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WORLD NEWS Wednesday 3 august 2022
Russia brands Ukrainian steel plant defenders terrorists

By SUSIE BLANN and SUZAN bul on Tuesday en route to
FRASER Lebanon, under an agree-
Associated Press ment Moscow and Kyiv
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Rus- signed last month to un-
sia’s Supreme Court de- block Ukraine’s agricultural
clared Ukraine’s Azov exports and ease a global
Regiment a terrorist orga- food crisis.
nization Tuesday, a move An estimated 20 million tons
that could lead to terror of grain have been stuck
charges against some of in Ukraine since the start
the captured fighters who of war. The U.N.-brokered
made their last stand inside agreement to release the
Mariupol’s shattered steel grain calls for the estab-
plant. lishment of safe corridors
Russia and its separatist through the mined waters
allies are holding an esti- outside Ukraine’s ports.
mated 1,000 Azov soldiers The Razoni, which set sail
prisoner, many since their from the port of Odesa on
surrender at the steelworks Monday with more than
in mid-May. 26,000 tons of corn, was
Russian authorities have scheduled for inspection
opened criminal cases Wednesday in Istanbul by a
against them, accusing team of Russian, Ukrainian,
them of killing civilians. The In this file photo provided by Azov Special Forces Regiment of the Ukrainian National Guard Press Turkish and U.N. officials, as
addition of terrorism charg- Office, a Ukrainian soldier inside the ruined Azovstal steel plant stands under a sunlight ray in his part of the deal.
shelter in Mariupol, Ukraine, May 7, 2022.
es could mean fewer rights Associated Press More ships from Ukraine are
and longer prison sentenc- expected to set out in the
es. port city’s steel mill despite Kyiv have blamed each Russia-backed forces, if coming days. Some 27 ves-
A terrorist organization punishing attacks from Rus- other, with Kyiv saying Rus- those territories go ahead sels have been waiting in
leader could receive 15 to sian forces. Ukrainian Presi- sia blew up the barracks with plans to become part three Ukrainian ports with
20 years, and group mem- dent Volodymyr Zelenskyy to cover up torture against of Russia. cargo and signed con-
bers could get five to 10, hailed them and the other the POWs. Meanwhile, the first cargo tracts, ready to go, said
according to Russian state defenders as heroes. In its ruling, the Supreme ship loaded with grain to U.N. spokesman Stephane
media. Moscow has repeatedly Court banned the Azov leave Ukraine since Rus- Dujarric. Global food pric-
In testimony journalists were portrayed the Azov Regi- Regiment in Russia. That sia invaded more than five es have been soaring in a
allowed to view, witnesses ment as a Nazi group and could also outlaw the regi- months ago safely crossed crisis blamed on the war,
appearing before the Su- accused it of atrocities, but ment in areas of Ukraine the Black Sea and an- supply chain problems and
preme Court supported the has publicly produced little occupied by Russian or chored just outside Istan- COVID-19. q
proposed terrorism desig- evidence.
nation, but most of the pro- The regiment, a unit within
ceedings were held behind Ukraine’s National Guard,
closed doors, so it was not has a checkered past. It
known if any opponents grew out of a group called
testified. the Azov Battalion, formed
“I can testify myself that in 2014 as one of many vol-
Ukrainian snipers Azov unteer brigades created to
snipers really shot civilians fight Russia-backed sepa-
trying to escape the city” ratists in eastern Ukraine.
of Mariupol, Marina Akhm- The battalion drew its ini-
edova of the Presidential tial fighters from far-right
Council for the Develop- circles.
ment of Civil Society and While its current members
Human Rights testified. “I reject accusations of ex-
saw bodies lying on roads tremism, the Kremlin has
with my own eyes. There seized on the regiment’s
were many of them, and right-wing origins to cast
they were lying probably 10 Russia’s invasion as a battle
meters apart from one an- against Nazi influence in
other. There were no shell Ukraine. Russian state me-
craters beside them.” dia has repeatedly shown
In a statement, the Azov what it claimed to be Nazi
Regiment dismissed the rul- insignias, literature and tat-
ing, accusing the Kremlin toos associated with the
of “looking for new excuses regiment.
and explanations for its war Last week, dozens of Ukrai-
crimes.” It urged the U.S. nian POWs, including Azov
and other countries to de- fighters from the steel plant,
clare Russia a terrorist state. were killed in an explo-
The Azov soldiers played sion at a prison barracks in
a key part in the defense Olenivka, an eastern town
of Mariupol, holding out controlled by pro-Russian
for weeks at the southern separatists. Moscow and