Captured Ukrainian fighters face being paraded in public prison cages on stage at Mariupol’s grand Philharmonic hall during an anticipated "show trial" of the prisoners of war.

The trial of the Azov prisoners could happen as soon as August 24, Ukraine’s independence day, to give the Russians an appearance of a victory following months of failures in the eastern Donbas region.

The makeshift holding cages and planned open trial heighten the risk of public executions, which Russian forces are said to be planning to shatter Ukrainian morale.

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