As the Kyiv Post has earlier reported, the British soldiers and their families have publicly claimed that the men were not mercenaries, but rather formally Marines of the Ukrainian military. However, the Russian proxies have maintained that the men were, and would be treated as, mercenaries.
International law generally forbids the execution of prisoners of war (POWs) – but the same guarantee is not afforded to mercenaries.
British Foreign Minister, Liz Truss, wrote on Twitter that “I utterly condemn the sentencing of Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner held by Russian proxies in eastern Ukraine. They are prisoners of war. This is a sham judgment with absolutely no legitimacy. My thoughts are with the families. We continue to do everything we can to support them.”
Steve Nix, a Washington, agreed and said that “the DNR has absolutely no legitimacy and is not recognized by any country or international body of any seriousness.” Thus, “the rulings of its so-called ‘courts’ are meaningless.”
Nix was confident that if the “ruling” against the Brits and Moroccan were appealed to an international court, the verdict would undoubtedly be that the men were, in fact, Prisoners of War, and not mercenaries.
Non-recognition of the two “breakaway countries,” propped-up by Russia, has caused consternation in Moscow. Russia has sought to rally its allies to recognize the “DNR,” but their efforts have proven to be largely fruitless.
Aside from Russia, the only other nations to recognize the “DNR” and the so-called “Luhansk People’s Republic” (“LPR”) are Syria, and as of this week, North Korea. The legitimacy of the beleaguered national government Syrian dictator Bashar Al-Asad, and North Korean autocrat Kim Jong-un, are not universally recognized by all countries.
Last month, Russian Pres. Vladimir Putin faced a rare public rebuke when Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Kemeluly Tokayev, while speaking at a Forum alongside Putin, said that his country would not recognize the “DNR” or “LNR” as “countries.”
“If the ‘country’ does not exist – neither do their ‘courts’’ rulings have any validity,” said Nix.
Source: kyivpost.com, Staff, July 15, 2022
Paul Urey dies after being captured by Russia in Ukraine
Paul Urey, from Culcheth, was captured by the Russian military along with fellow British national Dylan Healy, 22, on April 25, not-for-profit organisation Presidium Network said.
The men were stopped at a checkpoint near the city of Zaporizhzhya in the south of the war-torn country close to land which was then under Russian control.
They are accused of being ‘mercenaries’ by Russia, for which a prosecutor in Moscow had said the maximum penalty is the death sentence.
Video emerged on Russian state TV on May 4 showing an interview with the Warrington man, who was asked questions while in handcuffs explaining why he was in Ukraine.
But news has surfaced this morning, Friday, that the 45-year-old sadly died in custody on Sunday, July 10, Russian state news agency Tass has reported.
According to Daria Morozova, ombudsman of the so-called ‘Donetsk People's Republic’, on her Telegram social media channel: “Despite the seriousness of (his) crimes, Paul Urey was receiving adequate medical assistance.
“Despite this, in view of his diagnosis and the stress, he died on July 10.”
In an interview with Russian state TV in May, where it is unclear whether he was speaking under duress, Mr Urey said he previously travelled to Iraq, Afghanistan between 2008 and 2010, as well as to Libya to ‘help the revolution’.
He is recorded saying he travelled to Ukraine to ‘see if the refugee crisis was really as bad as what they say on the news’ back home, and that he ‘does not believe the news in England’.
Following the emergence of the interview, his mother Linda said: “I have watched the interview on Russian TV of my son Paul Urey.
“This is physically my son, but he is not acting in his natural way; his words are too matter of fact and his facial expressions make me not believe what he is saying.
“Normally he speaks fast and to the point.
“I know my son like every mother, and this is not him being natural.”
Mr Urey was not been heard from since 4am on April 25, and following news breaking of his detainment, the Foreign Office said it was ‘urgently seeking more information’.
Him and fellow aid worker Mr Healy are believed to have been working independently, but they were in touch with the Presidium Network.
They were said to be trying to rescue a family from a village near Zaporizhzhia at the time of their capture.
Presidium described Mr Urey as a family man who previously spent eight years as a civilian contractor in Afghanistan.
Following news of his capture, Mr Urey’s mum said she was ‘extremely worried’ for his welfare, as her son had type one diabetes and required insulin shots.
She said in a statement: “We know my son has been captured by the Russians while trying to help citizens in Ukraine.
“He was out there on his own accord.
“We want everyone’s support to bring him home. We have asked Presidium Network to help support us and who have helped verify my son has been captured.”
International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan told Sky News: “The Foreign Office obviously has been working very closely with those in Ukraine both to make sure the identification is correct and indeed to work with local authorities and to support families here.
"As we have set out right from the beginning, we do not want British nationals to go and fight, but there are many, many ways in which so many people can all support.
“We do not want people to go and fight, but obviously the Foreign Office is doing all it can to support and identify these two people.”
Source: warringtonguardian.co.uk, Staff, July 15, 2022
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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde