Russian proxy fighters in eastern Ukraine have said they are opening a trial against two Britons, Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, who were captured fighting alongside Ukrainian soldiers in Mariupol.
The two men, who serve in the Ukrainian army, and Ibrahim Saadun, a Moroccan captive, were seen sitting in a cage in a courtroom reserved for defendants in a video posted on pro-Russian social media on Tuesday.
Prosecutors in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, a Russian-controlled intermediary in eastern Ukraine, have said that men face the death penalty for “terrorism” and for fighting as “mercenaries.” against the Russian invasion.
Aslin and his fellow comrades have said they were regular soldiers fighting in the Ukrainian army and should be treated as prisoners of war.
If the images in the room are confirmed, the men would be the first Ukrainian soldiers to be tried by pro-Russian forces in what observers say could be a series of spectacle trials aimed at justifying Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Do you know the information of your accusation?” an interpreter asked 28-year-old Aslin of Newark, Nottinghamshire. “Tak tochno,” he replied, a military response that meant “affirmative.” Shaun Pinner, 48, of Watford and Bedfordshire, also said he understood the charges against him.
Russian officials have threatened to hold military tribunals called “Nuremberg 2.0” to reflect war crimes trials being held in Kyiv for atrocities committed by invading Russian soldiers. Observers say trials could be deliberately built to put maximum pressure on the west and to push for the exchange of prisoners for Russian soldiers captured and tried in Ukraine.
In a statement, Aslin’s family called for media privacy. “This is a very sensitive and emotional time for our family, and we want to thank everyone who supported us,” they said.
“We are currently working with the Ukrainian government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to try to bring Aiden home. Aiden is a much-loved and much-missed man, and we hope that he will be released very soon.”
Ukraine has sentenced three Russian soldiers to prison for war crimes linked to the Russian offensive that began on February 24. Vadim Shishimarin, 21, was sentenced to life in prison for killing a 62-year-old civilian in the Sumy region of northeastern Ukraine early in the war. And two soldiers, Alexander Bobikin and Alexander Ivanov, were each sentenced to more than 11 years in prison for bombing attacks on population centers that “violated the laws and customs of war.”
Prosecutors said Aslin and his co-defendants were charged with four different offenses: committing a crime as part of a criminal group; taking power by force or retaining power by force; to be a mercenary; and the promotion of training in terrorist activities.
But the two men were serving in the Ukrainian navy while participating in the Azovstal Steel Defense in Mariupol. Aslin, who had previously volunteered with a Kurdish militia against Islamic State fighters, had a popular Twitter account and was photographed taking an oath to the Ukrainian armed forces.
However, both men have been paraded in front of television cameras since surrendering alongside hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers in May after months spent in a desperate defense of Ukrainian steel.
Andrew Hill, 35, the father of four children in Plymouth, was also captured during fighting in southern Ukraine.
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