• Three British men accused of being mercenaries are to stand trial in a Russian proxy court in eastern Ukraine.
• John Harding, Dylan Healy, and Andrew Hill will be tried in the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic, a breakaway region of Ukraine, Russian media said.
• The court, which is not internationally recognised, sentenced two British men to death recently.

Three British men accused of being mercenaries are to stand trial in a Russian proxy court in eastern Ukraine.

John Harding, Dylan Healy, and Andrew Hill will be tried in the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic, a breakaway region of Ukraine, Russian media said.

The court, which is not internationally recognised, sentenced two British men to death recently.

The Foreign Office said it condemned the exploitation of civilian detainees for political purposes.

Ex-serviceman Mr Harding, originally from Sunderland, had been fighting alongside Ukrainian forces since moving to the country in 2018. In July he appeared in a video appealing to Prime Minister Boris Johnson for help.

Mr. Hill has fought with the International Legion of the Ukraine.

Mr. Healy was working as a volunteer aid worker in Ukraine when he was taken by Russian-backed separatists at a checkpoint in April. He was taken with Paul Urey, who died in July while being held by the separatists.

The Russian state news agency Tass said that the three British men had refused to help investigators and give statements.

Two other men from Sweden and Croatia are being tried with them.

Shaun Pinner and Aiden Aslin were executed in June. The Brits accused of becoming mercenaries while fighting for Ukraine.

Their relatives believed they were Ukrainian soldiers, not mercenaries.

UK and Ukraine say the penalties violate international regulations safeguarding war detainees.

The Foreign Office is in close communication with Ukraine to assist its efforts to free all the Britons.

“We reject the use of war captives and civilian detainees for political reasons”

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