Three foreign fighters captured by Russian forces as they fought alongside Ukrainian troops in Mariupol have been sentenced to death by a court in occupied Donetsk, Russia’s Interfax news agency reports.
The trial against British citizens Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, as well as Moroccan citizen Ibrahim Saadun, was rushed through by the Donetsk People’s Republic’s Supreme Court within a matter of just three days, with the first hearing held Tuesday and the death sentence handed down Thursday. They have one month to appeal the sentence.
The sentencing was reportedly closed to the press, with only Russian news agencies permitted to send staffers. In the wake of the sentencing, authorities of the occupied territory said the men have the right to seek a pardon, and if clemency is granted they will get 25 years behind bars instead.
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But if the death sentence is carried out, the puppet republic’s laws dictate that the condemned will be shot dead. The British government said after the sentencing that they would work with Ukrainian authorities to secure the release of those “being held as prisoners of war.”
Captured in Mariupol amid heavy fighting in April, the three were accused of acting as “mercenaries” for Ukraine and attempting to “seize power and overthrow the constitutional power” of the self-proclaimed republic.
Russian proxies who control the territory had threatened the three men with execution from the get-go, and Russia’s Defense Ministry noted that since they are not recognized officially as “combatants” in the war, they are not protected by international humanitarian law. Russian defense officials said, however, that they would likely only face a lengthy prison term.
The three men had lived in Ukraine for years prior to the Feb. 24 invasion, and were officially part of Ukraine’s Armed Forces. At the time they were captured, a statement released on behalf of Aslin on Twitter said, “It’s been 48 days, we tried our best to defend Mariupol but we have no choice but to surrender to Russian forces. We have no food and no ammunition. It’s been a pleasure everyone, I hope this war ends soon.”
The trial against the three appears to be part of Russia’s campaign to shift blame for war crimes in the decimated city of Mariupol onto those fighting for Ukraine, and bolster the Kremlin’s narrative that the West is waging war on Russia by sending foreign mercenaries to join “neo-Nazis” in Ukraine. Just hours before the death sentence was handed down against Pinner, Aslin, and Saadun on Thursday, a news outlet owned by the Kremlin-funded network Russia Today released a report claiming the sentence was part of a cunning ploy by Russian proxies. Citing anonymous sources within the Donetsk People’s Republic, the report by Ukraina.ru said the three foreigners wouldn’t really be executed, but would instead be used to force British authorities to recognize the puppet republic’s independence.
In a statement released through the British Foreign Office on Tuesday, Aslin’s family said they are enduring a “very sensitive and emotional time” and noted they are working with Ukrainian authorities and the Foreign Office to have the 28-year-old returned home.
