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Two Britons who were captured by Russian forces while fighting in Ukraine have been sentenced to death, state-owned Russian news agency RIA Novosti has said.
Aiden Aslin, 28, and Shaun Pinner, 48, were detained in April before appearing in court in the separatist Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR).
The pair are understood to have admitted “training in order to carry out terrorist activities”.
A third man, reported to be Moroccan national Saaudun Brahim has also reportedly been sentenced to death.
The punishments were handed down by the supreme court of the Russian-backed Donetsk People’s Republic, RIA said.
Another Russian news agency, TASS, said the men intended to appeal.
Shaun Pinner, left, and Aiden Aslin, right, before they were captured by Russian forces
Footage shared previously by RIA on social media appeared to show a translator asking Mr Aslin if he would plead guilty to an offence, to which he replied: “Yes.”
In the video, the two Britons stand in the dock in the supreme court alongside Mr Brahim.
Mr Pinner allegedly admitted “seizing power by force”.
The 48-year-old was filmed in April saying he had been captured while defending Mariupol, his adopted city.
His family stressed at the time that he was “not a volunteer nor a mercenary, but officially serving with the Ukrainian army”.
He told Sky News a few months before that he was on his fourth tour of duty in Ukraine after serving in the British Army for nine years, had lived in the country since 2018 and has a Ukrainian wife.
Mr Pinner’s family shared a picture of the 48-year-old former British Army soldier
Former Conservative cabinet minister Robert Jenrick has condemned what he called “trumped-up charges” faced by the British pair and accused Russia of a “completely outrageous breach of international law”.
Referring to Mr Aslin, Mr Jenrick told the BBC: “This is a British citizen, but who also holds Ukrainian nationality, is married to a Ukrainian, joined the Ukrainian armed forces in the normal way prior to (Vladimir) Putin’s illegal invasion, and has been serving in the armed forces.
“He was taken prisoner by Russian forces and in accordance with international law and the Geneva Convention, he should be being held appropriately and returned to Ukraine at the earliest possible opportunity, possibly through a prisoner exchange.”
Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab said on Monday that the British government expected “the laws of armed conflict to be represented” and the Foreign Office would make “all the representations”.
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