In addition to its combat activities, the 12th Special Forces Brigade Azov actively advocates for the release of captive Azov service members and works to counter Russian propaganda about the unit on a global scale. These are just a few of the most important international business trips undertaken by Azov fighters in recent years.
Prolific visit to the UK
In May 2024, a delegation of Azov servicemen participated in the event "Defenders of Mariupol — 2 Years in Captivity,” held at the Reform Club in London. The event was attended by former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, former British Secretary of State for Defense Ben Wallace, member of the House of Lords, Lord Michael Ashcroft, Member of Parliament and Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Ukraine Bob Seely, MP Jack Lopresti, and former Conservative Party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith.
“We should not believe a single word of Putin's propaganda about the Azov Brigade. They are heroes, they are people who are fighting for their country, for their homes, and they are doing it successfully. The incredible things you have done. You are fighting for all of Ukraine, for the very idea of democracy, and therefore you are fighting for everyone in this country. [...] We fully rely on heroes like those here with us today from the Azov Brigade to achieve victory. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for what you are doing! Glory to Ukraine!” Boris Johnson said in his speech.
The brigade’s fighters also took part in a roundtable discussion in the UK Parliament on advocacy efforts for the return of Azov POWs. The event was chaired by Rt Hon Victoria Prentis, Member of Parliament and Attorney General for England and Wales.
During the visit, the Azov service members also participated in two panel discussions with professors and students from Reuben College, University of Oxford, and King's College London and held a working meeting with former British Prime Minister Rt. Hon. Liz Truss.
Enabling bipartisan support in the U.S.
Delegations of Azov representatives made two business trips to the U.S. in 2022 and 2023. Azov members met with representatives from both parties in Congress and the Senate, major international human rights organizations, and U.S. military veterans.
Michael McFaul, a professor at Stanford University and former U.S. Ambassador to Russia, and Francis Fukuyama, the renowned American philosopher, took part in an event where Azov fighters who defended Mariupol met with university students.
Exposing Russia's crimes against Ukrainian POWs at UN
In January 2025, Valerii "Yarylo" Horishnii, senior sergeant of the Azov Brigade, defender of Mariupol, and former prisoner of war, delivered a speech at an Arria-formula meeting of the UN Security Council titled "Violations of International Humanitarian Law Against Ukrainian Prisoners of War and Civilian Detainees.” In his address, he spoke about the torture and abuse that Ukrainian POWs endure in Russian prisons and shared his own experience of being held in Russian captivity.
Earlier, in February 2023, Illia "Gandalf" Samoilenko, an Azov officer, defender of Mariupol, and former prisoner of war, delivered a speech at the UN Headquarters on Russia's violations of the Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War.
Expanding cooperation with Estonia
In January 2024, Azov Brigade officers Arsenii "Process" Fedosiuk and Illia "Gandalf" Samoilenko participated in the EstMil.tech 2024 military conference in Tallinn, Estonia. During one of the conference panels, moderated by Brigadier General Vahur Karus of the Estonian Defense Forces, they delivered a presentation on "Network-centric warfare." Azov commander, Colonel Denys "Redis" Prokopenko, also recorded a video address to the conference participants, where he spoke about the brigade's experience fighting against the Russian military and the use of modern technologies on the battlefield.
In October 2024, Azov representatives held several meetings focused on Ukrainian prisoners of war at NATO headquarters in Brussels. The delegation met with Marie-Doha Besancenot, NATO's Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy, Francis Wells, Head of the Ukraine Cooperation Division and NATO's Operations Transformation Division, representatives from the NATO Public Diplomacy Division, and Daniel Bate of the Human Security Unit in the NATO Secretary General's Office.
