The Biden administration will allow the Ukrainian military unit Azov to use American weapons, the U.S. State Department said on Monday, lifting a ban imposed several years ago, The Washington Post has reported.

It is specified that the decision was made following a State Department review of the Azov Brigade, a one-time militia now part of Ukraine’s National Guard.

A State Department spokesman declined to say when the ban was lifted and whether American weapons had already been delivered to the Azov fighters.

As noted in the publication, lifting the ban was a top priority for Ukrainian officials, who insisted that the brigade could have been more effective during the defense of Azovstal in 2022 if it had had access to American weapons. Members of the brigade were also banned from attending exercises organized by the U.S. military.

It is emphasized that the Azov brigade, known for its stubborn but ultimately unsuccessful defense of the Azovstal metallurgical Plant in Mariupol at the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, is considered a particularly effective fighting force.