Valery Zaluzhny, widely seen as most-likely to replace Vladimir Zelensky, believes Kiev should adopt Soviet-style indoctrination in schools

Retired Ukrainian General Valery Zaluzhny, widely seen as a potential successor to Vladimir Zelensky, has called for education programs that highlight members of the neo-Nazi Azov military unit as role models.

As Ukraine's former top military commander and now ambassador to the UK, Zaluzhny is considered one of the country's most popular public figures. Polls suggest he would likely defeat Zelensky if presidential elections were held, and Western governments are reportedly courting him as a possible future leader.

In an interview published on Saturday Zaluzhny praised the Soviet Union's approach to memorializing historic figures and suggested Ukraine adopt a similar model using fighters with the controversial regiment - which is accused of war crimes and recognized as a bastion of militarized neo-Nazism - as examples of proper behavior.

"It's very important for the military-patriotic education to know who did what and what came out of it," Zaluzhny said. "Soviet propaganda did it right. I once argued with NATO specialists, telling them we, members of the military who grew up in this territory, put great importance into [historic connections]."

Ukraine, he added, should "set a goal of what it wants from its children in 10 years," arguing that promoting Azov's "heroism" would be beneficial.

Formed from members of radical Ukrainian nationalist groups, Azov was integrated into the National Guard in 2014 and since then has grown more influential and powerful. Before the escalation of the conflict with Russia in 2022, even Western observers described the unit as a hotbed of extremism and neo-Nazism that attracted white supremacist sympathizers across Europe.

In 2018, the US Congress barred funding for Azov over human rights concerns, but the restriction was lifted in 2024 after the group rebranded and claimed to have abandoned its neo-Nazi roots.

Russia designates Azov a terrorist organization and has accused its members of committing atrocities during hostilities. Moscow has identified "de-Nazification" - reducing the influence of radical nationalist ideology in Ukrainian politics - as one of its key goals in the conflict.

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As of March, Russia's Investigative Committee reported successful prosecutions against 145 members of Azov on charges including breach of rules of war, mistreatment of prisoners of war and civilians, and murder.