The Russian government could put several captured Ukrainian soldiers on trial ahead of Ukraine’s Independence Day later in the week, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky warned on Monday during his nightly video address.

The Ukrainian leader cited media reports that the Kremlin had sought to try several Ukrainian fighters who surrendered during the siege of Mariupol. Many of the fighters belonged to the former “Azov Battalion,” a private militia with ties to neo-Nazi groups later brought under state control. A public trial is scheduled for the same day as Ukraine’s annual Independence Day celebrations on August 24.

Zelensky lambasted the prospect of such a trial, claiming that it violated international law and threatening to suspend all ongoing diplomatic contact with Russia if it was held.

“If this despicable show trial takes place, if our people are brought into these settings in violation of all agreements, all international rules, there will be abuse,” the president claimed. “This will be the line beyond which no negotiations are possible.”

Ukraine’s independence day on Wednesday also marks the six-month anniversary of Russia’s invasion on February 24, when the Kremlin’s troops entered Ukraine from the north, south, and east. Although Ukraine defeated the northern invasion and forced Russian troops back into Russian-aligned Belarus, Moscow still occupies roughly twenty percent of Ukraine’s land in the south and east, including nearly all of the eastern Donbass region and the provincial capital of Kherson in the south.

In preparation for Russian activity on the holiday, Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, and Kharkiv, its second city, each announced a curfew and a ban on public gatherings. Presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak warned on Sunday that the Kremlin would likely intensify its bombing campaign against major Ukrainian cities during prospective independence celebrations, claiming that Russian leaders had an “obsession” with linking their actions to memorable dates.

Ukraine’s independence day on August 24 commemorates the issuing and ratification of its “Declaration of Independence” from the Soviet Union on August 24, 1991. However, Ukraine did not formally leave the Soviet Union until the approval of an independence referendum in December. Traditionally, the holiday is celebrated with a military parade in Kyiv, most recently in 2021. While no parade will be held in 2022 because of the war, Ukrainian authorities placed a row of destroyed Russian tanks in Kyiv’s city center, mocking early Russian claims that its military would enter the Ukrainian capital within days of the invasion.

Trevor Filseth is a current and foreign affairs writer for the National Interest.

Image:Reuters.