UCD Collaborated With Fascist Ukrainian Azov Battalion

University College Dublin’s School of Medicine collaborated on a project with the fascist Ukrainian Azov Battalion in 2024, public documents show.

The project, which was honoured by President Zelensky with an in-person visit, consists of training the soldiers in advanced medicine skills, and was also commended by Minister For Higher Education James Lawless.

“We are proud that such people stand alongside our warriors and civilians, alongside our doctors. I thank the professionals for their knowledge, expertise, and time. It is so important: in such an extremely tough period, to be on the right side of history, “ Zelensky said at the time, congratulating UCD for the project.

In the report of the project, UCD academics are seen posing with soldiers from the 3rd Assault Brigade. They are holding the Ukrainian flag with the insignia of the brigade. Andrey Biletsky, the founder of the brigade, reportedly stated that the “historic mission of our nation in this turning point of the century is to lead the White peoples of the world in a final crusade for their existence, a crusade against Semite-led subhumanity”.

This is not an isolated incident. The brigade is a unit of the Azov Battalion, and has attracted significant controversy before for their outright association with neo-Nazism and fascist symbols. For instance, in 2023, French media outlet Mediapart reported that several of their members pose with “"Hitlerian salutes, Celtic crosses, emblems of several SS divisions, skulls, pictures of Adolf Hitler" on social media.