British men who fought for Ukraine sentenced to death

RT
Fri, 10 Jun 2022 19:55 UTC

Aiden Aslin, left, kept his composure while Shaun Pinner closed his eyes during sentencing

A court in Donetsk has sentenced to death three foreign men, who served in the Ukrainian forces and fought for Kiev in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR). British citizens Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, as well as Moroccan Saadun Ibrahim, were found guilty on Thursday of acting as mercenaries and attempting to seize power by force in the DPR.

They were also accused of undergoing training in order to carry out terrorist activities on the territory of the state, which was recognised by Russia in February. Kiev, and most of the world, regards it as a breakaway province of Ukraine.

Under the laws of the DPR, the forcible seizure of power carries a penalty of between 12 and 20 years behind bars, but it can be escalated to capital punishment due to the aggravating circumstances of war time. Acting as a mercenary is punishable by a prison sentence of three to seven years.

The three men were tried on several criminal charges. They pleaded guilty to "undergoing training for the purpose of carrying out terrorist activities" and attempting to forcefully topple the government in Donetsk, but denied being mercenaries hired by Kiev.

The convicted men may appeal the decision in court, which they plan to do, or request a pardon from the head of the DPR. If they win the appeal, the capital punishment could be reduced to up to 25 years in prison. According to DPR laws, the death penalty is carried out by firing squad.

The three fighters were captured in or near Mariupol, a port city that the DPR claims as part of its sovereign territory. It saw weeks of intensive fighting and eventually a blockade of thousands of Ukrainian troops at a steel plant. They later surrendered to Russian and DPR forces.

London has demanded that its citizens be treated as prisoners of war under the Geneva Conventions. However, Britain is not formally at war with the DPR.

Authorities in the DPR have said they consider them to be mercenaries, who are not granted the same privileges as regular combatants under international law.

Comment: RT interviewed both Pinner and Aslin before sentencing. Pinner warned foreigners not to "get into a war you don't really understand."

"Some people do want to be a part of Russia, and you have to accept that," he said, adding that, now, after he saw Donetsk's "face," his "war will be over" no matter what happens to him. He also revealed that he would like to "learn more about the history of both sides."

Pinner said that his decision to join the Ukrainian military was prompted by several factors: his Ukrainian wife did not want to move to the UK and he could not find a job to support his family. With nine years of service in the British military behind him, Pinner decided to sign a three-year contract with the Ukrainian armed forces which would also provide him with a residency in Ukraine. Being a "patriot of Ukraine," the Brit decided that it would be a good opportunity for "giving something to Ukraine and, obviously, receiving something back in return."

He revealed that the standard salary of a contractor at a point of permanent deployment was an amount equivalent to 360 British pounds, which could be raised to around £1,000 for participating in military operations.

According to Pinner, the emphasis of the military training was mainly on "cleaning" and "maintaining military" equipment with not much of actual military training.

There were several foreigners in his unit, the Brit revealed, but three of them deserted last year, "just walked away."

The active combat service for Pinner did not start till December last year and since February it was "full-on" every day.

Captivity and questioning has been "very very hard" for Pinner, as were solitude and "very confined" conditions. He said that during the questioning he was shown "terrible" photos, allegedly depicting the abuse of Russian prisoners of war by Ukrainian militants.

Aslin blamed Western media for convincing him of the Ukrainian narrative and turning him into a pawn, adding that he was initially pro-Donbass.

"My views started to change after I started seeing media reports and stuff that was basically saying that it was not locals but the Russian soldiers that were doing everything [in Donbass]," Aslin admitted, adding that he was watching CNN as well as BBC and Fox News. Since surrendering to the DPR militia, he has found that he has more in common with the Donbass soldiers than Ukrainians with whom he had fought. "I was kind of duped."

The Briton said he even received threats from fighters of the infamous Azov Battalion, known for its neo-Nazi ideology. Aslin said he believed Azov had changed since being incorporated in the Ukrainian National Guard but eventually saw firsthand that "they have not changed much."

The UK national had previously fought Islamic State (IS, former ISIS) terrorists in Syria together with the Kurdish YPG militia and has a YPG insignia as a tattoo on his arm. When an Azov fighter saw that tattoo two years ago, he told Aslin he "wanted to cut it off," the Briton said. "I told him I was a leftist and his attitude changed" completely, Aslin said, adding that the Azov regiment member began to see him "not as a friend but... more like an enemy" after that exchange.

He was also skeptical about the level of training in the Ukrainian Army. "They are not as professional as they would like to be," he said, calling their artillery training "substandard" to the extent that they can miss military targets and hit civilian infrastructure instead.

"Another factor you have to consider [in case of the Ukrainian] Army is that there is a lot of alcohol involved," he added. ...

"They [the Ukrainian government] could have easily ended the war. They had the opportunity but they chose not to, mainly because I think money was involved," Aslin said. He now feels abandoned by both Kiev and London.
...
"I have to ask the Ukrainian government, 'If you consider us, as you say, heroes, why do you act as if we do not exist?'" Aslin said.

British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has described the sentences as a "sham judgment with absolutely no legitimacy". Maria Zakharova responded:

"They are mercenaries and not prisoners of war. Mercenaries sent by the West to assist the nationalist regime in Kiev are not combatants and are not entitled to the status of prisoner of war under international humanitarian law," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in the statement.

The Geneva Conventions specifically deny mercenaries the status of lawful combatants, which is granted to regular troops in an armed conflict.