It will be informative to see the extent to which Russia cares about “international opinion” in light of the death sentences announced for three mercenaries employed by Ukraine:
International fury as two Brits Shaun Pinner, 48, and Aiden Aslin, 28, are sentenced to death by Russian separatists after they joined the Ukrainian army and were captured during the siege of Mariupol.
Brits Shaun Pinner, 48, and Aiden Aslin, 28, were captured in Ukraine in April during the siege of Mariupol. The so-called supreme court of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) issued the death sentences on Thursday. Moroccan national Saaudun Brahim has also been sentenced, reports said. Video showed the trio in a cage.
The trio were accused of being ‘mercenaries’ after fighting for Ukraine’s armed forces in the battle for the city. Russian media reported that they would appeal. The court is not internationally recognised, the BBC reported. UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss condemned the death sentences as a ‘sham judgment with absolutely no legitimacy’. No10 said it was ‘deeply concerned’.
I’m just curious what sort of leverage the “international community” thinks it has at this point. What are they going to do, pile on a few more sanctions, further inflate the currency, raise fuel prices, and starve harder?
I assume Russia will swoop in and make a useless gesture of magnanimity by trading the three mercs for three Russian prisoners-of-war, but it will be telling if it simply washes its hands of the affair and permits the DPR to fulfill the sentence.
And it’s certainly interesting to read the comments from British readers who genuinely want war with Russia over this. They really don’t grasp the fact that it’s not the 19th Century anymore and Britain no longer rules the waves.