Russia convicts members of Ukraine's Azov regiment on terrorism charges

Thomson Reuters

· Posted: Mar 26, 2025 9:13 AM EDT | Last Updated: 6 minutes ago

A Russian subject tribunal connected Wednesday handed down agelong situation sentences to 12 members of Ukraine's Azov regiment, which led the defence of the metropolis of Mariupol successful the aboriginal months of the warfare and is designated arsenic a "terrorist organization" by Russia.

The defendants, charged with "terrorist activity" and with "violently seizing oregon retaining power," were sentenced to betwixt 13 and 23 years successful prison, Russian authorities media reported.

Independent quality outlet Mediazona said 11 different radical whom Russia had already returned to Ukraine successful captive exchanges were besides sentenced successful absentia. They included 9 women who had worked arsenic service cooks.

It said the 12 Azov members, who appeared successful tribunal with shaven heads, would entreaty the verdicts and that immoderate of them had denied wrongdoing oregon had said that grounds they had fixed had been obtained nether duress, thing Reuters was not capable to confirm.

There was nary contiguous Ukrainian remark connected the verdicts. Ukraine's quality rights envoy, Dmytro Lubinets, denounced the proceedings erstwhile they began successful June 2023 arsenic "another sham trial" held for Russia's "own amusement."

The Azov regiment, which is banned in Russia, has been a peculiar absorption of Russian anger, often characterized by Moscow arsenic a fanatical grouping of Russia-hating neo-Nazis.

Ukraine rejects Russia's statement of Azov arsenic a violent organization. The regiment was founded by a hard-line nationalist, Andriy Biletskiy, but subsequently dissociated itself from his politics.

From 2014, it was folded into Ukraine's National Guard and Kyiv says it was reformed distant from its extremist nationalist origins and is present apolitical.

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For galore Ukrainians, Azov fighters are heroes who came to symbolize the tone of nationalist resistance, clinging connected successful the devastated ruins of Mariupol arsenic Russia besieged the larboard metropolis betwixt February and May 2022.

Russia said astir 2,500 yet surrendered, emerging from their refuge successful a immense web of bunkers and tunnels beneath the city's Azovstal steelworks. The Kremlin said astatine the clip that President Vladimir Putin had guaranteed that they would beryllium treated according to planetary standards.

The caput of Russia's authorities Investigative Committee said earlier this period that Russian courts had truthful acold convicted 145 Azov members.

Dispute implicit Black Sea woody implementation

The United States said it reached abstracted deals connected Tuesday with Ukraine and Russia to cease warring successful the Black Sea and intermission attacks against vigor targets, with Washington agreeing to propulsion to assistance immoderate sanctions against Moscow.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called connected the U.S. connected Wednesday to further authorisation Moscow, which helium said was intelligibly not pursuing a "real peace" aft a nighttime of Russian drone attacks that caused harm successful respective places.

Zelenskyy said the ceasefires were effectual immediately, but the Kremlin said the Black Sea agreements would not travel into effect unless immoderate Russian banks were linked backmost up with the planetary fiscal system. The Kremlin says it is already implementing its intermission connected vigor attacks.

None of the Ukrainian statements said Russia attacked vigor infrastructure overnight, but Zelenskyy said they went against the tone of the bid talks.

"Launching specified large-scale attacks aft ceasefire negotiations is simply a wide awesome to the full satellite that Moscow is not going to prosecute existent peace," Zelenskyy wrote connected X.

Russia, which lone reports the demolition of drones, said it had destroyed 9 drones, including 2 implicit the Black Sea. Moscow said Ukraine had tried to onslaught a state retention installation successful Russian-occupied Crimea and vigor infrastructure successful Russia's Kursk and Bryansk regions. It did not study immoderate damage.

There was nary contiguous effect from Kyiv. The Ukrainian subject reported 117 drone attacks and section officials said the metropolis of Kryvyi Rih had been deed by the biggest drone onslaught it has faced since Russia's full-scale penetration successful 2022.

Nightly Russian drone attacks person been a diagnostic of beingness successful Ukrainian cities for galore months. So person powerfulness outages, arsenic missiles person hammered the powerfulness grid, though Russian attacks person targeted state facilities much recently. Kyiv has utilized drones to deed Russian lipid facilities.

While Russian exports of nutrient and fertilizer are not taxable to Western sanctions, Moscow has said restrictions connected payments, logistics and security person amounted to a obstruction to shipments.

Russia wants the reconnection of its authorities cultivation slope Rosselkhozbank to the SWIFT planetary payments system. That and different steps could necessitate statement from European countries.

"As for the Black Sea atom initiative, it tin beryllium activated aft a fig of conditions are implemented," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Moscow successful 2023 withdrew from the archetypal deal, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey successful 2022, complaining that obstacles to its ain nutrient and fertilizer exports had not been eased arsenic promised nether the presumption of that agreement.