Ukraine war: Two British fighters sentenced to death in breakaway region, Russian state media say | World News
Russia’s state news agency RIA Novosti said two Britons captured by Russian troops while fighting in Ukraine have been sentenced to death.
Aiden Aslin, 28, and Shaun Pinner, 48, were arrested in Mariupol in April, during an intense battle for control of the port city, before appearing in court in the breakaway Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR).
It is understood they have admitted to being “trained to carry out terrorist activities”.
A third man, Saaudun Brahim, a Moroccan national, was also sentenced to death.
The RIA said the penalties were handed down by the DPR’s supreme court.
The Interfax news agency quoted a court official as saying the men were found guilty of “operating mercenaries and carrying out actions aimed at usurping power and subverting the constitutional order of the DPR”.
Their lawyers said they would appeal.
Shaun Pinner, left, and Aiden Aslin, right, before being captured by Russian forces
Footage shared by RIA earlier on social media shows an interpreter asking Mr Aslin if he would plead guilty, to which he replied: “Yes.”
In the video, two Britons stand at the pier at the high court with Mr Brahim.
Mr Pinner allegedly admitted to “taking power by force”.
The 48-year-old man filmed in April says he has arrested while defending Mariupol, his adopted city.
His family insisted at the time that he was “neither a volunteer nor a mercenary but officially serving in the Ukrainian army”.
He told Sky News a few months ago that he is on his fourth tour of duty in Ukraine after serving in the British Army for nine years, has lived in the country since 2018 and has a Ukrainian wife.
Mr. Pinner’s family shared a photo of a 48-year-old former British army soldier
Mr Aslin’s family said on Tuesday it was a “very sensitive and emotional moment” and that they were working with the Ukrainian government and the UK Foreign Office to try to free the 28-year-old man. .
“Aiden was a much loved and missed man, and we hope that he will soon be released,” they said in a statement.
The former family caregiver, who joined Ukraine’s armed forces as a marine in 2018, has applied for naturalization and has a Ukrainian fiancée.
Former Conservative Cabinet Secretary Robert Jenrick condemned what he called the “resistance charges” faced by the British duo and accused Russia of “totally violating international law”.
Referring to Mr Aslin, Mr Jenrick told the BBC: “This is a British citizen, but also a Ukrainian national, (who) joined the Ukrainian armed forces in the normal way before the illegal invasion of (Vladimir) Putin, and has served in the armed forces.
“He has been taken prisoner by the Russians and in accordance with international law and the Geneva Conventions, he should be appropriately detained and returned to Ukraine as soon as possible, possibly through exchange. exchange prisoners.”
Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab said on Monday that the British government expected “laws of armed conflict to be represented” and that the Foreign Office would introduce “all representations”.
