Aiden Eslin, Sean Pinner and Saadoun Brahim in the courtroom in DonetskDONETSK, June 7 Foreigners who fought on the side of Ukrainian militants in the Donbass got acquainted with the accusation during a court hearing in Donetsk, follows from a video provided by the Supreme Court of the DPR. The defendants also stated that they had no claims. The DPR Prosecutor General's Office had previously noted that they could be punished by the death penalty. The British Sean Pinner and Aiden Aslin surrendered in Mariupol in mid-April. The official representative of the Russian Defense Ministry, Major General Igor Konashenkov, stressed that «the mercenaries who arrived in Ukraine are not combatants, the best thing that awaits them is a long term in prison.» He said that foreign mercenaries do not have the status of combatants under international humanitarian law. On Tuesday, British Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab said that the British government intends to file a protest in connection with the criminal case against Aslin. Russia has been conducting a military special operation to denazify since February 24 and demilitarization of Ukraine. As Vladimir Putin stressed, its goal is «to protect people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kyiv regime for eight years.» According to the Ministry of Defense, the Russian army has completed the main tasks of the first stage — it has significantly reduced the combat potential of Ukraine. The ministry called the liberation of Donbass the main goal.
