Russia prepares an “international tribunal” for the Ukrainian defenders of Mariupol

transformations visited upon Ukraine over the last have been as extraordinary as that of Mariupol’s Philharmonic Hall. On February 14th it staged a concert on the theme of love, sending the audience into raptures with a spirited version of the wine-and-romance chorus from Verdi’s “La Traviata”. Weeks later, its basement was taking in terrified survivors from the city’s theatre after it was destroyed by a . The hall now looks set for another grim twist, as the setting for a televised show trial of Ukrainian prisoners of war. On August 10th a reporter from the propaganda arm of Russia’s armed forces broadcast images of busy preparations: of wide-mesh steel cages that would not be out of place in a lion enclosure. “The criminals will be led to the cages through a steel corridor,” he explained.The trial was due to start on August 24th, , but was postponed for unknown reasons. The reprieve is likely to be temporary; local sources suggest the start is now set for the second week of September. Denis Pushilin, the head of the Russian-controlled Donetsk People’s Republic (), used a recent appearance on Russian propaganda networks to describe plans for a trial of 80 captured soldiers from Ukraine’s controversial Azov regiment, among others. The tribunal’s impartiality would be assured by international observers from Syria, Belarus, Russia and, possibly, North Korea, he said, without a hint of irony.