. But when this happens in Ukraine, and they're the forward force in the struggle against Russia, then it's very good!"
It's interesting that the Azov's US RPGs are just a slightly modernized version of the Soviet RPG-7. It shoots the same ammunition.They could have made whole warehouses of them in Ukraine, After 1991 2,000 defense enterprises remained in Ukraine, 1/5th of the entire Soviet military-industrial complex.
Alexander Asafov, political analyst: "The Ukrainian military-industrial complex is in a state of disrepair, it's practically incapable of producing anything functioning, for example, there is a Molot mortar that explodes and kills the Ukrainian army using it more often than it hits the enemy. The possession of sacred foreign weapons is good PR story for this battalion".
However, the sale of missing RPGs on the black market is just one of the versions. Another is that the RPGs are still there, but the advertising for the US suppliers happened at a bad time. So they tried to lessen the blow as well as they could.
Alexey Konapko, Galya Uhina. Vesti
