Today, Saturday, Middle East Eye shed light on the personality of the 21-year-old Moroccan Brahim Saadoun, who was sentenced to death by a court affiliated with the pro-Russian separatists, on charges of mercenarism within the Ukrainian army.
The British website indicated that Saadoun had been sentenced to death on 9 June by the Supreme Court of the Donetsk People's Republic, the pro-Russian breakaway region of Ukraine, along with two British citizens.
The Russian "Interfax" news agency had quoted a judicial official as saying that the men were convicted of "mercenaristic activities and acts aimed at seizing power and overthrowing the constitutional order of the Donetsk People's Republic."
During the short broadcast broadcast by the Russian Arabic-language news channel RT, Saadoun did not comment on the ruling, but did answer the journalist's questions about his treatment.
The site indicated that Saadoun, a conscript in the Ukrainian army, confirmed that he receives a monthly salary of 371 dollars and that it tripled when he was on the front line.
Contrary to reports that appeared in the media, the Russian army did not arrest Saadoun, as those close to him told the site.
They said he surrendered during a battle in the Donbass region in April, wearing the uniform of the 36th Marines Maripol.
Contrary to reports that appeared in the media, the Russian army did not arrest Saadoun, as those close to him told the site.
They said he surrendered during a battle in the Donbass region in April, wearing the uniform of the 36th Marines Maripol.
As for how this young man ended up in this situation, the site said that he was one of 8,000 students from Morocco studying in Ukraine, and they constitute the second largest gathering of foreign students in the world, and that he studied at the Kyiv College of Aerodynamics and Space Technology for two years.
Lilia Alexanova, who met him in the summer of 2021 and developed a friendship between them before leaving for the United States, says about him that he had extraordinary sympathy and was loved by the ease with which he communicated with everyone he met.
She added that he "fell in love with Ukraine, because of the scene of the violent attack on it, and he often talked about his desire to return the favor to the country that gave him so much."
And Alexanova added that he saw in the army "a kind of catharsis", which enabled him to cleanse all his demons and identify the things that were confusing his mind, as she put it.
She added that he did not join the army for money or to obtain a passport, but did so out of personal conviction long before the Russian invasion.
The site pointed out that Saadoun's Ukrainian friends questioned his father's allegations that his son held a Ukrainian passport.
They said that this is not true, he had a residence permit in Ukraine valid until 2024, and that they had copies of all his official documents, and they explained that his father had not been in contact with him for a long time, and that he mixed up the terms in the translation when he said he had a passport travel.