The Russia-backed Donetsk People’s Republic has sentenced two Britons and a Moroccan seized fighting alongside Ukrainian forces to death.
Aiden Aslin, 27, and Shaun Pinner, 48, were sentenced to death for “violently attempting to overthrow the government of the Donetsk People’s Republic,” according to Russian state media.
Moroccan national Saadun Brahim was also sentenced to death for “violently attempting to overthrow the government of the Donetsk People’s Republic.”
According to the left-wing Guardian newspaper, they were found guilty of being mercenaries and “terrorism, committing a crime as part of a criminal organisation, and forcible takeover of authority or forced retention of power” – accusations they pled guilty to after a brief trial.
“The Russian authorities have chosen to make an example out of these two British nationals, and I believe it is completely shameful,” said Robert Jenrick MP, a Conservative Party politician who represents Aslin’s home constituency in Parliament, refusing to draw a distinction between Russia and the DPR, which is widely regarded as a puppet regime by Western governments.
Jenrick expressed hope that the Britons’ freedom could be secured via a prisoner transfer “in the near future” — something Aslin and Pinner themselves requested in recordings released by their captors in April.
Jenrick’s party colleague Liz Truss, the Boris Johnson administration’s Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Affairs, may come under fire for her controversial endorsement of Britons fighting Russians in Ukraine on television in February.
“The people of Ukraine are fighting for freedom and democracy, not just for Ukraine but for the whole of Europe because that is what President Putin is challenging,” the Foreign Secretary told the BBC during an interview on the then-recent invasion.
“And absolutely, if people want to support that struggle, I would support them in doing that,” she added.
Downing Street, the Prime Minister’s official residence, quickly shot this down, emphasising that travel to Ukraine was not recommended — not least because Truss’ own departmental website warned that “travel to eastern Ukraine to fight, or to assist others engaged in the conflict… may amount to offences against UK terrorism or other legislation, and you could be prosecuted on your return to the UK.”