Milan, 17 October (LaPresse) – A court in southern Russia has convicted 15 Ukrainian soldiers captured on terrorism charges, following a trial that Kiev has called a farce and a violation of international law. The military court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced 15 men from the Aidar battalion, which Russia has designated a terrorist group, to prison terms ranging from 15 to 21 years. The verdict marks the second mass trial of Ukrainian prisoners of war since March, when 23 members of the elite Azov brigade were convicted on similar charges in a trial that was also condemned by Ukraine as a violation of international law. When the trial of Aidar members began in 2023, Ukraine's human rights envoy, Dmytro Lubinets, called it ‘shameful’ and accused ‘Russia of criminalising those who defended their homeland’.
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