War in Ukraine: Two Britons and a Moroccan face the death penalty in Donetsk

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Damaged buildings in the Donetsk region

Photo: IMAGO/Alexander Reka / IMAGO/ITAR-TASS

Two Britons and a Moroccan who fought for Ukraine and were captured face the death penalty.

This is reported by the Russian news agency RIA.

She circulated video footage of the trial in a Donetsk district court, which is under the control of Russia-backed separatists.

RIA quotes prosecutors as saying all three men could face the death penalty.

The British Foreign Office said the prisoners were being used for political ends.

The video shows the three men behind bars being questioned by a translator as to whether they had been made aware of the charges and whether they had any objections to the start of the trial.

The defendants therefore gave their consent to the start of negotiations.

Many volunteers from abroad are also fighting on the Ukrainian side.

Kyiv itself called them for help.

In Moscow, however, these volunteers are referred to as mercenaries.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said the men were not considered combatants.

The international conventions on the treatment of prisoners of war would not apply to them.

Long-term imprisonment – ​​in the »best case«

Therefore, if they were caught, they would have to face a long prison sentence "in the best case".

At the same time, the pro-Russian separatists had repeatedly publicly threatened to have captured foreigners in the ranks of the Ukrainian army executed.

Only yesterday it became known that more than 1,000 prisoners from the steelworks in Mariupol (also in the Donetsk region) have now been brought to Russia.

The fighters surrendered at the end of May after weeks of siege.

The Ukrainian leadership fears that the prisoners of war will be tortured and murdered.

There are said to be numerous foreigners among those who have left.

jok/dpa