BAHMUT, Ukraine –
Two British nationals and a Moroccan man were sentenced to death on Thursday for fighting on Ukraine’s side as a punishment imposed by pro-Moscow rebels in the country.
A court in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic has found the three men guilty of forcibly overthrowing a crime punishable by death in the unrecognized eastern republic. They were also convicted of mercenary activities and terrorism.
Russia’s state news agency RIA Novosti reported that the three – Aiden Aslin, Sean Piner and Saudun Brahim – would face execution. They have one month to appeal.
The separatists claim that the three fighters are “mercenaries” who are not entitled to the usual protection provided to prisoners of war. They are the first foreign fighters to be condemned by Russian-backed separatists in Ukraine.
Aslin and Piner’s families claim that the men, who have been living in Ukraine since 2018, were “longtime” members of the Ukrainian army.
British Foreign Secretary Luz Trus condemned the sentence as “a false sentence with absolutely no legitimacy”. Spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson Jamie Davis said prisoners of war had the right to immunity as fighters under the Geneva Conventions.
The three men fought alongside Ukrainian troops. Piner and Aslin surrendered to pro-Russian forces in the southern port of Mariupol in mid-April, while Brahim did so in mid-March in the eastern city of Volnovakha.
The Russian military says foreign mercenaries fighting on Ukraine’s side are not fighters and should face long prison terms, at best if captured. Another British fighter captured by pro-Russian forces, Andrew Hill, is awaiting trial.
Meanwhile, Russian forces have struck the eastern city of Severodonetsk in a fierce street-to-street battle that Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky says could determine the fate of Donbass, the country’s industrial heart with coal mines and factories.
Moscow-backed separatists have been fighting Ukrainian troops in Donbass for years and held parts of the territory before the invasion.
“Fierce fighting continues in the city itself, street battles are being fought with varying degrees of success in the city’s neighborhoods,” said Sergei Haidai, the governor of Luhansk province. “Ukraine’s army is fighting for every street and house.”
Severodonetsk is part of Luhansk’s last pocket, which the Russians have not yet captured.
Zelensky called the diligent battle for the city the “epicenter” of the battle for the greater Donbass, which consists of the provinces of Luhansk and Donetsk.
“In many respects, this is where the fate of our Donbass is decided,” Zelensky said on Wednesday in his evening video, which was recorded on the street in front of his office in Kyiv.
Ukraine’s top military official said the situation on the front line was “very difficult” and called for “very fast” arms supplies.
Defense Minister Alexei Reznikov said in a Facebook post that up to 100 Ukrainian soldiers die every day. “As a country, we cannot afford to bleed, losing our best sons and daughters,” he said.
In other developments:
– Haidai said that Russian forces are also heading for Lisichansk, the city next to Severodonetsk, with “day and night shelling” and trying to storm a key road leading from Lisichansk to the southwest.
– Russia claims to have hit a training base west of the capital, far from the front line. Russia’s Defense Ministry says it has used air-launched missiles against a Ukrainian military base in the Zhytomyr region, where mercenaries are being trained.
There was no immediate response from the Ukrainian authorities to Russia’s claims. Moscow has repeatedly accused Ukraine of using mercenaries in hostilities.
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