A court in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don has convicted 23 Ukrainians on “terrorism” charges in a trial that Kyiv has denounced as a sham and a violation of international law.
The defendants include 12 captured members of Ukraine’s elite Azov Brigade, which led the defence of the city of Mariupol in the early months of Russia’s war.
The prisoners were found guilty on Wednesday on charges of trying to stage a violent coup and organising activities for a “terrorist” organisation. Some also faced charges of overseeing illegal military drills as part of the ongoing war in Ukraine.
They were given sentences ranging from 13 to 23 years in prison, to be served in penal colonies with the harshest regimes, the Prosecutor-General’s Office said.
Independent news outlet Mediazona said that besides the 12 Avoz members, 11 other people whom Russia had already returned to Ukraine in prisoner exchanges were sentenced in absentia. They included nine women who had worked as army cooks.
Mediazona said the Azov members would appeal the verdicts and that some of them had denied wrongdoing or had said that testimony they had given had been obtained under duress.
Wednesday’s verdict comes a day after Russia and Ukraine agreed to halt military strikes on vessels in the Black Sea with a view to ushering in a broader ceasefire that would bring an end to the three-year Russia-Ukraine war.
