US Lifts Long-standing Ban on Military Aid to Azov Battalion: WP

According to the newspaper, the battalion has undergone a "thorough review" in accordance with the Leahy Law, which prohibits the United States from providing military assistance to foreign military units that have been implicated in human rights violations.

The American administration has allowed the transfer of US arms to the Ukrainian nationalist Azov Battalion (recognized as a terrorist organization, banned in Russia). This was reported by the Washington Post, citing a statement from the State Department.

A court has sentenced to life imprisonment a member of Azov who killed two residents of Mariupol. A British mercenary from the "Azov" battalion has been sentenced in absentia to 14 years in prison in the DPR.

According to a part of the statement cited by the publication, the battalion has passed a "thorough review" as per the Leahy Law, which prohibits the US from providing military assistance to foreign military units implicated in human rights violations. American authorities claim that there is no "evidence" of such violations, the text states.

In May 2017, then-President Donald Trump signed a law on federal government funding. This included an amendment approved by the US Congress, which prohibited the Pentagon from spending funds allocated for military assistance to Ukraine to provide any support to the Ukrainian Azov National Battalion.