Two British men captured by Russian forces while fighting for Ukraine have appeared in court in a separatist-controlled region days after it was announced they could be sentenced to death.
Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, along with Sadun Brahim, a Moroccan, have been accused of being foreign mercenaries by Kremlin-backed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) officials. They were detained in a metal cage during the first day of their trial in Donetsk, the regional capital.
Each man was asked through an interpreter if they had been informed of the charges against them, to which they replied yes.
Pinner was captured in Mariupol, along with Aslin, when the port city was reduced to rubble by Russian forces.
REUTERS
Pinner, 48, and Aslin, 28, were both members of the regular units of the Ukrainian army, rather than rental weapons. They were captured in April