Recruitment Department 1st Corps of the National Guard of Ukraine "Azov"

The history of recruitment in Azov dates back to 2014, when the Azov Battalion’s training and mobilization center was established (at the Kozatsky Hotel). It was there that the first recruitment process was organized: volunteers arrived, checked in, and were then divided into groups of ten and began the registration process, after which they were sent to the base in Urzuf for training.

In 2015, the AZOV regiment’s training camp—ATEC—was established. Subsequently, the selection and processing of recruits took place there. Social media served as the primary source of applications. Recruits who successfully passed the selection process were sent to the regiment’s base in Urzuf, where they continued their service.

In April 2016, a recruitment and selection team was established within the AZOV Regiment. This marked the beginning of the development of recruitment as a separate unit. The website azov.org.ua was launched, a fully-fledged call center with operators was set up, and the positions of administrative assistants and recruiters were created to conduct interviews. At the same time, the requirements for recruits changed: now they had to arrive with a complete set of documents. This negatively affected the total number of candidates after the recruitment announcement. Simultaneously, the process of “accumulating” recruits for subsequent physical and medical examinations began.

In 2017, the process took the following form: a recruit arrived for an interview, and after passing it, took physical tests. He was provided with housing in the barracks and full board at the “ATEK” base. During their stay, recruits underwent psychological testing at the National Guard of Ukraine and a military medical examination (MME). On average, the process lasted 5 to 10 days, after which the recruit, along with a package of documents, was sent to Mariupol to sign a contract and await the physical fitness test.

In April 2022, a recruitment team began operations in Zaporizhzhia with the aim of forming units to relieve the siege of Mariupol. The first two companies were formed, which later became the foundation for the regiment’s reestablishment.

In 2023, the regiment began its transformation into a brigade. During this period, recruitment began to scale up significantly: the first offline recruitment centers appeared in cities across Ukraine, with the center in Kyiv being the first. At the same time, the number of recruiters increased, and the centers themselves began to expand.

In 2025, a headquarters with separate departments was formed within the recruitment structure. Recruitment began operating at the corps level, participating in the staffing of the brigades that were part of the corps.

In 2026, the recruitment department officially became part of the corps as the newly established Recruitment Directorate of the 1st Corps of the National Guard of Ukraine “AZOV” and began scaling its approach to working with candidates to all military units within the corps.