Ukraine War: Britons, Moroccan sentenced to death for fighting with Ukraine’s army; Kyiv losing up to 200 troops a day – Zelenskyy aide

Two British citizens and a Moroccan have been sentenced to death by pro-Moscow rebels in eastern Ukraine for fighting on Ukraine’s side.

A court in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic found the three men guilty of working toward a violent overthrow of power, an offence punishable by death in the unrecognised republic.

They were also convicted of mercenary activities and terrorism, according to the official Russian news agency TASS.

Russia’s state news agency RIA Novosti reported that the three — Aiden Aslin, Shaun Pinner, and Saaudun Brahim — are set to face a firing squad.

The separatists had claimed that as “mercenaries” they are not entitled to the usual protections afforded prisoners of war.

The three defendants will “appeal”, the lawyer for one of the three men, Pavel Kossovan, told TASS.

According to TASS, Shaun Pinner and Brahim Saadoun had pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to charges of “mercenarism” but acknowledged their participation in the fighting “aimed at the violent seizure of power”.

In response, Aslin and Pinner’s families said that the men, who are both said to have lived in Ukraine since 2018, were “long-serving” members of the Ukrainian military.

“He is not, contrary to Kremlin propaganda, a volunteer, a mercenary or a spy. Aiden was planning for his future outside the army, but like all Ukrainians, his life was turned upside down by Putin’s barbaric invasion,” according to his family.

Pinner’s family also explained that he was “neither a volunteer nor a mercenary, but officially serves in the Ukrainian army in accordance with Ukrainian legislation”. He also moved to Ukraine in 2018 and married a Ukrainian.

The three fought alongside Ukrainian troops. Pinner 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.

Pro-Russian officials had hinted in recent weeks that captured Ukrainian soldiers, including those from the nationalist Azov regiment, could face trial and the death penalty.

A moratorium on the death penalty has been in force in Russia since 1997, but this is not the case in the two separatist territories in eastern Ukraine.

The United Kingdom said on Thursday it was “gravely concerned” after the announcement of the death sentence of two British fighters by pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine.

“We reiterate that prisoners of war should not be exploited for political reasons,” said a spokesman for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who pointed out that under the Geneva Conventions prisoners of war are entitled to combatant immunity.

According to the International Legion for the Defense of Ukraine (Lidu) which brings together foreign volunteers fighting with Ukraine, Hill is a “legionnaire who has a contract with the Ukrainian army” and not a mercenary.

It was not immediately clear whether the three men sentenced to death were members of the International Legion in Defense of Ukraine.

Four foreign volunteer soldiers, including a Frenchman, were killed fighting the Russian invasion in Ukraine, announced Lidu, the official body for foreign volunteer fighters.

Russia for its part claimed this week to have killed “hundreds” of foreign fighters in Ukraine since the start of its offensive on 24 February, managing according to it to stem the flow of newcomers.

Meanwhile, Ukraine is said to be losing up to 200 troops a day, according to a Zelenskyy aide. This is more than double the previous estimates.

Fierce street fighting is continuing in Sievierodonetsk, with the eastern Ukrainian city being hammered by Russian bombs. Some 10,000 civilians are trapped in the city and cannot be evacuated, says its mayor.

Ukrainian and Russian forces are still battling it out in the eastern city of Sievierodonetsk, with Kyiv claiming it has frustrated Moscow’s attacks.

“The occupiers, with the help of motorized rifle units and artillery, conducted assault operations in the city of Sievierodonetsk,” said the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in an operational update Thursday evening.

“They were not successful; the fighting continues,” it added.

Ukrainian forces had also repelled a Russian attack on the village of Toshkivka, northwest of Sievierodonetsk, according to the General Staff.

The Ukrainian governor of the eastern Luhansk region, where Sievierodonetsk is located, said Thursday that “fierce battles” continue to engulf the city.

Serhii Haidai said Russian forces continue to shell the neighbouring city of Lysychansk using large-caliber weapons which “pierce even concrete,” in a Telegram post.

“It is extremely dangerous for civilians to remain, even in shelters,” he said.