Russia, Ukraine Azovstal Defense Troops Prisoner Exchange Ban Under Review... Concerns Over Execution

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] Russia is reportedly designating the Ukrainian defenders who surrendered after resistance at the Azovstal steel plant in the southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol as war criminals and is seeking to prohibit prisoner exchanges. As the Ukrainian government hails them as heroes and they become symbols of resistance within the Ukrainian military, concerns are rising that Russia may carry out executions to break their morale.

According to the Associated Press on the 17th (local time), the Russian parliament is reportedly considering a plan to ban prisoner exchanges involving the Ukrainian defenders who held Azovstal. Vyacheslav Volodin, Speaker of the Russian State Duma, stated in a parliamentary speech that "there are war criminals among the Azovstal defenders" and claimed, "They are not subjects for prisoner exchange but for trial."

Leonid Slutsky, a member of the Russian delegation involved in the ceasefire negotiations, referred to the Azov regiment members as "beasts disguised as humans" and strongly urged that Russia’s policy of suspending executions should not apply to them. There are also concerns that death sentences may be imposed on these individuals in the future.

Russia’s top investigative agency, the Investigative Committee, announced that "they will interrogate these individuals to identify nationalists and determine whether they committed crimes against civilians." The Russian Ministry of Justice has also requested that the Azov Regiment, to which some of the Azovstal defenders belong, be designated as a terrorist organization, and a court hearing on this matter is scheduled for the 26th.

Earlier on the same day, about 260 Ukrainian defenders who were guarding Azovstal surrendered to Russian forces. The Russian Ministry of Defense stated in a press release that "265 Ukrainian defending soldiers, including 51 seriously wounded, have surrendered." The surrendered Ukrainian soldiers were reportedly transported by bus to the former prisoner camp in the village of Olenivka near Donetsk.

Meanwhile, Ukraine regards them as heroes and is taking a stance to engage in prisoner exchange negotiations to the fullest extent possible. President Volodymyr Zelensky emphasized, "Ukraine must keep its heroes alive. That is our principle." It is expected that tensions will continue between the two sides over the fate and prisoner exchange issues concerning the Azovstal defenders.