Occupiers plan Nuremberg Trials-style show trial over "Nazism" source

Cages for court over Azov regiment soldiers in Mariupol. Photo: Mariupol City hall

UKRAINSKA PRAVDA – FRIDAY, 19 AUGUST 2022, 16:04

The first stage of a show trial of Ukrainian prisoners of war will be held in Mariupol. The occupiers are planning to conduct it in "Nuremberg Trial style".

Source: sources of Ukrainska Pravda in the military intelligence

Details: The occupiers want to try not soldiers of Azov Special Operations Forces or Ukrainian soldiers but allegedly the "ideology of nationalism". Thus, they’re trying to achieve the goal of "denazification" declared by the Russian government.

The occupiers plan to consider all cases and proceedings from this point of view starting from 2014, trying to justify the alleged forced nature of their invasion of Ukraine.

The intelligence reports that Russians don’t have administrative and personnel resources to make the court look plausible even for common people.

The occupiers plan to hold the so-called "trial" in many locations, and Mariupol will only be the first of them. Occupied Kherson may be the second location, the intelligence states. At the same time, the sources of Ukrainska Pravda believe it is unlikely that this process could be held outside the borders of the occupied territories.

The duration of the process may vary depending on various factors, particularly the situation in combat zones, internal Russian processes and international situations. The intelligence does not rule out  that the occupiers will "sentence" war prisoners the same day the illegal "referendums" on integration of the occupied territories with Russia will be held.

The sources state that after such "referendums", the show trials of the Ukrainian prisoners of war may be resumed under a new status say, of the Azov Regiment as a terrorist organisation. This is the reason why the execution of prisoners of war is not being considered so far.

The intelligence service predicts that Russians will consider an exchange of the Azov Special Operations Forces soldiers to be a forced procedure. They will emphasise the fact that they only exchange women, the ill and those who didn’t commit the so-called "crimes".

At the same time, "the most brutal scenarios" may be prepared for the most famous prisoners of war, the commanders of Azov Special Operations Forces and the Vedmedi [a subversion group that fought alongside Azov, - ed.]. 8 out of 9 Vedmedi members surrendered.

The occupiers claim that not only "representatives" of the occupied territories of Ukraine but also "officials" from Russia and Belarus will participate in this show trial. The representatives of Syria and North Korea were also invited but so far, they have not confirmed their participation. The intelligence service does not rule out that "outcasts" and "non-aggressive mentally ill patients" who are citizens of EU member countries and the U.S. may also be invited to court sessions. The involvement of the representatives of African countries and the occupied territories of Georgia, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, is also possible.

Previously: Earlier, the Chief Intelligence Directorate reported that on 24 August, the Independence Day in Ukraine, the Russian occupiers planned to hold a demonstrative show trial over the captive soldiers who defended Azovstal steel plant in the temporarily occupied Mariupol.

The Chief Intelligence Directorate doesn’t rule out that Russians may launch a surgical missile strike on the building. In this case, they will try to shift the responsibility for this crime onto Ukraine.

Background:

  • On 6 August, the Mariupol city hall reported that the occupiers started to set up prison cages on the stage of the local Philharmonic Hall to hold a show trial of the Ukrainian prisoners of war.

  • Vadym Boichenko, the mayor of Mariupol, specified that the Russian occupiers are preparing a show trial of the Ukrainian prisoners of war on 24 August.

  • During the broadcast of the Rossiya 1 TV channel on 8 August, Denis Pushilin, the chief of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic, reported that the first self-styled "trial" of the Azov soldiers will be held in Mariupol. He claimed that the trial will be "international", and that "numerous countries confirmed their participation". He didn’t specify which countries he was referring to.

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