- Jordan Love calls Aaron Rodgers’ extension last year “the hardest time” as he faced uncertain future profootballtalk.nbcsports.com
- Now QB1, Jordan Love ‘grateful’ for time behind Aaron Rodgers – ESPN ESPN
- Jim Polzin: Jordan Love won a Packers press conference. Now, can he win games? Madison.com
- Jordan Love Shared Aaron Rodgers’s Message for Him After Jets Trade Sports Illustrated
- Jordan Love on taking over for Aaron Rodgers after 3 years: ‘It seemed like a while looking back on it’ Yahoo Sports
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Tag Archives: uncertain
Big 12 in contact with Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, Utah as Pac-12 media rights future remains uncertain – CBS Sports
- Big 12 in contact with Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado, Utah as Pac-12 media rights future remains uncertain CBS Sports
- Big 12 looking west, Pac-12 looking for a TV deal: What we’re hearing on realignment The Athletic
- ‘Renewed Optimism’ That Corner Schools Could Join Big 12: Report Heartland College Sports
- Big 12 contacts Arizona schools, Colorado, Utah as Pac-12 media rights future remains uncertain, per report CBS Sports
- Podcast of Champions – Pac-12 Football Media Day moves to Las Vegas plus Utah and Colorado bolting? 247Sports
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‘Yellowstone’ Spinoff With Matthew McConaughey in Talks Amid Report of Kevin Costner’s Uncertain Future – Hollywood Reporter
- ‘Yellowstone’ Spinoff With Matthew McConaughey in Talks Amid Report of Kevin Costner’s Uncertain Future Hollywood Reporter
- Kevin Costner apparently wants to get the hell out of Yellowstone Yahoo Entertainment
- ‘Yellowstone’ Shocker: Kevin Costner Cowboy Drama Series Plots End As Taylor Sheridan Eyes Franchise Extension With Matthew McConaughey Deadline
- Paramount responds to claims ‘Yellowstone’ ending with Kevin Costner, Matthew McConaughey to star in new show Fox News
- Kevin Costner’s ‘Yellowstone’ work dispute sparks cancellation buzz New York Post
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Ravens rest J.K. Dobbins, uncertain on QB vs. Bengals
CINCINNATI — The Baltimore Ravens could have a different look on offense in Sunday’s regular-season finale against the Cincinnati Bengals.
The Ravens will rest running back J.K. Dobbins and wait until pregame warmups before determining a starting quarterback, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Baltimore (10-6), which has already clinched a playoff spot, can’t win the AFC North but still has a chance to host a postseason game next week as a result of how the NFL handled the unbalanced schedule created by the cancellation of the Bills-Bengals game after Buffalo safety Damar Hamlin’s cardiac arrest.
If the Ravens beat the Bengals (11-4) on Sunday and then face them in the wild-card round, a coin flip will determine whether the game will be played in Baltimore or Cincinnati. Baltimore, which is currently the No. 6 seed in the AFC, can move up to the No. 5 seed if it beats Cincinnati and the Los Angeles Chargers lose to the Denver Broncos.
The biggest question mark for the Ravens is at quarterback. Lamar Jackson (knee) has been ruled out for the fifth straight game, and backup Tyler Huntley is questionable with tendinitis in his right shoulder after starting the last four games.
Huntley did not throw much at all this week, but Ravens coach John Harbaugh said Friday that there was “a really good chance” that Huntley would play. If Huntley can’t play, Anthony Brown would become the third undrafted rookie to make a start for the Ravens, joining Huntley and Anthony Wright. Brown took the first-team reps in practice this past week.
The Baltimore offense has struggled mightily in Jackson’s absence. In four games without Jackson, the Ravens have averaged 12.3 points per game (second-worst in the league), totaling an NFL-low three touchdowns.
The Ravens would have an added challenge without Dobbins. Since coming off injured reserve four games ago, Dobbins has led the NFL in rushing with 397 yards. He has acknowledged that he’s not at full strength and hasn’t regained his breakaway speed after missing all of last season with torn ACL, LCL and meniscus in his left knee.
Asked Thursday if he would be fine with not playing Sunday, Dobbins said: “It’s all up to the coaches.”
Without Dobbins, Baltimore would rely more on Gus Edwards, who only carried the ball three times for two yards last game. Harbaugh said last week that there’s “really no excuse” for Edwards’ reduced role.
The Ravens, who are nine-point underdogs, are 3-36 (.077) outright when being underdogs by seven or more points, according to ESPN Stats & Information research — the worst record of any team since the 1970 merger.
Commanders are eliminated, and Carson Wentz faces an uncertain NFL future
Wentz didn’t look up. His expression didn’t change. But it was impossible for him not to have heard the crowd’s frustration in the 24-10 loss to the Cleveland Browns on Sunday. On the Commanders’ first drive of the day, Wentz threw an interception on his second throw, and fans broke into a chant for backup Taylor Heinicke. They did it at least four more times on the afternoon.
“It’s part of football,” Wentz said. “I’ve seen a lot in my seven years and experienced a lot. I get it. I didn’t have my best day today. I wish it would have [gone] differently. I feel like I let some of my teammates down there early in the game and put us in a hole a little bit. But that’s part of football.”
Did the chants affect him?
“[I] try not to [let them],” he said.
By many measures, this was Washington’s worst offensive performance of the season besides the 24-8 drubbing at Dallas in Week 4. It was a disastrous end to the bet Coach Ron Rivera made after a brief, promising showing by Wentz in last week’s loss at San Francisco. Against the Browns, the quarterback finished 16-for-28 passing (57.1 percent) for 143 yards, no touchdowns and three interceptions. He also took three sacks, all of which took 2.4 seconds or longer, according to the website TruMedia.
“I thought he had his moments,” Rivera said, pointing out the team put together a 21-play, 96-yard drive before halftime to score its only touchdown. He noted that Wentz needed to throw the ball earlier on his first interception and he needed more zip on the second.
“He held the ball a couple times when he probably could have gotten it out and probably should have gotten it out,” Rivera added. “We’ve just got to continue to work on that.”
In the opposing locker room, the Browns seemed unsurprised by Wentz’s struggles. Several defenders, including end Jadeveon Clowney and linebacker Reggie Ragland, said they preached all week that stopping the run on first and second down would force Wentz to throw on third and long, a situation in which he struggles.
Cleveland, which has one of the NFL’s worst run defenses, mostly executed the plan. Washington struggled to be better than average running the ball on early downs, and even though it faced plenty of manageable third downs — the average distance to convert was 6.1 yards, its fifth shortest of the year — the Browns’ pass rush battered Wentz and seemed to affect his decision-making.
“Once we get him rattled in the pocket, it’s over,” Clowney said. “Coming in, we said, ‘If we can get him rattled, we can get some turnovers out of him.’ We knew that.”
“If you know football, you know [Wentz] has a slow release, and you know Heinicke gets the ball out fast,” Ragland said. “Some of the guys I know on the team” — Ragland played college football at Alabama with Commanders wide receiver Cam Sims and defensive tackle Jonathan Allen — “they would’ve preferred Heinicke because they know he gets the ball out. You can see it on film, too, though. They play different with each quarterback.”
Browns defensive end Myles Garrett said that Wentz, who normally holds on to the ball too long, seemed to be doing so more Sunday because it was a part of the game plan. He pointed out the Commanders were in formations meant to take deep shots and sometimes used two players to chip defenders, which slowed them getting out into their routes and limited Wentz’s check-down options.
“They wanted to get some plays down the field and some long-developing plays,” Garrett said. “I don’t think it was really [Wentz] holding it as much as he’s waiting for everything to develop in front of him.”
In the Commanders’ locker room, teammates defended Wentz. Wide receiver Terry McLaurin acknowledged it was “probably tough” for Wentz to hear chants for Heinicke, and tight end Logan Thomas said he didn’t feel as if he needed to say anything to Wentz because, as a former quarterback, he knew Wentz was plenty hard on himself.
“We can’t really blame [Wentz] for the performance,” running back Brian Robinson Jr. said. “We just didn’t have the energy we needed. … Overall, it was kind of dull. I don’t know where the energy came from, but it was definitely in the air, and you could feel it. I feel like that kind of affected his performance.”
The final drive — with an overthrow, a drop and two false start penalties — encapsulated the sloppiness of the Commanders’ offense. When the clock expired, Wentz walked through the Browns’ defense, shaking hands. He congratulated Garrett and Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson before taking a knee at midfield. Wentz, defensive end Chase Young, linebacker David Mayo and two Browns staffers knelt and held hands in a prayer circle.
No one talked about anything related to the game. They prayed for players’ health and for their families, “the truly important stuff in life,” Mayo said. The moment could’ve been Wentz’s last on the field as the Commanders’ starter.
All afternoon, it was difficult to ignore the echoes of Wentz’s past. Last season, needing a win to get into the playoffs, Wentz and the Indianapolis Colts collapsed in a 26-11 loss to the lowly Jacksonville Jaguars. This year, against another eliminated team, Wentz again delivered one of his worst performances.
“I wish the result was different. I wish we came out of here with a win,” he said. “But I don’t think about [last year]. It’s a completely new situation, new place, new everything — and I just wish it would have went different.”
After about a minute, Wentz rose from the prayer circle, scratched his beard and ran toward the tunnel — toward boos and an uncertain future.
Bulgarian GERB ahead in election, but coalition outlook uncertain
SOFIA, Oct 2 (Reuters) – Bulgaria’s GERB party of ex-Prime Minister Boyko Borissov looked set for a narrow win in Sunday’s election, the fourth in less two years, as voters sought predictability from a former leader amid steep inflation and the war in Ukraine.
Exit polls by Gallup International and Alpha Research showed the centre-right GERB with 23.6%-25.5% of ballots. Its main rival, the reformist We Continue the Change of Kiril Petkov, whose cabinet collapsed in June, was next with 19.5%-19.9%.
If confirmed, the result would herald tough coalition talks ahead that could still end in a hung parliament or even another election.
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Either would prolong policy instability and raise the prospect of Sofia missing its 2024 target date for entry into the euro zone.
Many of Borissov’s political adversaries accuse him of allowing widespread corruption to fester during his decade-long rule that ended last year, complicating efforts to put together a functioning majority.
But for some voters in the European Union’s poorest member state, Borissov spells a promise of stability and diplomatic maturity needed to navigate Bulgaria’s complex relationship with Russia.
Once Moscow’s key ally in the EU, Sofia has turned away following Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, becoming the first EU member alongside Poland, an anti-Russian hawk, to see its gas supplies cut off by Gazprom.
During the campaign, Borissov appeared to thread carefully, saying he would toe the EU and NATO line on Russia policy but has also sent a signal to the pro-Russian electorate that he would be able to restore relations once the war ends.
“There is a war in the world… It is important for the country to stay on its Euro-Atlantic course,” he said after casting his ballot.
Petkov, a 42-year-old Harvard graduate, who refuses to govern with Borissov, said on Sunday Bulgarians were choosing between the politics of the transition period that was marred by endemic graft and a more transparent Bulgaria that would be a reliable EU member.
Analysts say political parties, aware of economic risks from the war in Ukraine, a difficult winter ahead and voters’ frustration with political instability, could shelve their differences and opt for a technocrat government.
“Many Bulgarians expect that compromises will be made and want to see a government. It will not be easy, but that is what the politicians are for,” Boryana Dimitrova, with pollster Alpha Research, said after exit polls were released.
Up to six other groups were expected to enter parliament, including the ethnic Turkish MRF party, the Socialists and the pro-Russian, nationalist Revival.
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Reporting by Tsvetelia Tsolova
Editing by Nick Macfie, Gareth Jones, Justyna Pawlak and Frances Kerry
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Hurricane Ian’s uncertain path has all of Florida preparing
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CNN
—
Its exact path still uncertain, Hurricane Ian strengthened overnight as it churned in the Caribbean, threatening to arrive in Florida as a major hurricane packing powerful winds and dangerous storm surge.
Even as the storm grows stronger – with sustained winds now at 75 mph with higher gusts – there remains “higher than usual” uncertainty over its track and intensity, according to the National Hurricane Center.
The storm, located about 90 miles south-southwest of Grand Cayman and about 315 miles southeast of the western tip of Cuba, is forecast to become a hurricane Monday and strengthen to a major hurricane of Category 3 or higher by Tuesday, the center said.
A hurricane watch has been issued along the west coast of Florida from north of Englewood to the Anclote River, including Tampa Bay.
lan is forecast to potentially reach Category 2 strength when it makes landfall in western Cuba. “Life-threatening” storm surge and hurricane-force winds are expected, the center said. “Efforts to protect life and property should be rushed to completion,” forecasters added.
The storm is expected to produce “heavy rainfall, flash flooding, and possible mudslides” in areas of higher terrain, particularly over Jamaica and Cuba.
Models project different scenarios about where it could make landfall in Florida, and how strong it could be by midweek. As of Sunday, meteorologists predicted the storm will peak at Category 4 strength over the eastern Gulf of Mexico, then weaken before reaching Florida.
Regardless of lan’s exact track and intensity, Floridians are being asked to prepare as they face the risk of dangerous storm surge, strong winds, and heavy rainfall along the west coast and the Florida Panhandle, the hurricane center said.
With flash and urban flooding possible across the Florida Keys and the Florida Peninsula through the middle of the week, a tropical storm warning was issued for the lower Florida Keys from Seven Mile Bridge southward to Key West.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis activated the National Guard Sunday morning, saying though the path of the storm is still uncertain, the impacts will be broadly felt throughout the state. State and federal disaster declarations were made over the weekend.
One model is projecting Ian to make landfall in the Tampa Bay region while another model is projecting landfall into the Panhandle, DeSantis said.
“Everyone in Florida is going to feel the impacts of the storm,” director of Florida’s Division of Emergency Management, Kevin Guthrie, told CNN Sunday.
A major concern is how quickly the storm can intensify, stressed Jason Dunion, director of NOAA’s hurricane research field program.
“The storm can increase in speed 35 miles per hour in one day,” Dunion said. “You can go from a tropical storm to a Category 1, or Category 1 to a Category 3 in just that 24-hour period. That makes it especially important for folks to pay attention to this storm the next couple of days.”
As the storm approaches, Floridians are being asked to stock up on supplies like radios, water, canned food and medication for at least seven days, and familiarize themselves with evacuation routes.
Residents in Tampa and other areas were seen lining up for sandbags as they prepared for the storm Sunday.
Filling up bags of sand alongside other community members in Orange County, Jose Lugo told CNN affiliate WFTV he knows what can happen if the worst hits.
“It’s better to be prepared than sorry later,” Lugo said. “I was in Puerto Rico visiting my parents a couple days before Fiona hit. I was helping them out, and now I’m here helping myself and everybody else.”
Cities and counties throughout the state are also preparing.
Officials in Tallahassee, the state’s capital, are working to remove debris and make sure the city’s power lines and stormwater systems are clear. “We’re doing everything we can on the front end of the storm to prepare and secure our infrastructure,” Tallahassee Mayor John Dailey said.
St. Petersburg Mayor Kenneth Welch said his city on Florida’s Gulf Coast is in a vulnerable position. “Even a tropical storm can knock our power grid down for an extended amount of time. We’re educating to be prepared and to plan,” Welch told CNN.
No matter what strength the storm hits the state, Florida is preparing for a dangerous storm surge, Guthrie said, which is when the force of a hurricane or storm pushes ocean water onshore.
“We could see a situation of a Category 4 storm surge and Category 1 or 2 landfall,” Guthrie said.
Officials in Cape Coral, a city in southwest Florida known for its many canals, were particularly concerned about storm surge and winds.
“Right now, of course we are like many other cities, we’re preparing for the worst; hoping for the best,” Cape Coral mayor John Gunter told CNN.
In Hillsborough County, Ian’s approach left the school district with “no choice” but to close all schools as campuses transform into storm shelters, according to Hillsborough County Public Schools.
Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach issued a mandatory evacuation order Saturday and canceled classes Monday due to the approaching storm.
Preparations were also underway in Georgia, where Gov. Brian Kemp ordered the activation of the State Operations Center on Monday “to prepare for any potential impact from Tropical Storm Ian later in the week.”
“Though models suggest it will weaken before making landfall on Thursday, and its ultimate route is still undetermined, Ian could result in severe weather damage for large parts of Georgia,” said a news release from the governor’s office.
Dunion said ocean temperatures are currently extremely warm, including at great depths below the surface, and this means “a lot of fuel to energize the storms.”
“You can get a storm to rapidly intensify pretty quickly and a lot of our models are suggesting we will indeed see that rapid intensification over the next couple of days,” Dunion said.
Ken Graham, assistant administrator for weather services at NOAA, told CNN rainfall is a leading cause of fatalities in strong tropical systems.
“When you close your eyes and think of a hurricane, you think about the wind, but it is the water that really is hurting people and that is what we really need to talk about. And it is increasing with climate change,” Graham said.
Even the storm hits as a Category 2, it can still produce significant storm surge, Graham said. “You can actually have more people impacted by a storm when it expands like that. So people can’t let their guard down, despite the category,” he added.
“So many people judge the current storm with what they have experienced in the past and the reality is every storm is completely different,” Graham said.
Truth Social Faces Uncertain Future Amid Concerns Over Trump’s Continued Controversies
- A company seeking to merge with Truth Social cited Trump’s reputation as an “important factor” to its financial success in an SEC filing.
- As Trump contends with ongoing legal battles, Digital World said its financial footing “could be adversely affected.”
- Truth Social is accused of stiffing a vendor out of more than $1 million in contractually obligated payments.
The future of the former president’s 10-month-old social media platform, Truth Social, is on uncertain ground as the app faces huge financial losses and is accused of shorting its vendors amid Donald Trump’s continued legal controversies.
A planned merger between the Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), the business that created the Truth Social platform, and the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Digital World Acquisition Corp, has been postponed indefinitely as the Securities and Exchange Commission investigates the platform’s business dealings.
SPACs like Digital World are companies formed either to raise funds through an initial public offering or for the purpose of merging with an existing company. SPACs have no other commercial operations. In an SEC filing earlier this month, Digital World said it had “neither engaged in any operations nor generated any revenues to date” as its sole purpose was to prepare to take Truth Social public.
In another filing, Digital World sought shareholder approval to delay the merger, set to take place Sept. 8, until next year, citing concerns over the former president’s reputation potentially impacting business.
“If President Trump becomes less popular or there are further controversies that damage his credibility or the desire of people to use a platform associated with him, and from which he will derive financial benefit, TMTG’s results of operations, as well as the outcome of the proposed Business combination, could be adversely affected,” the filing read.
Digital World’s stock has plunged more than 75 percent since its peak in March — from a high of $97.54 a share to $27.52 each — and in a recent SEC filing the company reported it lost $6.5 million in the first half of the year.
This week, Truth Social was dealt another blow as its trademark application was denied on Thursday for being too similar to another social app called “Vero — True Social.”
Further illuminating the social platform’s financial woes, Fox Business News reported on Thursday that Truth Social is locked in a bitter battle with its vendor, RightForge, and is accused of stiffing the hosting service out of $1.6 million in contractually obligated payments.
Three people with direct knowledge of the matter told Fox Business News that Truth Social made just three payments to RightForge for its web hosting services and stopped making payments in March.
Other Trump businesses have faced similar payment battles before, including contractors who claim they were left unpaid for more than $2.98 million after repairs at the Trump International Hotel and a small business owner who said Trump stiffed him $100,000 worth of pianos. Unpaid bills at the Taj Mahal Casino Resort amounted $90 million, while three liens were placed against Trump’s DC hotel after $5 million in contractors fees were left unpaid.
Trump’s companies have filed for bankruptcy at least six times — a fact Digital World noted in SEC filings, The Washington Post reported, saying: “a number of companies that were associated with [Trump] have filed for bankruptcy” and that “there can be no assurances that [Trump’s media company] will not also become bankrupt.”
Representatives for Trump, TMTG, Truth Social and RightForge did not immediately respond to Insider’s requests for comment.
UBS misses second-quarter earnings expectations; CEO cites ‘uncertain times’
UBS on Tuesday missed expectations for the second quarter of 2022 as its wealth management and investment banking divisions saw falling client activity on the back of the global market downturn.
The Swiss bank posted a net profit attributable to shareholders of $2.108 billion, below analyst expectations aggregated by the company of $2.403 billion.
It marks a 5% rise from the $2 billion reported during the same period last year, when the flagship wealth management business saw a significant windfall from wealthy investors, and follows a strong first-quarter that saw the group post a net profit of $2.136 billion.
“The second quarter was one of the most challenging periods for investors in the last 10 years. Inflation continues to be high, the war in Ukraine is ongoing, as are strict Covid policies in parts of Asia,” UBS CEO Ralph Hamers said in a statement. “In these uncertain times, our clients rely on our powerful ecosystem to navigate markets and invest for the long term.”
Other highlights for the quarter:
- Total revenues hit $8.917 billion, compared to $8.897 billion for the same period last year.
- Return on tangible equity stood at 16.4%, versus 15.4% a year ago.
- CET 1 capital ratio, a measure of bank solvency, reached 14.2% versus 14.5% in the second quarter of 2021.
Investment banking revenues slide
Investment banking revenues came in at $2.094 billion, down 14% from the same period last year.
In its report, the bank highlighted a $1.121 billion fall in net fee and commission income, mainly reflecting a “decrease in underwriting fees, particularly in Equity Capital Markets, and a decrease in net brokerage fees due to lower levels of client activity in Global Wealth Management and the Investment Bank.”
“Investment fund fees decreased, reflecting negative market performance and lower performance fees, and revenues from merger and acquisition transactions also decreased,” the report added.
The logo of Swiss banking giant UBS.
Fabrice Coffrini | AFP | Getty Images
As market declines accelerated across equity and fixed income in the second quarter, the bank’s wealth management division saw muted net new fee-generating assets of around $400 million globally, though inflows were $3 billion net positive in Asia-Pacific.
The asset management business also saw $12 billion of outflows, primarily from equities.
“Institutional clients remained active on the back of high volatility. We supported them with advice and execution while handling very high volumes,” CEO Hamers said in a statement.
“At the same time, private clients stayed on the sidelines. We continued to support them with deposits and loan offerings, both of which saw particularly robust year-on-year growth in the Americas.”
Hundreds of Ukrainians defending Azovstal plant surrender to uncertain fate
MARIUPOL, Ukraine, May 17 (Reuters) – Hundreds of Ukrainian fighters surrendered to an uncertain fate on Tuesday after weeks holed up in the bunkers and tunnels below Mariupol’s Azovstal steel works as the most devastating siege of Russia’s war in Ukraine drew to a close.
Russian forces pummelled Mariupol, a major port on the Sea of Azov between Russia and Crimea, with artillery for weeks. After the urban warfare that followed, the city is a wasteland.
Civilians and Ukrainian fighters had hunkered down in Azovstal, a vast Soviet-era plant founded under Josef Stalin and designed with a maze of bunkers and tunnels to withstand nuclear attack.
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Russia’s defence ministry said 265 fighters had surrendered, including 51 who were seriously wounded and would be treated at Novoazovsk in the Russian-backed breakaway Donetsk region.
Five buses took wounded fighters there early on Tuesday, and in the evening a Reuters witness saw seven more, escorted by armoured vehicles. They brought other Azovstal fighters to a newly reopened prison in Olenivka near the regional capital Donetsk.
The occupants were not visibly wounded. One bore a prominent tattoo on his neck featuring a Ukrainian national trident symbol.
Ukraine’s military command had said in the early hours that it was ending the mission to defend the plant, led by the Azov Regiment, which had previously insisted it would not surrender and appealed to Kyiv to organise an extraction.
“Because Mariupol drew in the Russian Federation’s forces for 82 days, the operation to seize the east and south (of Ukraine) was held up. It changed the course of the war,” Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said.
It was unclear what would happen to the fighters.
Moscow has depicted the Azov Regiment as one of the main perpetrators of the alleged radical anti-Russian nationalism or even Nazism from which it says it needs to protect Ukraine’s Russian-speakers.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said President Vladimir Putin had guaranteed that the fighters who surrendered would be treated “in accordance with international standards”. read more
Service members of pro-Russian troops stand guard on a road before the expected evacuation of wounded Ukrainian soldiers from the besieged Azovstal steel mill in the course of Ukraine-Russia conflict in Mariupol, Ukraine May 16, 2022. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko
ACCUSATIONS
Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Malyar said in a video that “an exchange procedure will take place for their return home”.
But Vyacheslav Volodin, speaker of the State Duma, Russia’s lower house, said: “Nazi criminals should not be exchanged.”
The TASS news agency said Russian federal investigators would question the soldiers as part of a probe into what Moscow calls “Ukrainian regime crimes”.
And Russian deputy ambassador to the United Nations Dmitry Polyansky said there had been no deal, tweeting: “I didn’t know English has so many ways to express a single message: the #Azovnazis have unconditionally surrendered.”
Civilians evacuated earlier had spoken of desperate conditions in the bunkers, and some fighters had endured horrific battle injuries with minimal medical assistance.
The Azov Regiment was formed in 2014 as an extreme right-wing volunteer militia to fight Russian-backed separatists who had taken control of parts of the Donbas – the largely Russian-speaking industrial heartland of eastern Ukraine where Russia says it wants to end Ukrainian rule. read more
The regiment denies being fascist, racist or neo-Nazi, and Ukraine says it has been reformed away from its radical nationalist origins to be integrated into the National Guard.
Kyiv also denies that Russian speakers have been persecuted in Ukraine, and says the allegation that it has a fascist agenda, repeated daily on Russian media, is a baseless pretext for a Russian war of aggression.
Russia’s Prosecutor General’s office asked the Supreme Court to class the regiment as a “terrorist organisation”, Interfax news agency reported, citing the Ministry of Justice website.
Lawmaker Leonid Slutsky, one of Russia’s negotiators in talks with Ukraine, called the evacuated combatants “animals in human form” and said they should receive the death penalty. read more
“They do not deserve to live after the monstrous crimes against humanity that they have committed and that are committed continuously against our prisoners,” he said.
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Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Guy Faulconbridge and Kevin Liffey; editing by Grant McCool
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.