INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
terrorism charges in the largest and highest-profile trial of Ukrainian prisoners of war since the full-scale invasion.All of the defendants
were taken as prisoners of war, arrested during filtration procedures or voluntarily surrendered to Russian occupying forces in the city of
Mariupol, which was almost entirely razed to the ground during an 80-day Russian siege at the outset of its invasion.The individuals include
military personnel as well as support staff like cooks and handymen, the independent news website Mediazona reported.The Southern District
undergoing training for terrorist activities.The sentenced individuals were among the 24 current and former Azov members, including nine
women, who were arrested in southern Russia on terrorism charges in March-May 2022
Russian custody in 2024.During the trial, defendants described severe mistreatment in custody, including being beaten to the point of broken
bones, interrogated with bags over their heads and forced to sing the Russian national anthem.They also alleged that they were given food
cell for days, Mediazona reported.Despite multiple requests to exclude confessions obtained under duress from the trial's evidence, the
court denied their appeals.Russia designated the Azov battalion as a "terrorist" organization in August 2022, months after the individuals
were arrested.The battalion formed in 2014 as a far-right volunteer paramilitary unit fighting against pro-Russian separatists in eastern
