On Wednesday, Russia convicted 23 captured Ukrainians on terrorism charges related to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. This trial has faced sharp criticism from Kyiv, which labeled it as a sham and a breach of international law.
The group of defendants included 14 current or former members of the elite Azov brigade, which the Russian government has designated as a terrorist organization. Additionally, nine women and one man, who served as cooks or other support personnel, were also part of the proceedings. Notably, 12 of the defendants were not present in court; 11 had previously returned to Ukraine through two separate prisoner exchanges and were sentenced in absentia, while one individual died in custody last year, leading to the closure of their case.
All defendants faced accusations of organizing a coup d’état and operating a terrorist group, with some individuals also charged with preparing to execute terrorist activities. The sentences handed down to those convicted ranged from 13 to 23 years in prison, and the 12 men who remain in Russian custody will serve their time in maximum-security penal colonies, as per the court ruling.
Memorial, a prominent Russian human rights organization that won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022, has classified all of the defendants as political prisoners. Many of these individuals were captured in 2022 amid fighting in the port city of Mariupol, where they resisted in the besieged Azovstal steel mill. Others were detained while attempting to flee the city after it was taken over by Russian forces, according to Memorial.
Ukraine's human rights envoy, Dmytro Lubinets, condemned the trial proceedings, which commenced in June 2023, labeling them as “another sham trial” meant for Russia's “own amusement.” He argued that “Russia” and “fair justice” are fundamentally incompatible concepts. Lubinets called for the international community to respond to what he described as disgraceful trials against Ukrainian defenders. He asserted that those who initiated the aggression and invaded Ukraine should be the ones held accountable.
In June, Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to the Ukrainian president, commented on social media platform X that the trial of the combatants represented “an official war crime” and warranted action from the International Criminal Court. Petro Yatsenko, a representative from Ukraine's Coordination Center for the Treatment of POWs, echoed these sentiments, pointing out that the trial procedures flouted the Geneva Conventions regarding the treatment of prisoners of war.
The military court proceeding took place in Rostov-on-Don, where Russia's Southern Military District is located, approximately 100 kilometers (60 miles) east of the Ukrainian border. Reports from the independent Russian news outlet Mediazona revealed that the defendants testified during the trial about mistreatment while in custody. They recounted experiences of severe beatings, broken bones, coercive interrogations involving bags over their heads, exposure to food contaminated with household chemicals, and were forced to stand for extended periods while singing the Russian national anthem.
These allegations are consistent with findings from various Russian and international human rights groups that document systematic abuses of Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilian detainees in Russian custody.
