Back in 2013 when Ukraine was having its low level civil war against eastern separatist, their military was a useless husk, so all these private miltia units were built up with the backing of Ukraine riches oligarchs and with the approval of the Ukrainian government. The Azov Battalion was one of these militias and its main backer was oligarch Igor Kolomoisky, who was also a governor of a region under attack. He supported Azov, along with others, but mainly Azov so that they could protect important state run oil facilities that he had money invested in from being taken over by separatist.
Kolomoisky also owns a lot of stake in the entertainment industry of Ukraine, and Zelensky got his start as a comedian on shows Kolomoisky produced. Kolomoisky took him under his wing at a certain point and was the main backer of Zelenskys campaign as well.
Back in 2013 when Ukraine was having its low level civil war against eastern separatist, their military was a useless husk, so all these private miltia units were built up with the backing of Ukraine riches oligarchs and with the approval of the Ukrainian government. The Azov Battalion was one of these militias and its main backer was oligarch Igor Kolomoisky, who was also a governor of a region under attack. He supported Azov, along with others, but mainly Azov so that they could protect important state run oil facilities that he had money invested in from being taken over by separatist.
Kolomoisky also owns a lot of stake in the entertainment industry of Ukraine, and Zelensky got his start as a comedian on shows Kolomoisky produced. Kolomoisky took him under his wing at a certain point and was the main backer of Zelenskys campaign as well.