LONDON (Reuters) – The British government said on Thursday it was “deeply concerned” by Russian news reports that two British and one Moroccan fighter jets had been sentenced to death – the first foreign fighters to be convicted since the start of the war in Ukraine. Britain’s Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner and Morocco’s Brahim Saadoune have been accused of working as foreign mercenaries in the self-proclaimed breakaway Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), which Moscow recognized as independent on the eve of the invasion in late February. A Russian-backed court in the Donetsk region has sentenced the three men to death, Russian state media reported on Thursday. The court in which they were tried is not internationally recognized. Fighters have 30 days to appeal. If pardoned, the death penalty could be commuted to life in prison or 25 years in prison, according to Russia’s state-run RIA Novosti news agency. Executions in the DPR are done with an execution snippet. Two Britons and a Moroccan, arrested while fighting for Ukraine, were sentenced to death by a court in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic on June 9. (Video: Reuters) British Foreign Secretary Liz Tras called the condemnation a “false crisis” that had “no legitimacy”. The sentence could set a worrying precedent for other foreign fighters captured by pro-Russian troops. The Moscow Defense Ministry has warned that they will not be treated as soldiers entitled to the protection of the Geneva Conventions. At the beginning of the conflict, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky encouraged foreign volunteers to join his nation’s troops fighting Russia. The families of Aslin, 28, and Pinner, 48, insisted they had lived in Ukraine for years and formally fought alongside the Ukrainian army, spending weeks defending the besieged city of Mariupol, a site of major Russian advance. Saadoune reportedly came to Ukraine as a student. Ashlin’s family issued a statement through the British Foreign Office on Tuesday, expressing hope that he would be released soon. “This is a very sensitive and emotional moment for our family and we would like to thank all those who supported us,” the family said in a statement. “We are currently working with the Ukrainian government and the Foreign Office to try to bring Aiden home. “Aiden is a very popular person and he misses him a lot, and we hope he will be released very soon.” The three fighters were captured in April. Russia’s state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported that the militants planned to appeal the ruling. The spokesman for the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “Obviously we are deeply concerned about this. We have consistently said that prisoners of war should not be exploited for political purposes. According to the Geneva Conventions, prisoners of war are entitled to combat immunity and should not be prosecuted for engaging in hostilities. “In this way, we will continue to work with the Ukrainian authorities to secure the release of any British nationals who have served in the Ukrainian armed forces and are being held as prisoners of war.” Robert Genrik, a Conservative lawmaker representing the Aslin’s constituency, wrote on Twitter that “unlike Kremlin propaganda, Eden Aslin is not a mercenary.” He described the sentencing as a “disgusting Soviet-style trial” that was the latest reminder of Putin’s regime. Earlier this week, Jenrik told the BBC that Aslin was a British-Ukrainian national who “joined the Ukrainian armed forces in a normal way before Putin’s illegal invasion and served in the armed forces”. He said the men were being tried on “fake charges” and suggested that they be returned to Ukraine as soon as possible, possibly through a prisoner exchange. “What I hope will happen is that there will be an exchange of prisoners in the near future. “The Russian authorities have chosen to set an example for these two British nationals and it is, I think, a complete disgrace,” he said. Ukraine and Russia have negotiated a prisoner exchange in the past: In one of the largest to date, 86 detainees from each side have been released. A close friend of Brahim Saadoune, the Moroccan fighter, said he hoped the DPR could negotiate a prisoner exchange instead of executing him. Muiz Avghonzoda told the Washington Post that Saadoune had moved to Ukraine in 2019 to study at the Kiev Polytechnic Institute. He was looking for a job in November when he decided to join the army, his friend said. Saadoune’s father had served as a high-ranking military officer in Morocco. His friend did not imagine that he would fight in a war so soon after joining, Avghonzoda said. In the months leading up to the Russian invasion, Saadoune’s division was stationed in the Donetsk region. In February, they moved to the Azovstal steel plant in the port city of Mariupol, where some of the fiercest fighting of the war took place before falling under Russian control. Avghonzoda learned that his friend had been imprisoned on April 7. A “Save Brahim” social media campaign was launched to pressure the authorities to release him. Avghonzoda said he had had contact with Saadoune’s sister and believed that Russian-backed authorities in the GDR would eventually use foreigners to try to negotiate an exchange of high-profile detainees, possibly for Ukrainian politician Viktor Medvedchuk, who was arrested. . by the Ukrainian authorities in February. “We have a month to get them out of there,” Avghonzoda said. Annabelle Timsit in London contributed to this report.
