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I know the point of the article is the growing influence of Azov as a political force. But if the accounts by Butusov are true, I can't help but wince in disgust. The incompetence of Sodol and Co and Putin and Co's own bellicosity in service of maintaining their regime turned Azov into the 300 Spartans while the people of Mariupol had to die, flee and see their city turned to dust. There's a lesson there about the true horseshoe theory being antagonistic nationalists and securitocratic goons.

On the last point of Azovites abandonding the 1991 borders idea; Gregoris Ioannou's ''The normalisation of Cyprus' partition among Greek Cypriots : political economy and political culture in a divided society'' might be an interesting comparative read (though possibly hard to find). I always found that comparing Ukraine to Cyprus is better than comparing it to Palestine due to the nature of the conflict (though the economic and geopolitical background is indeed quite different).

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