A Russian military court on Wednesday handed down long prison sentences to 12 members of Ukraine's Azov regiment, which led the defence of the city of Mariupol in the early months of the war and is designated as a "terrorist organization" by Russia. The defendants, charged with "terrorist activity" and with "violently seizing or retaining power," were sentenced to between 13 and 23 years in prison, Russian state media reported. Independent news outlet Mediazona said 11 other people whom Russia had already returned to Ukraine in prisoner exchanges were also...

A Russian military court on Wednesday sentenced 12 members of Ukraine’s Azov Battalion to prison terms ranging from 13 to 23 years on 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...