Zelenskyy warns Russia against bringing Ukrainian soldiers to justice

Russia may take the provocative step of trying Ukrainian soldiers as Kyiv next week marks 31 years of independence for the war-ravaged country, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned on Sunday.

Zelenskyy cited media reports that Russia is preparing to subject Ukrainian militants captured during the Mariupol siege to a public trial, coinciding with the anniversary of independence on Wednesday.

Ukraine’s Independence Day, August 24, also marks six months since Russia invaded the former Soviet republic in a devastating war that has claimed thousands of lives.

“If this despicable court takes place, if our people are brought into these attitudes in violation of all agreements, all international rules, there will be abuse,” Zelenskyy warned in an evening speech.

“That will be the limit beyond which negotiations are no longer possible.”

The capital Kyiv has already announced a ban on public gatherings. Kharkiv also imposed a curfew around the holiday.

Zelenskyi returned to an issue he had already addressed in the previous evening’s remarks.

“Russia could try to do something particularly disgusting, particularly cruel,” he warned late Saturday.

“One of the enemy’s most important aims is to humiliate us” and “to sow discouragement, fear and conflict”.

But he added: “We must be strong enough to withstand all provocations” and “make the occupiers pay for their terror”.

A presidential aide Mykhaylo Podolyak said Russia could step up its bombing campaign.

“Russia is an archaic state that ties its actions to certain dates, it’s a kind of obsession,” he was quoted as saying by the Interfax-Ukraine news agency.

“They hate us and will try to increase the number of bombings of our cities, including Kyiv, with cruise missiles,” Podolyak added.

Kiev authorities on Sunday banned public gatherings from August 22-25.

In the northeastern city of Kharkiv, the regional governor announced a curfew from the evening of August 23 to the morning of August 25.

“We will not allow any provocation by the enemy. During our independence holiday, be as vigilant as possible,” Oleg Synegubov wrote on Telegram.

Kharkiv has been bombed regularly by Russia for weeks, and on Sunday emergency services said one woman was killed and two other civilians injured in late-night strikes.

Four civilians were killed by Russian fire in Donetsk, said the region’s pro-Kyiv governor Pavlo Kyrylenko.

A spokesman for the regional administration said five cruise missiles were fired from the Black Sea at Odessa. Two were shot down by air defenses and three hit a silo without causing injury.