New footage released by Russian state media suggests that Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner have been sentenced to death by a Russian court. The decision was made within Ukraine itself, inside Russian controlled parts of the country.

The video shows the two men with another Moroccan prisoner inside a jail in Donetsk. The court that has sentenced them could very well be illegal because it’s not recognised.

At the time of their capture, the two men were fighting as members of the Ukrainian army. Given that they are British nationals, the government has pushed for their rights as prisoners of war to be respected.

Aslin’s family had earlier said in a statement, released through the Foreign Office on Tuesday: “We, the family of Aiden Aslin, wish to ask for privacy at this time from the media. This is a very sensitive and emotional time for our family, and we would like to say thank you to all that have supported us.“

“Aiden is a much-loved man and very much missed, and we hope that he will be released very soon,” the statement continued.

The two men were captured in April when they were fighting in Mariupol.

All three were found guilty of “mercenary activities and committing actions aimed at seizing power and overthrowing the constitutional order of the DPR,” the Interfax news agency quoted a court official as saying.

In response to the sentence, Conservative MP Robert Jenrick, said: “This is an extremely concerning situation,” adding that there is “no evidence to back up the charges.”

What complicates matters is that Russian forces are not seeing the men as combatants and instead are labelling them as mercenaries. This is a disgusting way to try and strip them of their rights as prisoners of war. Both the men’s families insist that they are officially enlisted in the Ukrainian army, which proves that they are not mercenaries.

Another British fighter, Andrew Hill, is also waiting to see what fate holds for him. He was captured by Russian forces earlier in the year.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said she “utterly condemned” the sentence, describing it as a “sham judgement with absolutely no legitimacy”.

“They are prisoners of war. We will continue to do everything we can to support them,” she wrote in a tweet.

Pinner joined the Ukrainian army after serving in the British armed forces for over nine years. He had been in Ukraine since 2018, and had built a life with his family there.

As their lives hang in the balance, we can’t help but support Ukraine and its people against Russia’s aggression.