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Russian Supreme Court Labels Ukrainian Azov Military Regiment A 'Terrorist' Organization
By RFE/RL's Russian Service August 02, 2022
The Supreme Court of Russia, acting on a request by the Prosecutor General's Office, has designated Ukraine's ultra-right Azov Regiment as a "terrorist" organization.
The court announced the decision on August 2 against the group, one of the most prominent Ukrainian military formations fighting against Russia in eastern Ukraine.
The court ruled to "recognize the Ukrainian paramilitary unit Azov a terrorist organization and to ban its activities on the territory of the Russian Federation," the judge was quoted by the state news agency TASS as saying.
The decision takes immediate effect.
The Azov Regiment is a far-right, volunteer group that is part of Ukraine's National Guard. Formerly known as the Azov Battalion, it espouses an ultranationalist ideology that U.S. law enforcement authorities have linked with neo-Nazi extremism. But supporters see it as a patriotic and effective part of the country's defense forces.
Russia falsely claims that Ukraine is controlled by Nazis and used that charge as one of the justifications for its unprovoked invasion of the country.
Some relatives of Azov Regiment soldiers have worried that the court's designation could mean those who surrendered to Russia, or were captured by Russian forces, could be tried as terrorists.
The Azov Regiment fought Russian troops for months in the southern city of Mariupol before around 2,500 finally surrenderer in mid-May.
With reporting by TASS and Interfax
Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-labels-ukraine-azov- military-regiment-terrorist/31970480.html
Copyright (c) 2022. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
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