MOSCOW, August 17. /TASS/. Ukraine’s Azov nationalist battalion (designated as a terrorist organization and outlawed in Russia) "has resumed accomplishing tasks" in the combat zone in the Krasny Liman area, Nikolay Urshalovich, acting director of the planning department of the Main Directorate of the Ukrainian National Guard, said at a news briefing on Thursday.

"The Azov special operations battalion has returned to resume performing combat tasks near the Serebryanka forestry (in the Krasny Liman direction - TASS)," the Ukrainian Defense Ministry quoted Urshalovich as saying on its Telegram channel. According to the Ministry, Azov returned to fighting on August 15.

Meanwhile, individual Azov fighters were seen fighting in the Artyomovsk direction earlier, Ukraine’s Strana media outlet reported.

On July 31, the National Guard’s chief Alexander Pivnenko announced that the Azov commanders who had returned home from Turkey would resume fighting as part of the National Guard as there was nothing barring them from participating in military activities. Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Director Sergey Naryshkin told TASS that the situation around the handover of the Azov commanders to Kiev highlighted Turkey’s failure to fulfill its obligations on the issue.