UK Foreign Secy Truss to discuss Britons' death sentences with Ukrainian FM Kuleba: Report

In the latest development, United Kingdom's Foreign Secretary Liz Truss stated that she will speak to her Ukrainian counterpart about the death sentences handed over to two British citizens by a court in Eastern Ukraine. The UK minister's statement came a day after the Supreme Court of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) sentenced three "foreign mercenaries" to death for fighting in Ukraine amid the ongoing war. According to reports, the mercenaries include two citizens of the United Kingdom as well as one from Morocco. The British citizens have been identified as Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner. 

According to both the British government and Ukraine's top prosecutor, the sentencing violates the Geneva Convention. Truss is expected to speak to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba later on Friday, June 10, BBC reported. The report further stated that both British nationals were already residing in Ukraine at the time of the Russian invasion which was launched in late February. The sentences granted to Aslin and Pinner have alarmed the UK government, which has stated that prisoners of war are entitled to "combatant protection" under the Geneva Convention and should not be used for political purposes.

Truss condemns the verdict, calls it a 'sham judgement'

Further, Truss condemned the sentencing and stated that the court's decision was a sham judgement with no legal standing, and that the UK government is making all efforts to support the families of the convicted. "I utterly condemn the sentencing of Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner held by Russian proxies in eastern Ukraine. They are prisoners of war. This is a sham judgment with absolutely no legitimacy. My thoughts are with the families. We continue to do everything we can to support them [sic]," she wrote in a Twitter post. 

Ukraine launched a pre-trial investigation into the matter

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has termed the verdict as "miserable" and vowed to make all-out efforts to release all defenders of the country. "Such public trials place the interests of propaganda above law and morality, and undermine the exchange mechanisms of war prisoners," the ministry added, as per BBC. Ukrainian Prosecutor-General Irina Venediktova claimed that the Kyiv regime has already launched a pre-trial inquiry into this matter to ensure that everyone involved in this illegal action is brought to the book. 

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