Two British-born prisoners of war were forced to lie in a Russian proxy court that they were terrorists after Ukraine offered a swap to return the death row couple to safety.
Sean Piner, 48, and Aiden Aslin, 28, admitted in the so-called Supreme Court of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) that they were being “trained to carry out terrorist activities.”
The couple, who were detained in April, will receive a lenient sentence and be treated as prisoners of war under the Geneva Conventions, The Sun reports.
However, his family and British officials believe he was betrayed by a Kremlin court and therefore wrongly convicted of terrorism.
Mr Pinar told the newspaper on April 25: ‘We are afraid of death. Mariupol is my adopted city. I’m not a freedom fighter – Mariupol is my home. ‘
Mr Aslin, meanwhile, added: “They have agreed to exchange prisoners with me and Shaun. It’s important that Boris Johnson is able to help influence this decision. “
The test is being conducted in the DPR, one of two separate Russian-backed organizations in the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine, which Russia is fighting to “liberate” from Ukrainian forces.
Two British-born prisoners of war were forced to lie in a Russian proxy court that they were terrorists after Ukraine offered a swap to return the death row couple to safety.
Sean Piner, 48, (left) and Aiden Aslin, 28, (right), admitted in the so-called Supreme Court of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) that they were being “trained to carry out terrorist activities.”
British fighters captured during fighting in Ukraine have been forced by Russian-backed separatists to beg British journalists for their lives in scripted phone calls. Photo: Aiden Aslin (first left) and Shaun Pinner (second left)
Mr Pinner (right), a British Army veteran, from Watford, seemed distracted by the dock in the cage when he read the sentence on Thursday, while Mr Aslin (left) from Newark, Nottinghamshire, remained silent but composed.
Three days before the start of the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, Russia recognized Ukraine as an independent state in a move that was illegally condemned by Ukraine and the West.
Mr Pinner, a veteran of the British Army in Watford, seemed distracted by the cage’s dock after reading the sentence on Thursday, while Mr Aslin of Newark, Nottinghamshire, remained silent but composed.
Mr Pinar and Mr Aslin had already been forced into begging for their lives by Russian-backed separatists in scripted phone calls to family members and British journalists who held them captive.
A few weeks after his capture in the siege of Mariupol, he was accused of being a “mercenary” and of carrying out “terrorist activities” to fight Ukrainian forces.
Larissa Piner, a Ukrainian resident, described her husband Shaan as a “warrior” and warned that the “circus” surrounding her husband’s execution would be pulled by Russia’s propaganda machine for maximum effect.
A former care worker, Mr Aslin (pictured left) moved to Ukraine after falling in love with his wife Diane (pictured right), originally from the town of Mykolive – found 260 miles west of Mariupol on the beach. He is said to have gone to the UK to live with his family
Aden was serving with Ukraine’s 36th Marine Brigade, but his communications with the outside world became increasingly sporadic as his team was surrounded by Russian troops bombing the town of Mariupol.
Vladimir Putin’s ‘Man in Ukraine’ could be key to British men’s fortunes
The key to the fate of British men could be Vladimir Putin’s “man in Ukraine” and Oligarch Victor Medvedchuk, who is currently in Kiev custody.
The British hostages were first paraded on camera and were asked to exchange for a prisoner swap for Medvedchuk, 67.
Putin is the godfather of one of his children, and their families have enjoyed a Black Sea holiday together.
Vladimir Putin’s “man in Ukraine” oligarch Victor Medvedchuk is currently in Kiev’s custody.
However, Ukrainian officials appear unwilling to release Medvedev, who is based in Kiev, after being charged with treason last week.
The former politician and lawyer was placed under house arrest last year on charges of selling military secrets to Moscow and aiding the annexation of Crimea.
But he escaped four days after the attack in February, and was arrested in April for trying to reconcile.
He was offered a job in Moscow in exchange for “boys and girls who are now in Russian custody,” which the Kremlin rejected, but warned Ukrainian leaders not to “watch”.
Yesterday’s show trial is seen as a possible tit-for-tat response. The death penalty could be Russia’s strategy to increase pressure to get Medvedev out of Ukrainian hands.
Sign-up members of Ukraine’s 36th Marine Brigade have both been sentenced to death and are set to face a firing squad pending an appeal.
Ukraine, meanwhile, has said it is willing to exchange prisoners for the release of a British man sentenced to death.
Ukraine’s ambassador to the UK, Vadim Pristiko, expressed confidence that Mr Pinar and Mr Aslin would be released in exchange for Russian prisoners held in the country.
However, British authorities want to avoid arresting Britons as a “bilateral issue” because they are prisoners of war under Ukrainian law, a source told the Daily Telegraph.
“It’s really important that we don’t give the Russians any ammunition to portray these boys as mercenaries,” they said.
Mr Pristico told BBC News: ‘It will be a swap. They have agreements with the armed forces, they used to live in Ukraine, so they are there legally.
“We expect Russia to remember that these are our people, now they are prisoners of war and they should be treated as prisoners of war – just as we are treating the Russians as prisoners of war.”
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Jakaharova said: “The British Foreign Ministry has not received any request from the UK for Pinar and Aslin. It makes us think that London never cared about the future of those British citizens. ‘
Meanwhile, Mr. Aslin’s mother, Ang Wood, came to know about the barbaric sentence while watching TV news at the family home in Newark, Nottinghamshire.
The bereaved family of the 28-year-old, who met with officials at the Ukrainian embassy in London on Thursday, demanded “respectful treatment” and urged the British government to help bring them home safely – a Whitehall source warned. To make matters worse.
In a statement, the family said: ‘We have heard the news from Donetsk and it will take some time to get everything back.
‘We love Eden with all our heart. He and Shane, as members of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, should be treated with the same respect as other prisoners of war. They are not mercenaries, and never have been.
“We hope that this sentence will be overturned and we urge the governments of the United Kingdom and Ukraine to do everything in their power to bring them back to us safely and expeditiously.”
‘We can only imagine what they are going through now. This is a very embarrassing development and we urge you to respect our privacy at this time. “
It has been revealed that Vladimir Putin’s “man in Ukraine” and oligarch Victor Medvedchuk may be the key to the fate of the British men currently being held in Kiev. The death sentences for Mr Pinar and Mr Aslin could be part of Russia’s strategy to get Medvedev out of Ukraine’s hands.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss called the decision a “fictitious decision with no legitimacy” and declared the men prisoners of war.
Pinar is a former Bedfordshire Royal Anglian soldier
Photo: Sean Piner (second right) in this selfie, with Aiden Eslin (second left).
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss condemned the sentence as “a fictitious decision without any legitimacy.”
A spokesman for Boris Johnson said Britain was working with Kiev to secure and secure the man’s release, with Downing Street describing the prime minister as “deeply concerned”.
A spokesman for the prime minister said: “Under the Geneva Conventions, prisoners of war have the right to freedom of movement.
However, a Whitehall source warned that further involvement could worsen the situation. He added: “There is a strong argument that it does not want to escalate into a bilateral issue between Britain and Russia.
“This is because international law recognizes them as Ukrainian fighters, and legally Ukraine is responsible for them. If Britain were to join, it would support Russia’s argument that they were mercenaries. “