Zelenskyy speaks out on death sentences for UK citizens in Russian-occupied Donetsk Oblast

KATERYNA TYSHCHENKO – FRIDAY, 10 JUNE 2022, 23:35

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine believes that the fact that UK citizens have been "sentenced" to death in the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk Oblast must encourage European countries to unite and act more decisively.

Source: Zelenskyy during a conversation with the UK university community

Details: When asked whether the UK has to act more decisively after this incident, Zelenskyy said that the country and Boris Johnson, the UK Prime Minister, have strongly supported Ukraine from the very beginning.

Quote: "I think that, on the contrary, this is a case that has underscored that Europe and the entire world, and those sceptical countries, those – let’s call them pacifist in their relations with Russia – countries, which are constantly trying to strike the tone in the conversation in order to avoid damaging some business relations – I believe that this incident sent a powerful message to those countries, a signal that Russia will act like that in relation to any citizen of any country.

I think that after incidents like this European countries must unite and act decisively, and use their actions, not their words, to show that they condemn such actions."

Details: Zelenskyy said that such a violation of international law by the Russian Federation was a great tragedy.

"What has been done to the citizens of the UK has become a tragic habit for those people [the Russians - ed]. They are doing this to absolutely everyone. There can be no excuses for these actions," he reiterated.

Background:

• On 9 June, Russian state media reported that two British citizens, 28-year-old Aiden Aslin and 48-year-old Shaun Pinner, appeared in "court" in the Russian-controlled territory in Donetsk Oblast, where they were found guilty of being mercenaries and "conducting actions whose goal was to seize power and overthrow the [so-called - ed.] constitutional order of the DPR [unrecognised, self-declared, and Russian-controlled "Donetsk People’s Republic" - ed.]." According to the reports, they were sentenced to death alongside Saaudun Brahim, a Moroccan citizen.
• Liz Truss, British Minister of Foreign Affairs, has condemned the "sentencing" of the British citizens.
• The US government has expressed concern over the case of foreign citizens being "sentenced to death" and has called on Russia to adhere to international humanitarian law.
• Amnesty International, and international human rights organisation, has called these "death sentences" a farce which violates the Geneva Convention on humanitarian treatment of prisoners of war. The UN Human Rights Office has emphasised that illegal trials of prisoners of war can be considered war crimes.
• Maria Zakharova, the spokeswoman for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that the UK citizens who were "sentenced to death" are separatist fighters from the so-called "DPR" and therefore cannot be considered prisoners of war