The leader of the pro-Russian separatists in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine has said that remarks from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would not influence a planned trial of captured Ukrainian prisoners.
"All criminals, war criminals, especially the neo-Nazis of the Azov regiment, must receive their appropriate punishment," Denis Pushilin said on Russian state television on Monday.
Zelensky said on Sunday evening that negotiations between Ukraine and Russia will be cut off if Moscow holds a planned trial in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, which has been captured by Russian troops and Moscow-backed separatists.
According to Pushilin, preparations for the first stage of the trial were coming to an end and a date depended on investigators. He added that the separatists have material ready on 80 incidents by the controversial nationalist Azov regiment and that 23 people were arrested.
