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LONDON – The British government said on Thursday it was “deeply concerned” after Russian news that two British and one Moroccan fighters had been sentenced to death, the first foreign fighters convicted since the start of the war. Ukraine.
Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner of Great Britain and Brahim Saadoune of Morocco were accused of working as foreign mercenaries in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), which Moscow recognized as independent on the eve of the invasion in late February. .
A Russian-backed court in the separatist region of Donetsk has sentenced the three men to death, Russian state media reported on Thursday. The court where they were tried is not internationally recognized.
Fighters have 30 days to appeal. If pardoned, the death penalty could be commuted to life in prison or 25 years in prison, according to Russian state news agency RIA Novosti. Executions in the DPR are carried out by a firing squad.
Two Britons and a Moroccan man captured while fighting for Ukraine were sentenced to death by a court in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic on June 9. (Video: Reuters)
British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss called the conviction a “sham trial” that “had no legitimacy”.
The ruling could set a worrying precedent for other foreign fighters captured by pro-Russian troops. The Moscow Ministry of Defense has warned that they would not be treated as soldiers entitled to the protections of the Geneva Conventions. At the start of the conflict, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky encouraged foreign volunteers to join his nation’s troops in fighting Russia.
The families of Aslin, 28, and Pinner, 48, insisted that they had lived in Ukraine for years and officially fought alongside the Ukrainian army, spending weeks defending the besieged city of Mariupol, the site of the siege. a great Russian breakthrough. Saadoune came to Ukraine as a student.
Aslin’s family issued a statement on Tuesday through the British Foreign Office expressing hopes that he would be released soon.
“This is a very sensitive and emotional time for our family, and we would like to thank all those who have supported us,” the family said in a statement. “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.”
All three fighters were captured in April. Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported that the fighters plan to appeal the court decision.
A spokesman for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “Obviously we are deeply concerned about this. We have kept saying that prisoners of war should not be exploited for political purposes. According to the Geneva Conventions, prisoners of war have the right to fighter immunity and should not be prosecuted for participating in hostilities.
“We will therefore continue to work with the Ukrainian authorities to try to secure the release of all British citizens who are serving in the Ukrainian armed forces and who are being held as prisoners of war.”
Robert Jenrick, a Conservative lawmaker representing the constituency where Aslin’s family lives, tweeted that “contrary to Kremlin propaganda, Aiden Aslin is not a mercenary.” He called the condemnation a “disgusting Soviet-style trial that is the latest reminder of the depravity of Putin’s regime.”
Earlier this week, Jenrick told the BBC that Aslin was a British Ukrainian citizen who “joined the Ukrainian armed forces in the normal way before Putin’s illegal invasion and has been serving to the armed forces “. He said the men were on trial for “false charges” and suggested they be returned to Ukraine as soon as possible, possibly through a prisoner exchange.
“What I hope will happen is that there will be an exchange of prisoners in the near future. The Russian authorities have chosen to set an example for these two Britons, and I think it is completely embarrassing,” he said.
Ukraine and Russia have already negotiated prisoner exchanges before: in one of the largest to date, 86 prisoners from each side were released.
A close friend of Brahim Saadoune, the Moroccan fighter, said he hoped the DPR would negotiate a prisoner exchange instead of executing him.
Muiz Avghonzoda told the Washington Post that Saadoune had moved to Ukraine in 2019 to study at the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute. He was looking for work in November when he decided to join the army, his friend said. Saadoune’s father had served as a senior military officer in Morocco. His friend did not imagine he would fight in a war so soon after joining, Avghonzoda said.
In the months leading up to the Russian invasion, the Saadoune division settled in the Donetsk region. In February, they moved to the Azovstal steel plant in the port city of Mariupol, which experienced some of the fiercest battles of the war before falling under Russian control.
Avghonzoda learned that his friend had been imprisoned on April 7. He launched a “Save Brahim” campaign on social media to pressure the authorities to release him.
Avghonzoda said he had contacted Saadoune’s sister and believed that Russian-backed DPR authorities would eventually use foreigners to try to negotiate a high-profile prisoner exchange, possibly by the pro-Ukrainian politician. Kremlin Viktor Medvedchuk, who was captured. by the Ukrainian authorities in February.
“We have a month to get them out of there,” Avghonzoda said.
Annabelle Timsit of London contributed to this report.