“The (nationalistic) Azov battalion (…) will be designated as a terrorist organization, and its activities in Russia will be proscribed,” the presiding judge announced.

The resolution, issued at the request of the Russian General Prosecutor’s Office, involves tougher sentences for the members of the “battalion” (actually numerically closer to a regiment at its latest iteration).

Much of the oral hearing in the Supreme Court took place behind closed doors, because the materials in the case were classified as secret, but the journalists witnessed the statements of experts.

The specialists detailed that the ideology of the battalion includes elements of “extreme biological racism”, plans for racial segregation in the legal field, rejection of democracy, morality and international law.

The representatives of the Russian justice added that the members of the Ukrainian movement also committed numerous war crimes, including the bombing of residential areas, torture and murder of civilians.

The nationalist Azov battalion emerged as a volunteer unit of neo-Nazi ideology, but became part of the National Guard of Ukraine in 2014.

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