Donbass, two British fighters and a Moroccan sentenced to death by the Russians

LONDON – Two British volunteer fighters captured by the Russians at the start of the war in Ukraine, along with another Moroccan citizen, were sentenced to death today by a court in Donetsk Oblast, in eastern Ukraine occupied by Moscow. This was written by the Russian news agency Ria Novosti, which witnessed the ruling of the “court”, not recognized by the international authorities. A case that will make the United Kingdom and the government of Boris Johnson argue and infuriate, who have always asked that Aiden Aslin, 28 from Nottinghamshire, and Shaun Pinner, 48 and originally from Bedfordshire, be applied the Geneva convention, and therefore immunity, for prisoners of war.

Instead, a Donbass “Supreme Court” autonomously decided on the death penalty, in what appears to be a move, as well as brutal, decidedly provocative against London and the Johnson government. The same fate, according to what the court decreed, also for the Moroccan citizen Saaudun Brahim, who appeared behind bars with the two Englishmen in some photos that appeared on Telegram.

For all, the accusation is that of being “mercenaries” against the Russian army. But, at least in the case of British citizens, both the government and their families have always argued that Aslin and Pinner fought as Ukrainian army soldiers. Statements also confirmed by some old photos of them with the uniform of the Kiev military. Aslin and Pinner were both captured during the recent siege of Mariupol, before being shown wounded, frightened and bruised on Russian TV.

Aiden Aslin, Newark, second Bbc he has been in Ukraine for several years, which he now considers his adopted homeland. Precisely since 2018, when, according to the story of his family, he moved to Mykolaiv. Here he would have enlisted with the Ukrainian navy after getting engaged to a local woman. In the past, the young man would have volunteered in England and then moved to arms, in recent years, going to fight against Isis alongside the Kurdish militias, between Syria and Turkey.

Shaun Pinner, on the other hand, is a former British soldier, highly respected by his superiors. He too, like Aslin, moved to Ukraine four years ago, where he joined the local military, also to train them thanks to his experience. Pinner has a Ukrainian wife and, according to the man’s family, was in the process, until recently, of leaving the army (after a stay of at least three years) and entering the humanitarian sector.

The news of the death sentence of the three men will increase the pressure on British Foreign Minister Liz Truss, who at the beginning of the invasion of Russia had said: “If British volunteers want to go to Ukraine to fight against Putin, so be it”, he ventured. Before being censored by the Foreign Office itself.

Also fighting in Ukraine, among hundreds or perhaps thousands of British volunteer fighters, is Ben Grant, 30, a former soldier, veteran of the war in Afghanistan and son of Conservative MP Helen.