"We have seen media reports of meetings between militants of the Azov battalion with students from leading US universities. Representatives of a neo-Nazi paramilitary organization spoke to the students at Stanford University," Antonov said. "One gets the impression that in the maniacal desire to 'denigrate and abolish' Russia, the United States is even ready to glorify Nazism, against which the peoples of our countries fought heroically during World War II."
Earlier in the month, the Azov militants participated at a Stanford University event that was attended by former US Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul. Last month a delegation of Azov militants met with several US lawmakers and officials in Washington.
"There is no doubt what ideas Ukrainian terrorists, whose hands are 'elbow-deep in blood' from the killing of civilians, are promoting to young people. Let us remember the martyrs of Odessa, who were burned alive in the House of Trade Unions in May 2014. Old people, women and children of Donbas, who died from ruthless shelling and barbaric strikes of neo-Nazis," Antonov said. "The mentioned structure professes misanthropic and fascist ideology. The West is well aware of this. The official symbol of "Azov" is the sign of one of the SS divisions of Nazi Germany."
Antonov said forgotten is the Soviet-American brotherhood during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, "when our grandfathers died from the hands of the Nazis, blood was shed for a future without Nazism."
"Is it really for the sake of victory over Russia on the battlefield that the Americans will stand in line with the fascist thugs from the Azov battalion and will defend the Nazi ideology?" Antonov said.
In August 2022, Russia’s Supreme Court designated Azov as a terrorist organization. According to the Russian prosecutor general’s office, Azov militants use prohibited means and methods of warfare and are complicit in torture of civilians and killings of children.