That anyone still dares to bring up this nonsensical issue say everything you need to know about these people. It is a completely bonkers claim used by someone who launched a war of aggression. An utterly ridiculous excuse by someone who is far more Nazi-like than anyone currently around.
Yes, Ukraine does have a few few Neo-Nazis in the country, so does basically every country. Yes, those people are also involved in defending their country. That's what nationalists tend to do. When under attack by a powerful enemy, the enemy of your enemy is your friend, regardless of how you think about him. That's how the Allies could work with the Soviet Union, even though it was an evil regime that had launched wars of aggression against Poland and Finland, and annexed smaller neighbours against their will. They deemed the downfall of Nazi Germany to be more important than keeping the moral highground of not allying with another warmonger. Hence Churchill's speech about if Hitler invaded hell. History is full of strange bedfellows working together against a common enemy, be it nations allying with former enemies or opposing ideologies, or a nation making use of its criminal elements against an enemy (e.g. the USA working with the Mafia to prevent German agents from operating on US soil).
Fact is, Ukraine is an actual democracy, unlike Russia. Corruption may be rampant, but not nearly as much as in Russia. There is free press in Ukraine, unlike in Russia. There are free elections and opposing political views that cause changes in who runs the government, unlike in Russia, where the weirdest accidents and criminal trials happen to those who could threaten the small group that runs the country. The Azov battalion was linked to a political party, guess how it fared in the elections, it didn't even got remotely close to entering the parliament. The far-right is utterly irrelevant on the political spectrum in Ukraine. Meanwhile in Russia a president can happily steal foreign territory, launch faux rebellions, and now start a war of aggression, while parliament is happily going along with it. When you have to persecute even those who don't actually say something, your nation is morally bankrupt and broken beyond repair. All that doesn't even include that Russia has far more Neo-Nazis than any other country.
One shouldn't glorify the Azov battalion. Its political views are abhorrent. But they aren't relevant at all, and they aren't the ones who are trying to destroy democracy in Ukraine, nor have they ever launched a war against someone. Pointing to them as some sort of excuse to justify Putin's utterly disgusting behaviour is shameful. A tiny group of Neo-Nazis with next to no influence get blown way out of proportion, while someone who actually runs his governent like a fascist dictatorship, including launching wars of aggression, somehow gets presented as being against that sort of thing. One either needs to be naive beyond belief, or purposefully pushing a narrative to suit the propaganda of the warmonger, to push attention in that direction.
