"They Are Propagandizing For Nazis But Won't Tell You That"
b (Bernard), Moon of Alabama (May 13, 2023)
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2023/05/they-are-propagandizing-for-nazis-but-wont-tell-you-that.html

At the start of the recent war in Ukraine 'western' media changed their mind about Ukrainian Nazi groups. What they had condemned over years in their headlines and pieces was first whitewashed and when that was not enough simply eliminated from the context. As example I had pointed to the changing headlines and descriptions of the fascist Azov militia in the pages of the New York Times.

Mar 15 2019:

      On his flak jacket was a symbol commonly used by the Azov Battalion, a Ukrainian neo-Nazi paramilitary organization.

Feb 11 2020:

      Defenders of the Ukrainian Azov Battalion, which the F.B.I. calls “a paramilitary unit” notorious for its “association with neo-Nazi ideology,” accuse us of being part of a Kremlin campaign to “demonize” the group.

Mar 17 2022:

      Facebook last week said it was making an exception to its anti-extremism policies to allow praise for Ukraine’s far-right Azov Battalion military unit, “strictly in the context of defending Ukraine, or in their role as part of the Ukraine National Guard.”

Apr 29 2022:

      These scenes are from videos shared online in recent days by the Azov regiment, a unit in the Ukrainian military, which says they were taken in the mazelike bunkers beneath the sprawling Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, Ukraine.

As I had written previously:

      What was once "a Ukrainian neo-Nazi paramilitary organization" which even the FBI said is notorious for its “association with neo-Nazi ideology” was first relabeled as merely "far right" before it became a normal "unit in the Ukrainian military" [emphasis added].

In yesterday's report about some dubious Ukrainian military success near Bakhmut the Times has taken its next step which is to avoid mentioning Azov at all. [emphasis added

. . . [I skipped quite a bit of extra supporting evidence] . . .

I have found no information about Biletsky current official position though the way the NY Times describes him - "who has ultimate command of the brigade, among other units in the Ukrainian Army" - one must assume that he is now a high ranking military officer.

From directly describing the ideology of Azov as 'neo-Nazi' the New York Times has moved over several [stages] into avoiding its mentioning. It quotes its leader without identifying him and without giving any context.

But it will happily describe the pre-produced propaganda videos his neo-Nazis send to their press contacts. [emphasis added]