Vladimir Putin’s thugs are ‘preparing an execution site’ for British pair who were captured near Mariupol and branded ‘mercenaries’ after joining Ukrainian Army
- Brits Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner were captured by Moscow’s forces in April
- Pro-Russian DPR officials said they are ‘preparing a place for their execution’
- The chilling statement said the Britons would be killed by firing squad, with no prior warning given. The date of their executions will not be released in advance
Separatist forces in eastern Ukraine have accelerated plans to execute two Britons.
Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, who had joined the Ukrainian Army, were captured by Moscow’s forces near Mariupol in April.
Their predicament worsened last night when pro-Russian officials in the Donetsk People’s Republic said they were ‘preparing a place for their execution’.
The chilling statement said the Britons would be killed by firing squad, with no prior warning given. The date of their executions will not be released in advance.
DPR spokesman Denys Pushilin added: ‘Everything is ready. It won’t be public.’
A member of the Russian parliament also mocked the Britons, saying they would be killed with British weapons and bullets and their families would be sent a bill.
Aiden Aslin (right) and Shaun Pinner (left), who had joined the Ukrainian Army, were captured by Moscow’s forces near Mariupol in April
The sickening statements came a day after the DPR reinstated the death penalty as a punishment for the most serious crimes.
It said that capital punishment served as a ‘deterrent to the commission of heinous crimes, in particular crimes against the peace and security of mankind’.
Mr Aslin, from Newark in Nottinghamshire, and Mr Pinner, from Watford, were recently found guilty of being ‘mercenaries’ at a trial.
The charges are false because the pair, and a Moroccan colleague Brahim Saadoun, 21, belonged to Ukrainian military units. Therefore, under international law, they are entitled to protection while in custody.
Mr Aslin and Mr Pinner also had joint UK-Ukrainian citizenship and had spent many years in the country.
Before then Mr Aslin, 28, was a Grenadier Guardsman while Mr Pinner, 48, was in the Royal Anglian Regiment.
An additional complication is that Britain does not recognise the DPR because the Moscow-backed breakaway republic has been set up inside Ukraine.
The execution threats may be a Russian ploy to try to force the UK to establish diplomatic relations with the region.
Pictured: Mr Aslin, 28, from Newark in Nottinghamshire. He had joint UK-Ukrainian citizenship and was a Grenadier Guardsman. He was fighting with Ukrainian forces when he was captured
Mr Pinner, 48, was in the Royal Anglian Regiment. He also has UK-Ukrainian citizenship and spent many years in the country
Mr Pushilin explained that a court was considering appeals submitted by the three men on July 4. But on completion of the legal process ‘their cases will be transferred to the executive service for implementation, by firing squad’, he said.
Under Russian law, mercenaries are not granted the same privileges as regular combatants, whose welfare must be considered according to the Geneva Convention.
Mr Aslin and Mr Pinner’s families have pleaded with the Foreign Office to intervene on their behalf.
Their best hope is that they are released as part of a prisoner exchange.
Two other Britons, Dylan Healy, 22, and Andrew Hill, 35, are also in custody in Donetsk.
Meanwhile, Ukraine and Russia were yesterday in dispute over grain exports from the war zone which are being blocked by the Kremlin.
The talks in Istanbul were the first face-to-face meetings between officials from the two sides for many months.
A resumption of grain exports would provide a major boost to Ukraine’s economy.
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