Russian troops “display” the pro-Nazi tattoos of some Ukrainian soldiers – Photo: VASILY MAXIMOV/AFP/Getty Images
Russia released video footage of the Nazi tattoos of the last captured Ukrainians after they surrendered from the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol.
The images show the captured Ukrainian fighters displaying swastikas, Third Reich eagles, SS heads of death, and even a giant inking of Adolf Hitler.
Others appear to have satanic symbols on their bodies, such as horned goats and the number 333, a reference to a text revered by “devil-worshipping neo-Nazis.”
Here are the images of the tattoos of the Ukrainian military:
It should be recalled that the last remaining fighters hiding in the Azovstal metallurgical plant in the strategic port city of Mariupol in Donetsk oblast surrendered last Friday, May 20.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced the complete surrender of the steelworks with the surrender of the last 531 fighters.
Among the last to surrender were the commanders of the notorious Azov Regiment, whom Moscow considers neo-Nazis and war criminals.
At the beginning of the video, footage filmed from above shows Russian soldiers with the alleged Azov fighters who surrendered.
Next, the commander of the 36th Ukrainian Marine Brigade, Serhiy Volynsky, is shown introducing himself before the Russian soldiers search him.
For the time being, Ukraine has not mentioned whether its military ranks might include soldiers with Nazi affinities or whether the images do not belong to Ukrainian militants.
The advance of Putin’s troops in Ukraine
Before the surrender, the Azovstal plant was the only remaining pocket of resistance in Mariupol after Russia occupied the rest of the city and its surroundings; at one point, some 3,000 militants took refuge in the steel mill.
Russian President Vladimir Putin gave the order not to storm the industrial zone but to blockade it “so that not a fly can get through.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky finally ordered the last fighters hiding in the plant to surrender, arguing that “Ukraine needs living Ukrainian heroes.”
Azov commander Denys Prokopenko was evacuated from the facility in an armored vehicle and expressed confidence that the surrendered fighters would be exchanged for Russian prisoners of war.
However, senior Russian commanders have insisted that they be tried in Russia for their ‘crimes.’ The Russian Prosecutor General’s Office recently asked the Supreme Court to recognize the Azov Regiment as a “terrorist organization.”
Some surrendered fighters were taken to Russia, and others to territory controlled by pro-Russian militias in Donetsk Oblast.
Putin had previously mentioned that his “special military operation” aimed to “demilitarize and denazify” Ukraine.
But after Russian forces failed to take the capital, Kyiv, the Kremlin said the operation aimed to “protect Donbas.”