Ladin

Ladin likened the situation to deciding who gets into the few lifeboats on the Titanic.

This is a centre of Ladin culture, and this ethnic group, which has lived in the mountains for millennia, still has its own language and customs.

In the case of Zhuk, Ladin says his client is a combatant covered by the Geneva convention; the FSB has not accepted the designation.

Today, the majority of South Tyroleans speak German, with Italian and Ladin also recognized as official languages.

After World War II, South Tyrol became a generally peaceful multilingual region, with an additional minority Romance language called Ladin.