A Russian court on Wednesday sentenced a group of Ukrainian captives, including soldiers and ex-soldiers, to prison terms of up to 23 years on “terrorism” and other charges. The group was captured early in Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
According to the independent news site Mediazona, a total of 23 Ukrainians were sentenced on March 26. Twelve were in Russian custody, while the other 11 had already been exchanged for Russian prisoners and were sentenced in absentia.
A military court in Rostov-on-Don, a city in southern Russia, issued the sentences, which ranged from 13 to 23 years in penal colonies with the toughest conditions, according to the Prosecutor-General’s Office.
The convictions targeted members and former members of Ukraine’s Azov brigade, a unit Russia declared a “terrorist and extremist” organization in August 2022. Russian authorities say 145 members of Azov have been convicted so far, according to Investigative Committee head Alexander Bastrykin.
Azov was founded in 2014 in the city of Mariupol as a paramilitary group linked to far-right nationalist movements. It later became part of Ukraine’s National Guard. Russia accuses the unit of being neo-Nazi, but the US lifted a ban on supplying Azov with weapons last year, saying it found no evidence of human rights violations.
Those sentenced Wednesday were accused of involvement in a terrorist organization and attempting to overthrow Russian rule, despite having never lived in Russia before their capture.
Mediazona reported that the Ukrainian defendants were brought to court in shackles. During hearings, they claimed they had been subjected to torture and beatings in custody.
Most were captured during the 2022 battle for Mariupol, a key eastern Ukrainian city. They were initially held in the Russian-backed separatist region of Donetsk. While some were active fighters, others had left the military or worked in non-combat roles, such as cooking or maintenance, in support of Ukraine’s forces.
Azov has gained iconic status in Ukraine, particularly for its prolonged defense of Mariupol’s Azovstal steel plant in the early months of the war.
Initially, 24 Ukrainians were part of this trial. Eleven, including nine women, were later released in prisoner exchanges.
One prisoner, Oleksandr Ishchenko, died in Russian custody last year. Russia attributed his death to heart issues, but a Ukrainian examination found he had suffered multiple broken ribs and severe chest injuries.