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The withdrawal of hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers who had been at the Azovstal plant in Mariupol since the beginning of the war raised the question: what was the fate of those who surrendered? Ukraine has announced that a prisoner exchange will take place, while Russia is showing signs that the men, who remained for months at the factory in Russian-controlled territory, have another destination.
On the day of the surrender, the Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine confirmed the withdrawal of 53 soldiers who needed medical attention and another 211 soldiers who were inside the Azovstal steel plant. All were transported to regions controlled by the troops of Vladimir Putin.
Although a Ukrainian official said the aim is to exchange these soldiers for Russian prisoners of war, the Kremlin’s position is still unclear, especially after one of the deputies involved in the peace talks with Kyiv came to defend the death penalty for soldiers withdrawn from Azovstal. .
If Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov assured that the soldiers would be treated “in accordance with international standards,” then so be it. that Russia should “think well” about imposing capital punishment on the members of the Azov battalion, who have now been withdrawn from the Azovstal metallurgical plant.
“They do not deserve to live after the heinous crimes against humanity that they have committed and that are constantly being committed against our prisoners,” he said, quoted by Reuters.
Already on Tuesday it became known that on May 26 the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation will decide on the recognition of the Azov battalion as a terrorist organization. According to the Interfax news agency, cited by the BBC, it will be Russian justice that will “judge the nationalist paramilitary association Azov, deciding whether it is a” terrorist organization “.
According to the Russian news agency RIA, Russian MP Sultan Khamzaev also said that “all nationalists should be convicted for the grave crimes they have committed” and sentenced to “life imprisonment.”
