Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said today that the two Britons and one Moroccan sentenced to death yesterday (Thursday) by a court in the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic had committed crimes there.
"At the moment the trials you are referring to are being conducted under the legislation of the Donetsk People's Republic, because the crimes in question were committed on its territory," Lavrov noted.
Among the UN member states only Russia recognizes the Donetsk province of Ukraine as autonomous.
The two Britons, Aiden Ashlyn and Sean Pinner, as well as Moroccan Saadoun Brahim, were found guilty of "mercenary activities and of committing acts aimed at seizing power and overthrowing the constitutional order" in the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic.
Kiev stressed yesterday that the court has no jurisdiction and that the three fighters were members of the Ukrainian army and therefore protected by the Geneva Convention.
The two Britons, aged 28 and 48, surrendered to the Russian army after weeks of fighting in Mariupol. According to press reports, they had been living in Ukraine before the war and had married there.
The three were tried after a Ukrainian court last month sentenced a Russian soldier to life imprisonment for the murder of an unarmed civilian.
Bargaining chip
Meanwhile, a senior Ukrainian official said today that Moscow wants to use the three foreigners as "hostages" to put pressure on the West in peace negotiations.
Vadim Denisenko, an adviser to the Interior Ministry, said today that Ukraine would coordinate its actions with Britain, the US and the EU.
He also accused Moscow of "using them as hostages to put pressure on the international community regarding the negotiation process."
For his part, the governor of Luhansk province, Sherhi Haidai, estimated, speaking to the British radio station BBC Radio 4, that the two British men sentenced to death were regular soldiers.
"All people who come to fight with the Ukrainian side sign documents with the Ukrainian army and therefore acquire official status," he stressed. This means that they are protected by the Geneva Convention and cannot be sentenced to death, even if they are not Ukrainian citizens.
"As far as I know, the lawyers have already appealed the decision and I believe that what is happening is just political pressure from Russia's side," Haidai assessed.
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