The Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov gave a succinct answer to the international reactions to the death sentences against two Britons and a Moroccan who fought for the Ukrainian armed forces in Donbass: The trial took place on the basis of the laws of the "Donetsk People's Republic", where the men had committed their "crimes".

He advised not to interfere in the work of the Republic's judiciary.

Reinhard Veser

Editor in Politics.

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Ukraine, Great Britain, the United States and also the UN do not recognize the judiciary of the "People's Republic" as such.

Above all, they believe that the three men should not be brought to justice because they are prisoners of war who should be treated according to the rules of the Geneva Convention.

Russia, however, describes all foreigners fighting on the side of Ukraine as mercenaries who do not enjoy the protection of international martial law.

"Not a pleasant stage at all"

Meanwhile, English and Russian-language media in exile report that the two Brits, Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, and the Moroccan, Saadun Brahim, lived in Ukraine before the war began and had been contracted to a regular unit of the Ukrainian armed forces, the 36th Brigade, for years Marines in Mariupol.

According to a report by the Russian-language portal "Mediazona", the two Britons were in a relationship with Ukrainians.

The Moroccan came to Ukraine as a student in 2019 and signed a contract with the Ukrainian armed forces last year.

The three men, who were taken prisoner in different places in the Donbass in March and April, were not convicted of specific crimes, but of allegations of “seizure of power by force” and “mercenaryism”.

Those convicted can now appeal or ask the “President” of the Donetsk “People's Republic” Denis Puschilin for a pardon.

After the death sentence was announced, he spoke of a “just decision”.

In April and May, the prisoners were repeatedly paraded on Russian television, where they confessed their “guilt”.

Lavrov's reference to the laws of the internationally unrecognized "Donetsk People's Republic" is significant in light of the fate of more than 2,400 Ukrainian soldiers from Mariupol who were taken into Russian captivity in mid-May at the end of fighting in the port city.

Pushilin has announced that there will be a "temporary tribunal" on the Ukrainian fighters in Mariupol, whom Russia calls "Nazis" and "terrorists".

"People's republics" are controlled by Russia

A commentary by the Russian state news agency Ria Novosti on Sunday cited the trials in which German soldiers were sentenced to death on the gallows in 1943 in the Soviet Union for participating in war crimes as historical models for the tribunal announced by Pushilin.

"The heroes of Ukraine, whose deeds are just as outrageous, can feel the cold breath of death upon them," the comment reads.

It is unclear whether the "Western power pullers" understand "that the matter is entering a new and not at all pleasant stage".

The death penalty is still suspended in Russia.

However, the "People's Republics" of Donetsk and Luhansk are completely under Russian control.

Preparations are underway for their union with Russia.

In the Kremlin, the so-called “domestic political bloc” is already responsible for the two entities.

This also became clear when Puschilin replaced the “Prime Minister” in Donetsk on Wednesday in order to “strengthen the integration processes”.

A department head of the Russian Ministry of Commerce was appointed as the new head of government.

In an interview with Russian television on Friday, he announced his team would be made up of men who, like himself, came from among Russia's youth leaders.

The death of a Russian general at the end of last week showed that the so-called "people's militias" from Donetsk and Luhansk, which are on the front lines in the fighting in Donbass, are also commanded by Russian military personnel.

Formally, Roman Kutuzov led a unit of the People's Militia, but an obituary in the pro-Kremlin Komsomolskaya Pravda, which was later deleted, shows that he spent his entire career in the Russian armed forces.