The Azov paramilitary units would be classified as a “terrorist organization” and their activities would be banned in Russia, a court judge told the Russian news agency TASS on Tuesday. The decision is legally binding with immediate effect.
This means that members of the former combat group of volunteers that was integrated into the Ukrainian military years ago can be sentenced to long prison terms in the future. According to the Russian Criminal Code, members of “terrorist” groups can be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison. For leaders and organizers, the sentence can be up to 20 years.
Controversial Volunteer Battalion
The Azov regiment is a former volunteer battalion of Ukrainian nationalists, controversial for its links to far-right extremists and labeled by Russia as a “neo-Nazi” group. The Kremlin and the Russian state media have also accused the Azov regiment of war crimes and have been threatening its members with severe punishment for some time.
Most of the process of designating a “terrorist organization” took place behind closed doors. According to TASS, people had been called to the witness stand to report alleged crimes by the Azov regiment in Ukraine.
In 2014, the combat group was formally integrated into the Ukrainian National Guard. At that time, Azov members took part in the fight against Moscow-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.
2500 fighters captured
Azov fighters are also currently deployed alongside Ukrainian soldiers to push back Russia’s military offensive in Ukraine, which began in February to “denazify” the pro-Western country. Many Azov fighters surrendered in May after bitter fighting and weeks of siege at the Azov steelworks in the Ukrainian port of Mariupol. 2,500 fighters were then captured by Russian units.
Dozens of people were killed in explosions at a prison in Olenivka in pro-Russian separatist-controlled eastern Ukraine last week, according to Russian sources, where Ukrainian Azov militants held captive in Mariupol were being held. Moscow accuses Ukraine of bombing the prison. Kyiv, on the other hand, regards the explosions as a massacre by Russian troops of Ukrainian prisoners.
Source: Nachrichten
