British soldiers Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner who were sentenced to death by Russian puppet government in east Ukraine for fighting for the Ukrainian army must be freed ‘without delay’, demands UK foreign minister

• Brits Aiden Aslin, 28 and Shaun Pinner, 48, lived in Ukraine and joined the army
• The pair were sentenced to death by pro-Russian authorities in eastern Ukraine
• Lord Ahmad said trial had ‘no legitimacy’ and pair should be freed ‘without delay’
• Mr Aslin and Mr Pinner are originally from Nottinghamshire and Bedfordshire

Two British men sentenced to death after fighting for Ukraine against Russia must be released and returned the home ‘without delay’, a UK foreign minister has demanded.

The pair’s ‘so-called trial’ had ‘no legitimacy’, junior foreign minister Lord Ahmad of told the House of Lords, where he was pressed over the plight of the two men.

Aiden Aslin, 28, originally from Newark, Nottinghamshire, and Shaun Pinner, 48, from Bedfordshire, have been treated as foreign ‘mercenaries’ by pro-Russian authorities in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) – one of two breakaway Russian puppet states in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. 

They handed down the death sentences to the two Britons and one Moroccan man for fighting for Ukraine.

Mr Aslin and Mr Pinner were both living in Ukraine before the invasion and the UK Government has insisted that, as legitimate members of the Ukrainian armed forces, they should be treated as prisoners of war under the Geneva Convention.

Brits Aiden Aslin, 28, and Shaun Pinner, 48, have been treated as foreign ‘mercenaries’ by pro-Russian authorities in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), who sentenced the en to death. Pictured: British citizens Aiden Aslin, left, and Shaun Pinner, right, and Moroccan Saaudun Brahim, center, sit behind bars in a courtroom in Donetsk, in territory under the Government of the Donetsk People’s Republic control, eastern Ukraine

Mr Aslin (left) and Mr Pinner (right) were both living in Ukraine before the invasion and the UK Government has insisted that, as legitimate members of the Ukrainian armed forces, they should be treated as prisoners of war under the Geneva Convention

Saaudun Brahim (left), 21, originally from Casablanca, Morocco, has been sentenced to death alongside the two Britons. Pictured: Mr Brahim with his friend Dmytro Khrabstov (right)

Responding to a question at Westminster, Lord Ahmad said: ‘The Government condemns the sentencing of two British nationals, Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, held by Russian proxies in eastern Ukraine.

‘Both are soldiers in the Ukrainian armed forces and therefore prisoners of war, entitled to protection under international humanitarian law (IHL).

‘The so-called trial in the non-government controlled area of Ukraine has no legitimacy and the United Kingdom is fully supportive of the government of Ukraine in its effort to get them released.’

The Bishop of St Albans, the Rt Rev Alan Smith, who raised the issue in the Lords, said: ‘What discussions are taking place with our European and American partners to say to Russia that if these executions go ahead there will be serious repercussions?

‘Also what guidance is being given to the estimated 3,000 UK nationals who are now fighting, many of whom haven’t joined the official army and therefore don’t come under the Geneva Convention, who are putting themselves at huge risk should they be caught?’

Lord Ahmad said: ‘The advice of the British Government has been very, very clear: ‘Do not travel to Ukraine’.

He added: ‘In terms of our work with other allies and partners, first and foremost we are working very constructively with Ukraine.

‘The detainees are very much part and parcel of the engagement Ukrainians are having with the Russians directly. We are very supportive of those efforts.’

‘The so-called trial in the non-government controlled area of Ukraine has no legitimacy and the United Kingdom is fully supportive of the government of Ukraine in its effort to get them released,’ said Lord Tariq Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister of State for the Commonwealth and the United Nations

He added: ‘We have been making representations, including directly with the Russian authorities.

‘We do not recognise the de facto authorities in occupied parts of Ukraine and I think that is the right approach.’

Labour former defence secretary Lord Browne of Ladyton pressed the Government over whether an investigation had been launched into British former civil servant and ‘pro-Russian propagandist’ Graham Phillips, who interrogated Mr Aslin while he was handcuffed and injured.

Footage of Mr Aslin’s questioning posted online was subsequently taken down by Facebook and YouTube.

Lord Browne said: ‘In respect of Aiden Aslin, on April 18 Graham Phillips a British former civil servant and pro-Russian propagandist published a video interview with him, when he was then a prisoner of war, in handcuffs, physically injured and manifestly under duress, and extracted from him an admission in those conditions that he was not a Ukrainian soldier, but had a different relationship with the war.

‘Prisoners of war cannot be prosecuted for taking part in direct hostilities. The whole process is about their early release and they must be released and repatriated without delay at the end of hostilities if not before,’ Lord Ahmad said in the House of Lords

‘Experts who have studied this video and the circumstances say there’s sufficient evidence there to support the view that this was a breach of the Geneva Convention and its treatment of prisoners of war and that Phillips, a British citizen, is at risk of prosecution for war crimes.

‘As he is a British citizen, ought not we to be further investigating this to see if he has violated international law and issue a warrant for his arrest.’

Referring to the captured Britons, Lord Ahmad said: ‘Prisoners of war cannot be prosecuted for taking part in direct hostilities. The whole process is about their early release and they must be released and repatriated without delay at the end of hostilities if not before.

‘Certainly that’s been the case we have been making very specifically.

‘These situations are extremely sensitive but we need to remind Russia the obligations are on Russia to ensure they uphold the principles of IHL.’

Pressed on whether there would be an inquiry into Mr Phillips, Lord Ahmad said: ‘I am not going to comment on the specifics, particularly under the sensitive situation which is currently applying to the detainees.’

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