Rada prepares letter to U.S. Congress with proposal to provide all info on Azov battalion

Head of the Verkhovna Rada Foreign Policy Committee Bohdan Yaremenko (Servant of the People faction) has prepared a draft letter to 40 American congressmen who called on U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to include the Azov battalion on the list of terrorist organizations.

"... the letter to the U.S. Congress contains a proposal to provide any necessary assistance in finding out objective and unbiased information about the Azov special forces battalion, as well as an appeal to Ukrainian law enforcement agencies to publish the results of verification of all the facts and allegations that are given in the letter of the American congressmen," Yaremenko wrote on his Facebook page on Friday.

He explained that deputies cannot leave without reaction "attempts of public slander of one of the most deserved and combat-ready units of the National Guard of Ukraine of a separate special-purpose detachment Azov."

The text of the letter is open for signature to all deputies of the Servant of the People faction and representatives of other factions of the Verkhovna Rada. "The signing and handing of the letter to the American side will take place on Tuesday, October 29, 2019," wrote Yaremenko.

The head of the committee reminded American colleagues that the Azov military unit was created by activists and participants in the Revolution of Dignity. Azov members took part in the liberation of Mariupol and a large number of other settlements from the Russian occupation, he stressed.

"We will never forget the feat of 26 Azov members who sacrificed their lives for the independence of Ukraine," Yaremenko said.

In October, a group of 40 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, led by Democrat Max Rose, demanded that Secretary of State Michael Pompeo explain why some extremist groups, including Azov, were not included in the list of international terrorist organizations (FTO).