A Russian military court on Wednesday handed down long prison sentences to 12 members of Ukraine’s Azov regiment, which led the defence of the city of Mariupol in the early months of the war and is designated as a “terrorist organization” by Russia.
The defendants, charged with “terrorist activity” and with “violently seizing or retaining power,” were sentenced to between 13 and 23 years in prison, Russian state media reported.
Independent news outlet Mediazona said 11 other people whom Russia had already returned to Ukraine in prisoner exchanges were also sentenced in absentia. They included nine women who had worked as army cooks.
It said the 12 Azov members, who appeared in court with shaven heads, would appeal the verdicts and that some of them had denied wrongdoing or had said that testimony they had given had been obtained under duress, something Reuters was not able to confirm.
There was no immediate Ukrainian …