The European Court of Human Rights has requested the Russian government does not execute two Britons after they were captured in Ukraine. The Strasbourg-based court has indicated to Moscow that it should ensure the death penalty imposed on Aiden Aslin, 28, originally from Newark in Nottinghamshire, and Shaun Pinner, 48, from Bedfordshire, is not carried out.
The pair have been treated as foreign mercenaries by pro-Russian authorities in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), who handed down the sentences. The men had been fighting for the Ukrainian army. Mr Aslin and Mr Pinner were 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.
The ECtHR said the men are married to or live with Ukrainian nationals and consider Ukraine to be their home. They joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine (UAF) in 2018 and were subsequently deployed to join the 36th Detached Marine Brigade in Mariupol, the court said.
