After 3 months of the war, the Russian Federation and the administrators of the unrecognized territories (so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics) are still behaving brazenly. They do not recognize the mistakes, losses, and violations they commit in Ukrainian territories.
On 24 May, the occupiers once again displayed complete ignorance and disrespect for international treaties. The head of the unrecognized Donetsk People's Republic Denis Pushylin told about the punishment for the captured soldiers of the Ukrainian Azov regiment. Ukrainian defenders are being tried by an international tribunal.
Recall that on May 16, the Azovstal plant began to evacuate people and the military of Ukraine, which for more than 80 days restrained thousands of Russian aggressors and their military power. Because the Ukrainian soldiers were surrounded but did not surrender and defended, the Russian forces were not able to quickly capture Zaporizhzhia and Mykolaiv. The evacuation began as a result of agreements between Ukraine and the Russian Federation. Also, according to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the fighters of the Azov regiment fulfilled their mission, and now their main goal is to survive. The president of Ukraine personally supervised the evacuation process, as a result of which about 1.800-2.000 soldiers were removed from the factory with rotting corpses and no food.
And now, unrecognized republics and terrorist organizations want to try the defenders of truth and the state. Hleb Bohush, a Russian lawyer and expert in international criminal law, commented on this. In his view, an international tribunal was not possible if representatives of unrecognized republics wanted to do so.
"International tribunals establish States following international law. In history, there have been such cases, as is well known, that the tribunal that met in Nuremberg was established by an agreement between States. In this case, we have no States. You didn't name the "Donetsk Republic" for nothing because it's not a state. It is not only that it is unrecognized, but it has no State attributes under international law. Accordingly, it could not establish any tribunals. In this case, the state with control over the territory, namely the Russian Federation, is responsible for what is happening there. Of course, this situation has nothing to do with international law. From the point of view of some propaganda veil over what is happening, probably, it makes some sense," said the lawyer.
Hleb also noted that the prisoners from Azovstal have a recognized international status of "prisoner". According to international law, self-proclaimed republics cannot change this.
The lawyer also emphasized that the main issue now is normal conditions for prisoners and wounded. On this topic, news came that one of the fighters has contacted his wife. According to her, the Ukrainian military is in normal conditions, with food and water. Prisoners are not bullied.
