Russians to interrogate Ukrainian Azovstal fighters

Tuesday, 17 May 2022, 19:58

KATERYNA TYSHCHENKO - TUESDAY, 17 MAY 2022, 19:58

Investigators from the Investigation Committee of the Russian Federation are to interrogate the Ukrainian soldiers who were at the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol.

Source: Investigation Committee of Russia on Telegram

Quote: "As part of an investigation into crimes committed by the Ukrainian regime against the civilian population of Donbas, investigators from the Investigation Committee of Russia will interrogate the fighters who had been hiding at the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol and surrendered."

Details: The Investigation Committee said that the investigators would establish the identities of the "nationalists" and check whether they had been involved in crimes against civilians, and the information obtained during the interrogations would be compared against other data in Russian criminal case files.

Previously: On Wednesday the State Duma of the Russian Federation will consider a draft resolution banning the exchange of so-called "Nazi criminals", and on 26 May the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation will consider whether Ukraine’s Azov regiment should be deemed a terrorist organisation.

Background:

On 16 May, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine stated that the Mariupol garrison had fulfilled its combat mission, and unit commanders had been ordered to save the lives of personnel.
53 severely wounded servicemen from Azovstal were taken to a medical facility in Novoazovsk (in temporarily occupied Donbas territory). "Another 211 defenders were evacuated to Olenivka through a humanitarian corridor and subsequently returned to Ukrainian-controlled territory through an exchange procedure", the General Staff said.
On 17 May, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk also said that when the condition of the seriously wounded Ukrainian servicemen from Azovstal had stabilised, they would be exchanged for Russian prisoners of war.
The Defence Ministry stressed that there could be no other way of saving Azovstal's Ukrainian defenders than the one currently in use.