MOSCOW, August 2 (RAPSI) — Russia's Supreme Court has granted a move of the Prosecutor General's Office to designate ultra-nationalist Ukrainian Azov battalion, whose symbol resembles a black swastika on a yellow background, as a terrorist organisation, the press service of the court told RAPSI.

In the framework of the case, the court also banned the activities of the organisation in Russia, according to the statement.

The court hearings were held behind closed doors.

The Azov Battalion was formed in May 2014 in Mariupol. The volunteer unit almost immediately became part of the National Guard of Ukraine in the structure of military unit 3057. Members of the battalion are accused of war crimes during the conflict in Donbas and their views are associated with neo-Nazist ideology.

Earlier, the Russian Ministry of Justice had defined "Azov" as a paramilitary nationalist association. The Russian Investigative Committee is probing a number of criminal cases against Azov members on charges of taking part in murder of civilians in Donbass and Ukraine.