The corrugated paper is cheap, has vertical channels on the inside, and its quantity creates a large area flame. Standard wicks would only produce a small flame with little heat.
As for the Azov battalion - Ruscist propaganda actively exploits racist statements made by Andriy Biletsky in 2006-2010, several years before he founded this battalion. He changed his views and hasn’t made a single racist statement since 2014. The Azov battalion included several Jews from the very beginning, so Biletsky isn’t an anti-Semite now. And since November 2014, the Azov battalion has a different commander.
So for the Azov battalion, any Nazi leanings are a thing of the distant past: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/04/06/ukraine-military-right-wing-militias/ It’s rather Ruscists who tend to project onto others what they hide from themselves.
IMHO, Russians are a mixed bag - both untrained slave mobiks on the frontlines and some shrewd elite specialists behind. A hundred years ago the Russian Empire also fought in such a way.
Their archaic way of fighting is anyway grotesque nowadays, to say the least. They continue to finance the war by selling oil and gas extracted in their Siberian colonies - but their capabilities are noticeably eroding.
Thank you for letting me know about nERA. Hopefully we’ll get to know what this stuff really is.
Yes, it is possible, here: https://itarmy.com.ua/?lang=en You are welcome to the club 🪖💻🖱️