[bots]

A British man sentenced to death by a Russian proxy court for fighting in Ukraine has been told the execution will be carried out, his family say.

Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner were sentenced by a court which is not internationally recognised, in the so-called Donetsk People's Republic (DPR).

Mr Aslin told his family his captors said there had been no attempt by UK officials to negotiate on his behalf.

The foreign secretary discussed his case with Ukraine earlier in June.

Liz Truss said she and her Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba had spoken about "efforts to secure the release of prisoners of war held by Russian proxies" and has called the death sentences a "sham judgement with absolutely no legitimacy".

The Foreign Office is known to be actively investigating cases of British nationals who have been detained in Ukraine, and is providing support to the families of Mr Aslin and Mr Pinner.

Mr Aslin's family said they had spoken to him in a phone call in which he said he had been told "time is running out" by his captors.

"There are no words, just no words, it's got to be everyone's worst nightmare to have a member of your family threatened in this way", Mr Aslin's grandmother Pamela Hall told the BBC.

"Aiden was extremely upset when he called his mother this morning. The bottom line is Aiden has said the DPR has told him nobody from the UK has made contact, and that he will be executed."

"I have to believe what Aiden has said to us, that if the DPR don't get some response then they will execute him. Obviously I hope that isn't true."

Mr Aslin and Mr Pinner moved to Ukraine in 2018, and had served as part of Ukraine's armed forces for several years before the Russian invasion.

Both had Ukrainian partners and had made the country their home. They were captured after spending weeks defending the besieged city of Mariupol.

But the Russian-proxy court called them "mercenaries", accusing them of being sent to fighting in a foreign conflict for money.

They were charged with crimes including the violent seizure of power, and undergoing training to carry out terrorist activities, according to Russian news outlets RIA Novosti.

Earlier this month Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky told British students that what Russia was doing to the British pair was a "tragic habit" and said "there cannot be any justifications for such actions".

He said it was "a very powerful and dangerous signal" to other countries that Russia was "acting this way towards citizens of any country".

The UK government has said they should be treated as prisoners of war under the laws laid out in the Geneva Conventions.

"I have cried buckets over this, but crying doesn't help, I want do so something but I don't know what to do.

Ms Hall said: "After Aiden's call this morning what am I supposed to think? I don't want to lose heart but it's very hard."

"I can't help but think that contact should be made between the UK and Russia."

But UK government sources indicate that ministers are currently unwilling to negotiate with Russia directly because it may risk fuelling a false Russian narrative that the men are mercenaries.

Mr Aslin had shortly been due to marry his Ukrainian fiancée, who has come to the UK since his capture.

"He would have been married by now, it's something that I would have dearly loved. I want him to be married and have the life that he wanted," his grandmother said.

"I know that Boris Johnson has been over to Kyiv and spoken again to President Zelensky and I am hoping they spoke about these guys."

In recent weeks Mr Aslin and Mr Pinner have been mocked by presenters on pro-Kremlin television programmes in Russia, which have been showing videos of the men in captivity.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-61900291

[arista]

SkyNewsHD has tracked Stolen Ukrainian Grain

Russia is selling it to Turkey as Russian Grain,


Turkey is now looking into this.


https://news.sky.com/story/the-disap...under-12639463

[Nicky91]

sad that Putin isn't dead yet of parkinson's



hopefully he will suffer a lot of that illness, cough up a lot of blood too hopefully

[Nicky91]

hopefully his ***** of a daughter will watch him die and hopefully she'll cry a lot

don't forget to keep your legs closed, Mariya you filthy *****

[arista]

Originally Posted by Nicky91

sad that Putin isn't dead yet of parkinson's



hopefully he will suffer a lot of that illness, cough up a lot of blood too hopefully

If he is ill
he will be on loads of meds

[Sticks]

If we must be tasteless, the better scenario would be that someone from the ranks of the Russian military over throws him in a coup and withdraws the military units back to Moscow to fight any pending civil war.

The only problem is there is no guarantee how such a person would view the west.

But this is not going to happen.

[arista]

[Russian rockets rain on Kyiv
for first time in three weeks: Missiles continue to
pound Ukrainian capital today
after many injured in overnight strike - as
desperate Putin plans to send
nuclear-capable arsenal to Belarus]


https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...k-capital.html

[bots]

it is inevitable that the ukraine war turns into a resistance fight at some point. It is only the bravery of the ukranians, the weapons they have been supplied with and the incompetence of the russian troops that has allowed a conventional war to last as long as it has

[arista]

[Ukraine news live: Several injured as
Russia attacks Kyiv for first time in weeks;
blasts in central city; G7 leaders gather in Germany]

https://news.sky.com/story/ukraine-n...netsk-12541713

[arista]

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left,
and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko
shake hands during their meeting in
St. Petersburg yesterday,
when Putin agreed to send
Iskander nuclear-capable missiles to Belarus]

[arista]

[Firefighters worker to put out a fire as
smoke rises from a residential building
damaged by the Russian missile strikes
that rocked the city]

[arista]

[Ukraine war: UK joins ban on imports of Russian gold]


[The UK, US, Canada and Japan will
ban imports of Russian gold in an effort to
hit Moscow's ability to fund the war in Ukraine.
The UK PM said the move would
"strike at the heart of Putin's war machine".

Gold exports were worth £12.6bn ($15.4bn) to Russia in 2021,
and the UK says their importance has increased
since the invasion as oligarchs rush to
buy bullion to avoid sanctions.]

It comes as the G7 group of the
world's richest nations meet in Germany


https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-61941589

[arista]

USA is to do an Exchange
Prisoner Swap they may give Russian Arms Trafficker
for 2 USA citizens


Ref:CNN HD.

[The Slim Reaper]

Folks need to get round the table, as that's the only way to resolve this.

[bots]

there is zero prospect of them getting round the table at the moment, maybe in a year or 2

[user104658]

Originally Posted by bitontheslide

there is zero prospect of them getting round the table at the moment, maybe in a year or 2

At this point (not to go full Alf) but we're surely all aware that there's more to all of this than Russia/Ukraine. The conflict is not ending until the wheels of history that it's greasing require it to end.

[UserSince2005]

Originally Posted by arista

USA is to do an Exchange
Prisoner Swap they may give Russian Arms Trafficker
for 2 USA citizens


Ref:CNN HD.

is the basketball lesbian legend still locked up?

[bots]

Originally Posted by Toy Soldier

At this point (not to go full Alf) but we're surely all aware that there's more to all of this than Russia/Ukraine. The conflict is not ending until the wheels of history that it's greasing require it to end.

economically, it makes sense for the west to continue to arm fanatic ukranians for as long as they can, because it will deplete Russia's capability to do it elsewhere

Financially, the current path is the least pain for the west

[arista]

[arista]

The Online Paper:

[arista]

Over 15 Killed by Evil Russia

1,000 in the shopping centre City of Kremenchuk

Busy shopping centre hit by Russian strike

https://news.sky.com/story/ukraine-w...-says-12641299

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-europe-61941287

[arista]

Ch4HDnews showed a video
of the Evil Russian Missile Hit
a 1960 one,

[Sticks]

And if that Ukrainian president had taken up the US offer to get him out of the country, and he had allowed his people to surrender, then these needles deaths could have been avoided?

[arista]

[arista]