A Briton, a Croat and a Swede arrested in Mariupol face the death penalty. The process will continue in October.
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Posted on 08/15/2022 11:19 PM Updated on 08/16/2022 11:33 AM
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Moscow-backed separatist authorities in the Donetsk region began the trial of three Britons, a Croat and a Swede on Monday (15 August). They are accused of having fought as “mercenaries” for the Ukrainian army, which could earn some of them the death penalty.
The Croatian, Swedish and one British prisoner were captured in the area of the Ukrainian port of Mariupol, which had been besieged and bombarded by the Russian army for weeks. All three face the death penalty, according to Russia’s state agency Ria Novosti (in Russian), which specifies that they face criminal charges of attempted “seizure of power” and “participation in an armed conflict as mercenaries.”
Of the two remaining British prisoners, one is accused of mercenary activity and the other of “participation in recruiting mercenaries” for Ukraine. According to the Russian state news agency Tas, the five have pleaded not guilty. The Tass agency said the process would continue in early October, without giving any explanation. They are not the first foreign soldiers to face death threats from the separatist authorities: two Britons and a Moroccan had already been sentenced to death in early June before appealing.