Ukrainian prisoner of war dies while awaiting trial in Russian custody

A Ukrainian prisoner of war who served with the Azov Brigade has died in custody while awaiting trial in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, independent news outlet Mediazona reported on Wednesday.

The pretrial detention centre where Oleksandr Ishchenko died has not yet provided the court with proof of his death, and neither the cause or date of his death are known, Mediazona reported, adding that the case had now been adjourned until 7 August.

Ishchenko, who was 55 and married, joined the Azov Brigade, a detachment of Ukraine’s National Guard, as a military driver on 25 February 2022 and was defending the now Russian-occupied city of Mariupol when he was captured by Russian troops.

Ishchenko was charged alongside 23 other Ukrainians with forcibly attempting to seize power, participation in the activities of a terrorist organisation and undergoing terror training. The defendants were all put on trial in Russia, despite some of them having no longer been in military service at the time of the Russian invasion. The defendants also include nine women, most of whom worked as cooks for the Azov Brigade.

Two of the accused Ukrainian soldiers — David Kasatkyn and Dmytro Labynskyi — are being tried in absentia, having been exchanged for Russian prisoners in 2022.

International human rights group Memorial considers the defendants to be political prisoners, and has described the Russian Supreme Court’s decision to declare the Azov Brigade a terrorist organisation “unlawful”.