MARIUPOL, May 18. /TASS/. A court will rule on the fate of Ukrainian militants who surrendered at Mariupol’s Azovstal plant, DPR leader Denis Pushilin told journalists on Wednesday.

"As for war criminals and those who are nationalists, if they laid down their arms their fate should be decided by the court. Regardless of the emotions of some [people], I heard various opinions, if an adversary laid down the arms, the future fate is decided by the court. If this is a Nazi criminal, then by a court martial," he said.

As reported earlier, the investigators of the Russian Investigative Committee will question the surrendered militants who were holed up at the Azovstal plant in Mariupol. The agency vowed to establish the identities of the nationalists, check their involvement in crimes committed against civilians and compare information obtained during questioning with data from other criminal cases.

On Wednesday, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Igor Konashenkov reported that since May 16, 959 militants have surrendered, including 80 wounded with 51 of them hospitalized in Novoazovsk in the Donetsk People’s Republic.