NATO Directorate Warned Azov Remained ‘Fanatics,’ Recruits Acquired Canadian-Made Rifles.
(www.readthemaple.com)
I think you are turning around cause and effect. Fringe political extremist where turned into "heroic defenders of Ukraine the day little green men showed up to separate Crimea and the Donbas from Ukraine. If anything the Russian invasion have them legitimacy. It clearly says so in the links you provided.
Edit: And Putin stated Ukraine was not a country as early as the 90's even though the USSR fell apart and countries that where autonomous before, became independent again.