Hopes of prisoner swap for Britons sentenced to death
Ukraine’s ambassador to UK reminds Russians that captured men should not be treated as mercenaries
‘We expect Russia to remember these men are prisoners of war and should be treated as such’
UKRAINE is prepared to exchange prisoners to secure the release of the two captured Britons who were sentenced to death by a Russian proxy court, the country’s ambassador to the UK said yesterday.
Vadym Prystaiko believes the men – both serving members of the Ukrainian military who were detained in the Donetsk People’s Republic – will be released in exchange for prisoners held by Ukrainian forces.
It comes as Liz Truss, the Foreign Secretary, discussed efforts to free Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner with her Ukrainian counterpart as the Government vowed to “leave no stone unturned” in securing their release.
The men were based in the besieged town of Mariupol before being captured by enemy forces and denounced as mercenaries by Russian state media.
A source told The Daily Telegraph that the UK was keen to avoid painting their capture as a bilateral issue, as under international law they are Ukrainian prisoners of war.
“It’s really important that we don’t give the Russians any ammo to paint these guys as mercenaries,” they said.
“It will be a swap,” Mr Prystaiko told BBC News.
“The important question is what will be the price for this, because the Russians were talking about some Ukrainian MPS being swapped for them, especially for those who, I now understand, were working for them for all these years.”
He said the Britons had been targeted by Russia because of the UK’S “clear position” in supporting Ukraine.
But Mr Prystaiko clarified that the men, who have lived in Ukraine for several years, “are our people”, adding: “They have contracts with the armed forces, they lived in Ukraine before, so they are legitimately there.” “We expect Russia to remember that these are our people, now they are prisoners of war and should be treated as prisoners of war – the same way we are treating Russians in our captivity.”
Ms Truss yesterday spoke twice to Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign minister, to “secure the release of prisoners of war held by Russian proxies”.
“The judgment against them is an egregious breach of the Geneva convention,” she said in a statement.
Ben Wallace, the defence minister, yesterday revealed that he had made an unannounced visit to Ukraine where he met his political counterpart and president Volodymyr Zelensky.
A source said the main point of the talks was to make sure the support currently being offered by the UK remains relevant and that Ukraine remains fit to fight in three months’ time.
Mr Zelensky presented him with what appeared to be a signed and framed collection of “Russian warship, go f--- yourself ” stamps.
The slogan has become a symbol of the resistance after a Ukrainian guard defending Snake Island in the Black Sea yelled the words to an attacking ship.
Moscow’s top diplomat is seeking to portray the verdict against Mr Aslin and Mr Pinner as an independent ruling of a sovereign state – Russia is the only country to recognise the independence of the Donetsk People’s Republic in eastern Ukraine.
“All the procedures that are taking place are covered by the laws of the Donetsk People’s Republic since the crimes in question were committed on its territory. Everything apart from that is pure speculation,” Sergei Lavrov said yesterday during a visit to Armenia.
“I wouldn’t want to meddle in the work of the DNR’S law enforcement agencies and courts.”
Maria Zakaharova, the Russian foreign ministry’s spokesman, said: “There haven’t been any requests from Britain to the Russian foreign ministry about Pinner and Aslin. This makes us think that London never really cared about the future of those UK citizens.”
In Kyiv, officials yesterday pledged to investigate the separatist officials who put the two Britons and a Moroccan student on trial.