Foreigners who fought for Ukraine and were captured by the death penalty in the DPR

"Mediazona" spoke about four of them

The Prosecutor General’s Office of the self -proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic announced the completion of the investigation against four foreigners who fought on the side of Ukraine in the war with Russia. According to Mediazona , they are accused under articles on violent seizure of power and mercenarism, although three of them have concluded a contract with the Armed Forces even before the start of the war. The highest measure of punishment in the DPR under an article on the seizure of power is the death penalty.

According to data from various sources, several thousand foreign citizens are fighting on the side of Ukraine. At the beginning of the war, Vladimir Zelensky spoke about 16 thousand volunteers, in April the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported almost seven thousand “mercenaries”. By June, according to the department, their number decreased to three and a half thousand.

In May, the DPR Prosecutor Andrei Spivak said that during the war six foreigners were captured. "Mediazona" was able to find information about four of them by open sources.

The 28-year-old Briton Aiden Eslin was born in Newarca and used to work in the guardianship service. In 2015, he went to Syria, where he joined the Kurdish detachments of folk self -defense. Upon his return, Eslin came to the investigation on suspicion of terrorism, but later the charges were removed, and he went to travel. Once in Ukraine, he met his future bride in Nikolaev and later decided to stay in the country.

In 2018, Eslin joined the Armed Forces of the Armed Forces, where he was determined in the 36th Marine Corps Brigade, which, after the outbreak of the war, defended Mariupol along with the battalion. On April 12, a message appeared on the British Twitter that he was captured: “48 days passed, we tried our best to protect Mariupol, but we have no other choice but to surrender to the Russian troops. We have no food and ammunition. It was an honor. I hope this war will end soon. ”

Together with Eshrin, his friend, 48-year-old Sean Pinner, was captured. He previously served in the royal English regiment. After the army, Pinner worked for some time in the field of waste disposal, and in 2018 he moved to Ukraine, where he married and joined the ranks of the Armed Forces. His relatives say that Pinner really loved Ukraine and called it his "reception" country. He himself said a month before the invasion of the Russian army: “My house is Mariupol, so now I actually protect my reception city and my family.”

Another Briton who was captured is Andrew Hill from Plymouth. "Mediazona" notes that little is known about it. Already in captivity, he said that he came to Poland, where he helped refugees, and then went to fight on the side of Ukraine. He is the only foreigners who did not conclude a contract with the Armed Forces before the start of the war.

The fourth foreigner who is going to judge in the DPR is 21-year-old Brahim Saadun, a citizen of Morocco. His lawyer Dmitry Ershov told reporters that Saadun could not find a job or enter a university in his native country, and in 2019 he decided to move to Ukraine. According to the lawyer, his client studied the Russian language, after which he entered the Kiev Polytechnic Institute at the faculty of aerodynamic and space technologies. In 2021, Saadun quit his studies and signed a contract with the Armed Forces.

In Russia, prisoners of foreigners were shown in the propaganda media. Such materials were published by RT, Izvestia and Shot, they went out on federal television. In April, the program “60 minutes” on the “Russia 1” television channel showed the appeal of prisoners of the British. On this entry, Aiden Eslin says that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson must press on Vladimir Zelensky so that the prisoners were exchanged for the “Kuma Putin” detained in Ukraine Viktor Medvedchuk.

Johnson later said: “We will do everything we can, but this is the decision after the Ukrainian side. We are very closely working on this. ” He also noted that prisoners “should not force the video”, as this violates the rights guaranteed by the Geneva Convention.

The case of the violent seizure of power and mercenaries was initiated against the prisoners at the end of April. After about a month, it was announced that the investigation was completed. The head of the Committee on Criminal and Administrative Legislation of the People’s Council (Parliament) of the DPR Elena Shishkina said that foreigners "acted here as terrorists, as Nazis, so there can be no talk of any exchange."