The Russian Supreme Court on Tuesday August 2 classified the Ukrainian regiment Azov, famous for having defended Mariupol in Ukraine, as a "
terrorist organization
", which could lead to very heavy prosecution for its fighters taken prisoner by Russia.
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Quoted by the public agency TASS, a judge of the Supreme Court indicated "
to satisfy the administrative request of the General Prosecutor's Office, to recognize the Ukrainian paramilitary unit ''Azov'' as a terrorist organization and to prohibit its activities in the Russian Federation
".
Most of the trial took place behind closed doors.
According to TASS, witnesses had been called to the stand and spoke about alleged crimes committed by the Azov regiment in Ukraine.
According to Russian law, the leaders of a terrorist organization risk 15 to 20 years in prison, ordinary members between 5 and 10 years.
Read alsoWith the volunteers of the special forces of Azov and Kraken who liberate the Kharkiv region
The Azov regiment, a unit created in 2014 by volunteers and then integrated into the Ukrainian regular army, distinguished itself by defending the port city of Mariupol, in the south-east of Ukraine, conquered by Russia after a siege of several months.
After weeks of heavy fighting and shelling, the last defenders of Mariupol, entrenched in the Azovstal factory, finally surrendered last May.
The Kremlin and the Russian state media accuse the Azov regiment of being a neo-Nazi group having committed war crimes and threaten to punish its members very severely.
Last week, explosions in Olenivka prison, in a pro-Russian separatist area in eastern Ukraine and where Ukrainian soldiers taken prisoner in Mariupol were held, left dozens dead, according to the Russian army .
Moscow accuses kyiv of having bombarded this prison camp, which the Ukrainian authorities refute, who affirm on the contrary that these prisoners were massacred by Russian forces.
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"Aviation played a big role": Russian soldiers recount the capture of the Azovstal factory in Mariupol
