By Britons Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner sentenced to death by Russian court
Two Britons captured while fighting for Ukraine have been sentenced to death by a Russian proxy court.
Britons Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner are accused of being mercenaries according to Russian state media.
Based in the pro-Russian so-called Donetsk People’s Republic, the court is not internationally recognsied.
Both the UK and Ukraine have condemned the sentences for violating international laws protecting prisoners of war.
The families of the two men have insisted they are long-serving members of the Ukrainian military and have campaigned with their local MPs for their release.
Russia’s Tass news agency reports that the men wish to appeal against the sentence.
Both men were charged with being mercenaries, the violent seizure of power and undergoing training to carry out terrorist activities, RIA Novosti said.
The UK government said it is “deeply concerned” over the death sentences and that it was continuing to work with Ukraine to secure both men’s release.
A Downing street spokesman added that prisoners of war “shouldn’t be exploited for political purposes” and pointed to the laws of war laid out in the Geneva Conventions.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss condemned the sentencing and described it as a “sham judgement with absolutely no legitimacy”.
“My thoughts are with the families. We continue to do everything we can to support them.”
Mr Aslin, 28, from Newark, in Nottinghamshire, and Mr Pinner, 48, from Bedfordshire, were captured by Russian forces in April. Their families say they were fighting in the Ukrainian military.
The younger man has a Ukrainian fiancee and both men are said to have lived in Ukraine since 2018.
(Image: Reuters)
