British men ‘ABANDONED’ by Liz Truss and told they will be executed in Ukraine

A British man sentenced to death by a Russian court for fighting in Ukraine has been told the execution will be carried out according to his family.

Aiden Aslin, 28, and Shaun Pinner, 48, were sentenced on charges of “terrorism” by a court in the Donetsk People’s Republic.

The former care worker, originally from Newark in Nottinghamshire, told his family that his captors claimed there had been no attempt by UK officials to negotiate on his behalf. His family said they had spoken to him in a phone call, in which he said he had been told that “time is running out” by his captors.

Aslin’s grandmother, Pamela Hall, said: “There are no words, just no words. It’s got to be everyone’s worst nightmare to have a member of your family threatened in this way.

“Aiden was extremely upset when he called his mother this morning. The bottom line is Aiden has said the DPR has told him nobody from the UK has made contact, and that he will be executed.

“I have to believe what Aiden has said to us, that if the DPR don’t get some response, then they will execute him. Obviously, I hope that isn’t true.”

The foreign secretary, Liz Truss, discussed Aslin’s case with Ukrainian officials around a fortnight ago and spoke about “efforts to secure the release of prisoners of war held by Russian proxies” with her Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba. Truss has called the death sentences a “sham judgment with absolutely no legitimacy”.

The UK government has said they should be treated as prisoners of war under the laws laid out in the Geneva conventions.

Ukraine has given at least three Russian soldiers prison sentences for war crimes tied to the invasion that began on 24 February.

UK government sources suggested to the BBC that ministers were unwilling to negotiate with Moscow because they are worried this confirms they