Pro-Russian rebels sentenced to death two British fighters and a Moroccan who were captured fighting for Ukraine, as a Ukrainian governor called on western arms on Thursday to win a battle for a crucial eastern city . The death penalty comes as Moscow focuses its firepower on the strategic industrial hub of Severodnetsk, where Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says fierce fighting could determine the fate of the entire Donbass region.
Separatist authorities in the Donetsk region, which is part of the Donbass, ordered the death penalty for Aidan Aslin, Sean Piner and Saudun Brahim, as they were accused of acting as mercenaries for Kyiv, Russian media reported.
Britain said it was “deeply concerned” by the sentences. “Under the Geneva Convention, prisoners of war are entitled to combat immunity,” a spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson said.
The two Britons surrendered in April in the southern port city of Mariupol, which was captured by Russian troops after a week-long siege. He later appeared on Russian TV calling Johnson to negotiate his release.
Brahim surrendered in March at the eastern city of Volnovakha. Russian news agency Interfax said that during the trial that lasted three days, the men pleaded guilty to “actions aimed at seizing power and overthrowing the constitutional order of the Donetsk People’s Republic”.
‘The fate of the Donbass’
Western countries have provided arms and aid to Ukraine Since the February 24 invasion, many people from abroad have come to fight against the Russian army. The fierce fighting is now centered on Severodnetsk in the Lugansk region, where Ukrainian officials say their forces are still fighting in the midst of street fighting, despite the city being mostly under Russian control.
The regional governor of Lugansk – also part of the Donbass – said western artillery would help quickly secure a Ukrainian victory for the bombed city. “As soon as we have long-range artillery to be able to duel with Russian artillery, our special forces can clear the city in two to three days,” said Governor Sergei Gede.
In his evening address to the Ukrainian people on Wednesday, Zelensky said the battle for the city was “probably one of the most difficult in this entire war.” “In many ways, the fate of our Donbass is being decided there.”
Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said more than 100 Ukrainian soldiers were being killed every day and more than 500 were wounded in frontline fighting.
The city of Lisichansk, which is separated from Severodonsetsk by a river, is still in Ukrainian hands but under fierce Russian bombardment.
‘Foreign Mercenaries’
After being driven out of Kyiv following the February 24 invasion, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s troops have resumed their offensive on the Donbass.
Pro-Russian separatists have remained part of the region since 2014.
Moscow, which has repeatedly warned the West against engaging in the conflict, said it had targeted a Ukrainian training center for “foreign mercenaries” in the Zhytomyr region west of Kyiv.
Ukraine’s president said four people were killed in a Russian airstrike on Toshkivka, a village about 25 kilometers (14 miles) south of Severodnetsk.
Four more people were killed in fighting in Donetsk and two people were killed in shelling in the north-eastern city of Kharkiv. Another person died in the Mykolaiv region in the south.
The tremors of war are spreading all over the world. At the United Nations, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has consistently voiced his dire warnings.
“For people around the world, war is threatening to create an unprecedented wave of hunger and deprivation, leading to social and economic chaos,” he said.
Zelensky on Thursday called for Russia to be expelled from the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), blaming Moscow for “creating hunger” and triggering a global grain crisis by invading his country.
‘No one to help’
Ukraine’s Black Sea ports usually export millions of tons of grain each year, but have been blocked since the invasion, while Western sanctions on Russia have prevented Moscow from selling its grain abroad, causing a drop in food prices. There has been an increase.
The FAO warned that poor countries would suffer the most from the crisis because they were “paying more but getting less food.” During talks on Wednesday, Russia and Turkey inked an agreement to secure a safe passage for the export of grain stuck in Ukraine.
The situation on the ground is getting dire. In Severodnetsk’s twin city of Lisichansk, residents who chose to stay were facing fierce Russian bombardment.
“There are bombings every day and something burns every day. A house, a flat… there is no one to help me,” 70-year-old Yuri Krasnikov told AFP. “I tried to go to the city authorities, but there is no one there, everyone has run away.”
Separately, English football’s Premier League suspended its six-year deal with a Russian broadcaster following the invasion of Ukraine.
read all breaking news , today’s fresh news And IPL 2022 Live Updates Here.