The death sentences given to the two Britons and a Moroccan national who were captured while fighting in Ukraine will set a “clear example to other soldiers of fortune fighting for Ukraine,” according to Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova.

Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner were captured fighting with the Ukrainian army and tried as mercenaries by a Russian proxy court.

They went on trial in the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic – a pro-Russian breakaway region in eastern Ukraine – alongside a third man, Moroccan national Saaudun Brahim.

The UK government and Ukraine’s top prosecutor have said the sentences breach the Geneva Conventions.

Both men were already living in Ukraine at the time of the Russian invasion and their families say they were all contracted to fight for Ukraine.

Source: bbc.com