A court in the pro-Russian, self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) sentenced three foreigners to death on Thursday, after accusing them of being „mercenaries“ for Ukraine, according to Russian state media outlet RIA Novosti.
DPR authorities said the three — British citizens Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, and Moroccan national Brahim Saadoune — were foreign fighters who had been captured in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol by Russian forces in April. RIA Novosti said the three will be shot. Russia is the only country that considers the DPR independent. The international community does not recognize the region and its institutions, and considers the territory to be part of Ukraine. Independent watchdog groups have long accused the separatists of a dismal human-rights track record and ill-treatment of prisoners.
