Ukraine is doing everything possible to save three foreign nationals who were sentenced to death by separatist authorities in Ukraine’s eastern region of Donetsk, a lawmaker in Ukraine's parliamentary security and defense committee said on June 11.
Russia-backed separatists in Ukraine's eastern region of Donetsk say their de facto Supreme Court handed down the death sentences to two British nationals and a Moroccan for "being mercenaries" and fighting with Ukrainian armed forces.
"Both the Defense Ministry and the Main Directorate of Intelligence, which deals with the exchange of prisoners, are taking all necessary measures to ensure these citizens of foreign states...are saved," lawmaker Fedir Venislavskiy said on national television.
Britons Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner along with Moroccan Saaudun Brahim were sentenced to death on June 9 for "mercenary activities." All three say they were serving in the Ukrainian military when they were captured by Moscow-backed separatists while fighting Russian forces.
In a statement issued on June 11 through the British Foreign Office, Pinner’s family said they were “devastated and saddened at the outcome of the illegal show trial.”
“We sincerely hope that all parties will cooperate urgently to ensure the safe release or exchange of Shaun. Our family, including his son and Ukrainian wife, love and miss him so much and our hearts go out to all the families involved in this awful situation,” the statement said.
The statement said the 48-year-old man has been a resident of Ukraine for the past four years and had fought to defend the southern port city of Mariupol before it was captured by Russian forces.
Meanwhile, Interfax quoted separatist authorities in the Donetsk region as saying that a captured fighter from South Korea would go on trial in the Donetsk region after he was captured by pro-Russian fighters.
The statement did not identify the person but referred to him as a "mercenary from South Korea" who "fought for the armed forces of Ukraine."
Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said she believed the separatist authorities would ultimately act rationally, "for they are well aware of the irreparable implications for them and for the Russians if they take any wrong steps against these three of our soldiers."
"Something tells me that, eventually, one way or another, sooner or later, these three servicemen will be exchanged [or otherwise get home]," she said in an online post on June 11.
Britain has condemned the sentencing of the fighters as an "egregious breach" of the Geneva Conventions, under which prisoners of war are entitled to combatant immunity and should not be prosecuted for participation in hostilities.
The United Nations has warned that unfair trials of prisoners of war amounted to war crimes.
According to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, the three men committed crimes on the territory of what the separatists’ leaders call the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR).
Russia's Foreign Ministry said Britain's should appeal to the self-proclaimed DPR authorities about the soldiers. Britain does not recognize the DPR.
Among United Nations member states, only Russia recognizes the entire Ukrainian province of Donetsk as the Donetsk People’s Republic. The territory is internationally recognized as part of Ukraine.