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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Staff and agencies in Moscow

Five Europeans face trial on mercenary charges in separatist-controlled Ukraine

Vjekoslav Prebeg, Dylan Healy, John Harding, Mathias Gustafsson and Andrew Hill in a cage
From left: Vjekoslav Prebeg, Dylan Healy, John Harding, Mathias Gustafsson and Andrew Hill in a defendants' cage during a court hearing in Donetsk on 15 August 2022. Photograph: Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters

Five Europeans captured in eastern Ukraine have gone on trial in a court administered by Kremlin-backed separatists in the city of Donetsk, Russian media reported.

The five – Mathias Gustafsson of Sweden, Vjekoslav Prebeg of Croatia, and Britons John Harding, Andrew Hill and Dylan Healy – all pleaded not guilty to charges of being mercenaries and “undergoing training to seize power by force”, according to Russian media reports.

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