Traditionally, this ritual is considered the most sacred event of the Azov regiment. Access to it is limited. Only Azov members, relatives of the deceased or guests with a special invitation are allowed to attend. This is not a public event, but a closed military mystery.
It was first held in October 2015 near Mariupol. That fall, the field in front of the AZOV regiment's base was no longer an ordinary wasteland. A huge mound was built here, just like the ancestors of modern Ukrainians used to do. A monument was erected on top of it, with three giant wooden swords.
The swords symbolize military prowess. For those warriors who have already passed away-as the ideologues of the Azov movement say, "stuck their swords in the ground"-this building has become a memorial center for the cult of heroes.
Every year, the Azov Day of the Dead takes place here.
After sunset, Azov soldiers line up on the Field of Swords. Some of them are holding the Shields of Heroes, each with the name of a fallen or deceased soldier inscribed on it. Bowls of fire are lit. Searchlights from behind the mound shoot a volley of light into the sky. Lighted torches illuminate the names on the shields.
After the commander's address, the regiment reads the Prayer of the Ukrainian Nationalist in chorus. After that, the khorunzhyi (the one responsible for spreading the ideology) calls out the call signs of the dead soldiers by name. In response, the formation responds "In formation!", adding the oath "We remember. We will take revenge!" A salute is fired into the night sky.
In these moments, the regiment is united on both sides of life, and the dead Azov soldiers symbolically join the ranks of the living.
People from the outside wonder why it is the Day of the Dead and not the Day of the Fallen. The answer is simple in its cruelty. Not every soldier has the honor to give his life in battle. War is a hard test, and sometimes the hearts of soldiers fail. Even outside the trenches.
However, death is not able to divide the Azov brotherhood. Everyone who fought under the monogram "Idea of the Nation" in the ranks of the Azov unit gets their place in the pantheon of Heroes.
The Day of the Dead is celebrated annually. With the outbreak of full-scale war, the base of the Azov regiment near Mariupol was attacked by Russian bombers. The occupiers destroyed and mutilated most of the Shields of Heroes and desecrated the Field of Swords. The enemies are fighting with material symbols, but they cannot defeat the idea.
In December 2022, the Day of the Dead was no longer just a mystery for the Azov regiment. The entire Azov family - the KRAKEN special forces unit, the Azov-Kharkiv SSO, the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade, the 98th Battalion of the Azov-Dnipro, the Lubart SSO, the liberated soldiers of the Mariupol garrison and other Azov units - came together on the winter solstice.
The wooden dracar of the ancient Europeans that was burned on the hill during this mystery became a symbol of memory. The ancestors believed that it was on ships like this that warriors went to the afterlife, to Valhalla or Vyrii. A paradise for warriors.
The full-scale war claimed hundreds and hundreds of Azovites, but gave rise to a new surge of nationalist movement. Thousands of new fighters swore that night to avenge the dead, to fight until victory.
Russian propaganda called this action a "pagan ritual," although this is incorrect. The Azov Day of the Dead has no analogues among other cultures, but its character is consistent with European mysteries of the past, including Cossack and Slavic memorial events.
The path of liberation of every nation is sprinkled with blood. And nothing binds the heart and spirit of a soldier at war like knowing this. And the realization that the contribution of each fallen soldier will never be forgotten-as long as there is at least one of those who remembers the role of the dead in building the world of the living.
