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The desperate family of a condemned British man has urged the UK and Ukraine to do everything in their power to free him and his fellow British soldier after they were captured by pro-Russian forces and sentenced to death.
Aiden Aslin, 28, and Shaun Pinner, 48, were convicted of being ‘mercenaries’ and conducting ‘terrorist activities’ for fighting with Ukrainian troops, in what Tory minister Robert Jenrick called a ‘Soviet-era style show trial’, weeks after they were captured during the siege of Mariupol.
The pair, both signed-up members of Ukraine’s 36th Marine Brigade, were sentenced to death and are set to face a firing squad alongside Moroccan national Saaudun Brahim who was convicted alongside them.
It is understood Aslin’s mother Ang Wood found out about the barbaric sentence while watching the TV news at the family home in Newark, Nottinghamshire.
His devastated family yesterday demanded he is ‘treated with respect’ and urged both the UK Government to help bring them home safely – something a Whitehall source has cautioned could make matters worse.
In a statement, the family said: ‘We’ve heard the news from Donetsk and need some time to take everything in.
‘We love Aiden with all our hearts. He and Shaun, as members of Ukrainian armed forces, should be treated with respect just like any other prisoners of war. They are not, and never were, mercenaries.
‘We hope that this sentence will be overturned and beseech the government’s of the UK and Ukraine to do everything in their power to have them returned to us safely, and soon.
‘We can only imagine what they are going through right now. This is a very upsetting development and we ask that our privacy is respected at this time.’
Last night, MP Robert Jenrick said: ‘This disgusting Soviet-era style show trial is the latest reminder of the depravity of Putin’s regime.’
Aiden Aslin (second-left) and Shaun Pinner (second-right) – along with Moroccan national Saaudun Brahim (right) – were all captured while fighting in Ukraine. Pictured: The three men in court on Thursday where they were handed the death sentence
Aiden Aslin (right) and Shaun Pinner (left) were detained in April during the siege of Mariupol while fighting in Ukraine, before appearing in court in the separatist region of Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and handed death sentences after a show trial
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss slammed the ruling as a ‘sham judgment with absolutely no legitimacy’, declaring that the men were prisoners of war.
A spokesman for Boris Johnson said the UK was working with Kyiv to try and secure the men’s release, with Downing Street describing the Prime Minister as ‘deeply concerned’.
‘Under the Geneva Convention, prisoners of war are entitled to combatant immunity,’ said a PM spokesman.
However, a Whitehall source cautioned that getting more involved could worsen the situation. They added: ‘There’s a solid rationale for not wanting to escalate this and make it a bilateral issue between the UK and Russia.
‘This is because international law considers them Ukrainian combatants, and Ukraine is responsible for them in legal terms. If the UK gets involved, it will aid Russia’s argument that these are mercenaries.’
The three men said they will appeal the decision. The court in the DPR, one of two self-proclaimed break-away states in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas, is not internationally recognised.
They appeared behind a metal cage at a court in territory occupied by the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic in eastern Ukraine as the verdict was read out today.
Ex-British Army soldier Pinner stared at the ground and appeared distraught and close to tears, while former care worker Aslin remained composed.
The pair were captured by Russian forces after becoming surrounded in the port city of Mariupol in April. They have since been paraded in various videos with visible injuries and appeared to read from scripts.
Meanwhile, the Russian leader was today pictured meeting young entrepreneurs in Moscow as the barbaric sentencing unfolded.
The sentencing came as Russian President Vladimir Putin met with young entrepreneurs in Moscow on Thursday (pictured)
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss condemned the sentences as a ‘sham judgment with absolutely no legitimacy’ in a statement
It comes as a friend who fought alongside Aiden Aslin told BBC’s Newsnight he believed the death sentences would ‘invigorate’ those still resisting Russian advances in Ukraine.
Brennan Phillips, an American former soldier who met Mr Aslin in Syria and worked alongside him in Ukraine before the Briton’s capture in April said: ‘I think it will invigorate people more than anything. Whatever effect they thought they would have in this provocation, I don’t think that and I don’t think it’s going to be well-received.
‘And they did this as a provocation. They chose and I think many people expected that they would choose, Russia would choose, the most provocative stance that they could take in a quote unquote, death sentence.
‘I do not believe that Sean or Aiden will be subject to the death sentence or anything like that. I do believe that their captivity under the Russians will be extended for a little bit, but I do believe wholeheartedly and I’m very confident that they will be released safely back to their families.’
Mr Phillips, from Tennesse, said Mr Aslin had a well established life in Ukraine and had not gone to fight there as a ‘thrill-seeker’.
He added: ‘He went to Ukraine in 2017. He has a Ukrainian fiancee. They do have or did have a home outside of Mariupol. And he was a part of the 36th Marine Brigade.
‘So, yeah, he had a well established life in Ukraine, Ukrainian citizenship. He planned on ultimately staying and living in Ukraine. So it’s like you said, it’s not like he decided to to go there as a thrill seeker of any sort.’
Elsewhere, Austrian Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Ewa Ernst-Dziedzic said: ‘The illegitimate verdict is a blatant breach of international law and a provocation by the Russian war party.’
Aiden (circled) was serving with Ukraine’s 36th Marine Brigade, but his communication with the outside world via social media became increasingly sporadic as his team was surrounded by Russian forces bombarding the city of Mariupol
Shaun Pinner (pictured with his wife Larysa) had moved to Ukraine four years before joining Ukrainian marines
Former care worker Aslin moved from Newark in Nottinghamshire to Ukraine in 2018 after meeting his now-fiancee. In the same year he became a marine with the Ukrainian military. Pinner, an ex-British Army soldier originally from Bedfordshire, moved to Ukraine four years ago to join the Ukrainian military.
The two Britons surrendered in April in Mariupol, the southern port city that was captured by Russian troops after a brutal weeks-long siege that all but levelled the city. They later appeared on Russian TV calling on Johnson to negotiate their release. Brahim surrendered in March in the eastern town of Volnovakha.
‘The Supreme Court of the DPR passed the first sentence on mercenaries – the British Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner and the Moroccan Saadun Brahim were sentenced to death, RIA Novosti correspondent reports from the courtroom,’ RIA said on the Telegram messaging app.
Judge Alexander Nikulin said: ‘The aggregated penalty for the crimes [means] the sentence Aiden Aslin to an exceptional measure of punishment, the death penalty.
‘The aggregated penalty for the crimes [means] the sentence [of] Shaun Pinner to an exceptional measure of punishment, the death penalty.’
