MOSCOW, Aug 2 (Reuters) – Russia’s Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday to classify the Azov Regiment, a unit of Ukraine’s National Guard which notably distinguished itself in the defense of Mariupol, as a “terrorist” group, a journalist reported. of Reuters present at the hearing.
This regiment, which particularly distinguished itself in the fight against Russian aggression in eastern Ukraine, was based in Mariupol, a port city in southeastern Ukraine.
Many of the men from this regiment were captured by Russian forces when the city fell in May, after nearly three months of siege.
Officials of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), a pro-Russian entity in eastern Ukraine which now claims to encompass Mariupol, said at the time that these fighters risked the death penalty under the laws of this self-proclaimed republic.
Founded by far-right ultranationalist militants in 2014, at the start of the war against pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, this regiment has since become a regular unit, integrated into the Ukrainian National Guard.
Russia regularly cites the regiment’s origins to illustrate its claims that Ukraine is controlled by “fascists”.
Russian state propaganda has regularly compared Azov fighters to Nazis, while the victory of Soviet forces over Third Reich forces remains central to Russian national identity.
(Reuters report, editing by Guy Faulconbridge; French version Myriam Rivet, editing by Kate Entringer)
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