Arkady Moshes, a Russian researcher at the Foreign Policy Institute, does not believe that Russia will agree to extradite the soldiers of the Azov Battalion to Ukraine, but intends to use them as instruments of domestic propaganda.
The struggle for survival at the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol became one of the most followed events in the Ukrainian war.
Hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers who defended the factory endured the Russian siege and bombing for weeks, while protecting civilians seeking refuge in the factory.
The symbolism of the struggle for Ukraine and its defense struggle has been great.
According to him, the battle of Azovstal’s steel mill marked a turning point in the Russian offensive war and prevented it from taking over the whole of eastern Ukraine.
According to Ukraine, the soldiers agreed to exchange prisoners with Russia. According to Russia, the soldiers simply surrendered.
According to Ukraine, several Ukrainian soldiers remained in the factory. However, Ukraine stated that their struggle is over and that their main task is now to survive.
Surrendered soldiers have even been sentenced to death in the Duma
There have been several speeches in Russia yesterday and today about what should be done to the Ukrainian soldiers in Azovstal.
The harshest language was heard in the lower house of parliament in the Duma, where a Member of Parliament who took part in the arms talks with Ukraine Leonid Slutski proposed a death sentence for the soldiers.
– They do not deserve to live because they have committed horrific crimes against humanity, he said in a speech to the Duma, referring to the Ukrainian soldiers as “animals in human form”.
Chairman of the Duma Vyacheslav Volodin in turn, vowed that Russia would not agree to the exchange of prisoners.
– We will not change our attitude towards the Nazis. They are war criminals and must be brought to justice, Volodin said, referring to Azovstal’s soldiers.
President Vladimir Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov for its part, it promised that surrendered soldiers would be treated in accordance with international rules.
Researcher: Russia does not agree to the exchange of prisoners for all surrendered
Program Director of the Foreign Policy Institute Arkady Moshes does not believe that Russia will agree to the exchange of prisoners.
– I think it is likely that Russia will not hand over most of them to Ukraine. Some soldiers from the Marine Corps may be exchanged for Russian prisoners, but soldiers from the Azov Battalion will be brought to justice, he estimates.
According to Moshes, Russia intends to take full advantage of the situation and present the surrendered soldiers as Nazis who have committed serious war crimes against the civilian population in eastern Ukraine.
– Russia has justified the attack on Ukraine by liberating the country from the Nazis, and now they can finally show in the media that they have captured hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers who they say are Nazis, Moshes says.
He clarifies that, in fact, the soldiers of the Azov Battalion are part of the Ukrainian army and should be treated in accordance with the rules of war.
Moshes believes Russia is making slow progress. It may take months before we know how the soldiers are doing.
– Russia has indicted Russian soldiers in court. Now Russia shows that we can do the same, and that Ukrainian soldiers are committing crimes, he estimates.
The situation is embarrassing for Ukraine
According to Moshes, Russia knows how difficult it is for Ukraine to lose Mariupol. Many Ukrainians are disappointed with the strategic decisions of the country’s military leadership, and Russia wants to keep the issue up for this reason.
– Many ask why the defense of southern Ukraine was not better managed. The stump formed by the Crimean peninsula is only eight kilometers wide and could have been mined and halted the enemy’s progress, he says.
The struggle at the Azovstal steel plant has received enormous attention worldwide, but is of greater importance to Ukraine than to Russia. For Ukraine, it was a diplomatic and military success that attracted worldwide attention.
For Russia, the conquest of the city of Mariupol was equally important, as it would help establish a land connection to the Crimean peninsula.
The surrender of Azovstal’s soldiers is nevertheless a significant victory for Russia, especially in terms of propaganda.
– The Russians have been watching the fate of the factory on television and waiting for the factory to surrender, Moshes says.
According to him, the term “complete and unconditional surrender” has been used in the Russian media to describe Azovstal’s events.
– This term was already used for the surrender of the Germans in 1945. Every Russian knows it, it comes to them already in breast milk, he says.
And who will ultimately decide the fate of the Ukrainian soldiers? Moshes takes the answer for granted.
– Putin, of course. The matter has received worldwide attention, the UN secretary general visited Moscow to discuss the fate of the plant, he recalls.
– The fate of the Ukrainian soldiers is in Putin’s hands.
According to Moshes, the different attitudes of the countries towards their own soldiers who have been taken prisoner also weigh on the balance.
– Russia is not as interested in the Russian soldiers captured by Ukraine as Ukraine is interested in these Azovstal soldiers.