KIEV (Sputnik) — The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense denied Monday media reports that a volunteer battalion fighting independence supporters under its employ, known as the Aidar Battalion, uses Nazi symbols.
"Some foreign mass media spread information that one Ukrainian unit, namely the 24th Detached Assault Battalion 'Aidar,' uses Nazi symbols. This information is false and is a part of the information war against Ukraine," the defense ministry said in a statement.
Aidar, along with the Azov, Dnipro and Donbas battalions, has been taking part in Kiev's military campaign against independence forces in southeast Ukraine since April 2014.
Last July, Russia's Investigative Committee implicated the commanders of the Ukrainian battalions and other senior military officials in attacks on thousands of civilian targets during the course of the fighting.
