As I have written previously, Ukrainian Brigade General Andriy Biletskiy and his Azov movement continues to rise to greater power and influence in both the beleaguered country’s military and political spheres. In several recent and not-so-recent articles I traced the rise to greater power, authority, and influence within the Ukrainian army, state, and society of the Azov movement through the strengthening of Azov military units and social institutions. I tied this Azov rise to the deterioration of Ukraine’s defense fronts, army, state, regime, economy, and society; all decaying in various ways.
In several recent and not-so-recent articles I traced the rise to greater power, authority, and influence within the Ukrainian army, state, and society of the Azov movement through the strengthening of Azov military units and social institutions. I tied this Azov rise to the deterioration of Ukraine’s defense fronts, army, state, regime, economy, and society; all decaying in various ways (
Recent events suggest that rise continues, but there are small signs that along with the general demise of Kiev’s defense fronts, Azov’s military fortunes may be reaching their limits and a general turning point that may force some tough decisions on Biletskiy and the rest of the Azov military and political movement.Recently, Biletskiy’s 3rd Army Corps Azov or at least many of its units were given charge of the defense of the Slovansk-Kramatorsk final defense line in Donetsk Oblast’, which is on the verge of having its last few territories taken by Russian forces. More recently, Biletskiy was given command of the Central Front tasked with Kiev’s in the defense of Donetsk Oblast’, and the 3rd Army Corps “Azov’ has been centered, in particular, around Svyatogorsk and Lyman, the latter of which seemed to be falling to Russian forces by early September. Suddenly, reports emerged from the front of a major counteroffensive, which took back, allegedly, hundreds of square kilometers and two years of Russian-conquered territory around and east if Lyman. The oddity was that there were no videos of raised Ukrainian flags or Ukrainian troops present in the territories supposedly having been taken back in the Ukrainian counteroffensive (https://strana.news/news/512254-chto-proiskhodit-s-klinom-armii-rf-pod-limanom.html; https://strana.news/news/511492-ukraina-vedjot-kontrnastuplenie-chtoby-ne-dat-rossii-prodvinutsja-v-donetskoj-oblasti-karta.html; and https://strana.news/news/512082-kak-razvivaetsja-nastuplenie-vsu-pod-limanom.html).
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ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED THERE ON 18 September 2026
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About the Author –
Gordon M. Hahn, Ph.D., is an Expert Analyst at Corr Analytics, www.canalyt.com. Websites: Russian and Eurasian Politics, gordonhahn.com and gordonhahn.academia.edu
Dr. Hahn is the author of the new book: Russian Tselostnost’: Wholeness in Russian Thought, Culture, History, and Politics (Europe Books, 2022). He has authored five previous, well-received books: The Russian Dilemma: Security, Vigilance, and Relations with the West from Ivan III to Putin (McFarland, 2021); Ukraine Over the Edge: Russia, the West, and the “New Cold War” (McFarland, 2018); The Caucasus Emirate Mujahedin: Global Jihadism in Russia’s North Caucasus and Beyond (McFarland, 2014), Russia’s Islamic Threat (Yale University Press, 2007), and Russia’s Revolution From Above: Reform, Transition and Revolution in the Fall of the Soviet Communist Regime, 1985-2000 (Transaction, 2002). He also has published numerous think tank reports, academic articles, analyses, and commentaries in both English and Russian language media.
Dr. Hahn taught at Boston, American, Stanford, San Jose State, and San Francisco State Universities and as a Fulbright Scholar at Saint Petersburg State University, Russia and was a senior associate and visiting fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Kennan Institute in Washington DC, the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, and the Center for Terrorism and Intelligence Studies (CETIS), Akribis Group.