The appearance of two alleged Greek members of the Azov Battalion in the Greek Parliament when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky gave a speech, provoked a storm of reactions from both the opposition parties and wider Greek society last month.
However, it also triggered reactions from senior figures of the Greek community of Donetsk Oblast, in which Mariupol is a city of.
Dmitry Bersteev, the President of the Greek Association of Donetsk, said to TeleSUR: "I don't know what kind of fascists the Azov [Battalion] can fight if they themselves are fascist and Nazis. You can see in all the videos the swastikas and so on."
"This is evident in the videos they make and with their tattoos with Nazi symbols. Because they are the heirs of the Nazis that fought against our grandfathers and grandmothers," Bersteev added.
His comments were in reaction to one of the Azov members who spoke to the Greek parliament and identified himself as Mikhail.
“I was born in Mariupol, and I take part in the defence of the city from the Russian Nazis," Mikhail told Greek lawmakers.
"I will not talk about the difficulties we have in defence, participating through the Azov Battalion. This is my debt to my city, my debt as a man and I must talk about the catastrophic conditions in which the Greek Mariupol is experiencing," he added.
Continuing with his statement, Bersteev said: "Secondly, I don't know what kind of Greeks they are. I know many Greeks, I have many friends in Mariupol, and none of them took up arms as far as I know."
For his part, Andrei Nichola, a senior member of the Greek Association of Donetsk, said: "Those two bastards, they are now near the heavens and its their problem. I think there will be a reckoning for all their sins against their own people."
"They will be punished sooner or later," he added.
When speaking to Mikhail's claims that he is fighting Russian fascism, Nichola said: "They said something about fighting fascism, not true nationalists and patriots, they are the fascists."
"Who did their grandparents fight with? My grandparents fought against fascism, against Hitler, against German fascism."
Meanwhile, according to SKAI, Mikhail was a Deputy Commander of the Azov Battalion in Mariupol and from 2014 onwards led a campaign against Russian-speakers.
Mikhail is said to have fallen dead after a battle that took place near Azofstal, SKAI news reported on Tuesday morning.
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