In six months of Russian invasion, there is probably no greater symbol of Ukrainian resistance than the martyr city of Mariupol, which fell to the invader last May. And the soldiers of the Azov regiment who fought step by step and to the end against the Russians, huddled at the bottom of their last stronghold at the Azovstal steel mill, embodied this heroic defense in the first place. It is precisely these fighters that Russia now says it wants to try through a trial organized inside the Mariupol theater. Images of the philharmonic turned into a courtroom, filmed by Russian television and published online by the New York Times since August 11, they have upset the leaders and people of Ukraine.
grids and cages
It’s no longer about lyrical art at the Mariupol Philharmonic, judging by the shots Russian TV crews did there. We see the place furnished with grids, cages, frozen waiting for a most rudimentary “Nuremberg”. Because the Russians intend to have the fighters of the Azov regiment appear there, whom they officially describe as “Nazis” and “terrorists”, according to the terms used on August 2 by the Moscow Supreme Court, a final qualification that exposes the accused to sentences ranging from 20 years in prison to the death penalty.
“The debates will take place in Mariupol, so it will not be Russia who will judge but the separatists. This nuance implies the possibility of the death penalty, which is subject to a moratorium in Russia,” explains Patrick Sauce, international columnist for BFM TV. . .
A “false trial”
And we must not dream of the impartiality of the hearings. “It would be a false trial,” this is how Anastasia Kirilenko, an independent Russian journalist and director of the documentary, warned on our antenna this Tuesday Putin, the mafia and Russia. For her, there should be no mistake: the separatist magistrates may well wear the ermine, it is Russia that will give the verdict.
“Russia is going to impute its own war crimes to this Azov regiment. Already on the site of the Russian investigation committee, the bombing of the Mariupol maternity is attributed to the ‘neo-Nazis of Azov’, like the bombing of the drama theater “, said.
It is true that historical links between the Azov regiment and the Ukrainian far right have existed, but the unit has since been incorporated into the regular army. In any case, regardless of the profile of its members, captive soldiers are in principle protected by international law. However, the defendants should not benefit from any guarantees this time.
“Russia is announcing an international trial. Perhaps there will be observers from Syria,” Anastasia Kirilenko suggested.
tales of torture
Vladislav Jaïvoronok, a veteran of the regiment, wounded in the fighting and a former prisoner of the Russians, denounced before our cameras: “Russia had already declared that the Azov regiment was a terrorist organization. Everyone knows that this is false, but his goal is to prove that the fighters are terrorists. And they only do it for the general Russian public.”
The “formers” of the Azov regiment who were able to regain their freedom after an exchange of prisoners between Ukraine and Russia denounce abuses and torture suffered in captivity. During an online press conference attended by AFP on Monday, Denys Tcherpouko, also a former defender of the Azovstal sawmill, said:
“In captivity I saw how they beat our boys (…) they stripped us naked, forced us to bend over naked. If someone raised their head, they would immediately start beating them. (…) I saw that they took a soldier from our cell and two days later they brought him back. He couldn’t move, his ribs and legs were broken. I don’t know the fate of him.”
unbearable uncertainty
An uncertainty that doubles that of this hypothetical judgment and that weighs on the Ukrainian opinion. In Kyiv, a banner, made by the Azovstal Association of Fighting Families, was unfurled on the pediment of a building, proclaiming (in English): “Freedom for the defenders of Mariupol!”
In his speech on Sunday night, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky himself launched:
“If this despicable show trial takes place, if our people end up there violating all international rules, if there are abuses, a line will be crossed and any negotiation will be impossible.”
A delay in a peace process, the outcome of which is difficult to imagine at the moment, all the more cruel since the cost of the war is already high at the military level for Ukraine. According to figures released by its own army, 9,000 Ukrainian soldiers have already lost their lives since February 24, and the country has been riddled with 3,500 Russian cruise missiles.
Source: BFM TV
