A prisoner swap in the case of two Britons sentenced to death for fighting Russian forces is a “priority”, the Ukrainian ambassador has insisted.
Aiden Aslin, 28, and Shaun Pinner, 48, were convicted of taking action towards violent seizure of power at a court in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic.
Robert Jenrick, an MP who represents the constituency of Mr Aslin’s family, has called the situation “completely outrageous”.
He said the Ukrainian ambassador assured him that negotiations for Mr Aslin and Mr Pinner to be part of a prisoner swap will be “given priority”.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss will speak to her Ukrainian counterpart about the case on Friday.
Follow the latest updates below.
11:14 AM
Britain ‘talking to Ukraine, not Russia’, about jailed soldiers
Britain is prioritising talking to Ukraine rather than Russia on the situation of two jailed British men who have been sentenced by a court in one of Russia’s proxies in eastern Ukraine, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s spokesman has said.
Foreign minister Liz Truss raised the issue with her Ukrainian counterpart in a call on Friday, the spokesman said, after Shaun Pinner and Aiden Aslin were sentenced to death by a court in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR).
Asked if Britain would talk to Russia to secure their release, the spokesman said “we don’t have regular interaction with the Russians.”
“Our priority is working with the Ukrainian government to try and ensure their release as quickly as possible,” the spokesman said.
“They’re afforded protection under the Geneva Convention as members of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which is why we want to continue working with them closely to try and get them freed as quickly as we can.”
11:10 AM
Russian central bank cuts key rate as inflation eases
Russia’s central bank has cut its key interest rate as the country’s economy recovers faster than expected following sanctions imposed on Moscow over its military action in Ukraine.
The Bank of Russia cut the rate to 9.5 per cent from 11 per cent, saying in a statement that “inflation is slowing faster and the decline in economic activity is of a smaller magnitude” than expected in April.
It said, however, that the “external environment for the Russian economy remains challenging and significantly constrains economic activity”.
The next rate review meeting will take place on July 22.
The central bank had already cut its key rate by three percentage points at an emergency meeting just two weeks ago.
11:04 AM
Boris Johnson ‘appalled’ by death sentences
Boris Johnson is “appalled” by the death sentences handed to Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, and has ordered ministers to do “everything in their power” to secure their release.
A No 10 spokesman said: “The Prime Minister was appalled at the sentencing of these men. He has been following the case closely and has asked ministers to do everything in their power to try and reunite them with their families as soon as we can.
“We completely condemn the sham sentencing of these men to death. There’s no justification at all for this breach of the protection they’re entitled to.”
10:56 AM
Foreign fighters’ death sentence shows Russia’s disregard for rights, Berlin says
The death sentences for foreign fighters in Russian-controlled eastern Ukraine are shocking and show Russia’s “complete disregard for the basic principles of humanitarian international law”, a German government spokesperson has said.
Two Britons and a Moroccan who were captured while fighting for Ukraine were sentenced to death on Thursday by a court in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), one of Russia’s proxies in eastern Ukraine.
10:51 AM
Pictured: Kyiv City Ballet company dancers in Paris
10:49 AM
UN ‘concerned’ by foreign fighter death sentences in Donetsk
The United Nations has said it is concerned about the death sentences handed by pro-Moscow separatists to two British and one Moroccan soldier captured by Russian troops while fighting for Ukraine.
“The UN Human Rights Office is concerned about the so-called Supreme Court of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic sentencing three servicemen to death,” spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva.
“Since 2015, we have observed that the so-called judiciary in these self-proclaimed republics has not complied with essential fair trial guarantees, such as public hearings, independence, impartiality of the courts and the right not to be compelled to testify. Such trials against prisoners of war amount to a war crime.”
10:41 AM
Finland to build fences on border with Russia
Shaken by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Finland is rushing to beef up security on its border with Russia in order to protect itself from hybrid threats, the interior ministry said Friday.
Fearing that Moscow could use migrants to exert political pressure, Helsinki plans legislative amendments that would facilitate the construction of sturdier fences on its 1,300-kilometre (800-mile) eastern border with Russia.
“The aim of the proposed law is to improve the operational capacity of the border guard in responding to the hybrid threats,” Anne Ihanus, a senior adviser at the interior ministry, told AFP.
“The war in Ukraine has contributed to the urgency of the matter,” Ihanus said.
Currently, the Nordic country’s borders are secured primarily with light wooden fences, used to stop livestock from wandering to the wrong side.
Crossing the border from places other than through official border crossing points is already prohibited.
10:35 AM
Ukraine hits Russian targets in Kherson as fighting rages
Ukraine has said that it has launched new air strikes on Russian positions in the captured southern region of Kherson as President Volodymyr Zelensky insisted Kyiv’s forces were “holding on” in the east of the country.
Ukraine’s defence ministry said it had struck Russian military positions in Kherson, which is just north of the Crimean peninsula that was annexed by Russia in 2014, and among the first regions seized by Russia in February.
“Our aircraft carried out a series of strikes on enemy bases, places of accumulation of equipment and personnel, and field depots around five different settlements in the Kherson region,” it said in a statement.
Moscow’s authorities in occupied Kherson have floated holding a referendum on integrating with Russia, mirroring a controversial vote in Crimea in 2014, and have announced the Russian ruble would now be used in the region.
10:33 AM
Lavrov says Britons and Moroccan sentenced to death committed crimes in Donetsk
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that the two Britons and one Moroccan sentenced to death on Thursday in the Donetsk People’s Republic had committed crimes on the territory of the self-proclaimed state trying to break away from Ukraine.
Lavrov said: “At the moment, the trials you mentioned are being held on the basis of the legislation of the Donetsk People’s Republic, because the crimes in question were committed on the DPR’s territory.”
The DPR, where separatist forces began a military campaign to break away from Ukraine with Moscow’s support in 2014, is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine.
Among United Nations member states, only Russia recognises the entire Ukrainian province of Donetsk, much of which remains under Ukrainian control, as the independent DPR.
10:30 AM
The latest pictures from Ukraine
10:22 AM
Nato deputy chief Geoana ‘confident’ Sweden and Finland will join
Nato’s deputy chief is confident that member candidates Sweden and Finland will join the defensive alliance despite objections from Turkey, he told the Copenhagen Democracy Summit on Friday.
“We are confident that Sweden and Finland will join our ranks,” Deputy Secretary-General Mircea Geoana said.
10:12 AM
Russia using trial of foreigners to ‘put pressure on the world’, Ukrainian official says
Russia wants to use three foreigners who were captured while fighting for Ukraine and sentenced to death as “hostages” to put pressure on the West over peace negotiations, a senior Ukrainian official has said.
Two Britons and a Moroccan received the death sentence on Thursday from a court in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), one of Russia’s proxies in eastern Ukraine, Russian news agencies reported.
Kyiv said Thursday’s court ruling had no authority, that the fighters were members of the Ukrainian armed forces and that they were subject to Geneva Convention protections.
Vadym Denysenko, an Interior Ministry adviser, said on Friday Ukraine would coordinate its position on the sentences with Britain, the United States and the European Union.
“The trial of the foreigners raises the stakes in the Russian Federation’s negotiation process. They are using them as hostages to put pressure on the world over the negotiation process,” he told national television.
10:03 AM
I’m reclaiming land for Russia like Peter the Great, says Vladimir Putin
The Russian president has compared himself to Peter the Great “reclaiming” territory for Russia.
At a meeting with young entrepreneurs and scientists, he sought to draw a flattering comparison between himself and the 17th-century monarch, who founded St Petersburg – Putin’s birthplace.
“Peter the Great waged the Northern War for 21 years. You might think ‘he was fighting with Sweden, seizing their lands…’ He wasn’t capturing them. He was reclaiming them,” Putin told the scientists.
09:26 AM
McDonald’s to reopen under new branding in Russia
On Sunday, former McDonald’s Corp restaurants will reopen under new branding and ownership in Russia more than three decades after the arrival of the hugely popular Western fast food chain.
The relaunch will begin on Russia Day, a patriotic holiday celebrating the country’s independence, at the same flagship location in Moscow’s Pushkin Square where McDonald’s first opened in Russia in January 1990.
McDonald’s last month said it was selling its restaurants in Russia to one of its local licensees. The deal marked one of the most high-profile business departures since Russia sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine.
McDonald’s iconic ‘Golden Arches’ have been taken down at sites in Moscow and St Petersburg, where they will make way for a new logo comprising two fries and a hamburger patty against a green background.
The reopening will initially cover 15 locations in Moscow and the surrounding region.
08:56 AM
Putin could use Britons’ death sentence to push for ally’s release
Russia is expected to use the death sentence handed down to two British men to intensify its push for a prisoner exchange with a close personal friend of Vladimir Putin.
Aiden Aslin, 28 and Shaun Pinner, 48, were found guilty of “mercenary activities” by a court in eastern Ukraine’s separatist regions.
Pavel Kosovan, one of their appointed lawyers, said the pair would “likely file for a pardon”, raising the possibility of a prisoner exchange. The two have a month to appeal the verdict.
Read the full story here.
08:30 AM
Pictured: Soldiers on the front line in Ukraine
07:58 AM
We are ‘holding on’ in Severodonetsk, says Volodymyr Zelensky
The Ukrainian president said his forces were “holding on” in the flashpoint eastern city of Severodonetsk where intense street battles with Russian troops could determine the fate of the Donbas region.
Zelensky said in his evening address on Thursday that several “cities in Donbas, which the occupiers now consider key targets, are holding on”.
He added that Ukrainian forces have made positive strides in the Zaporizhzhia and Kharkiv regions outside Donbas, and are in the process of “liberating our land”.
07:31 AM
Street fighting in the east and death sentences given to British fighters
Ukrainian forces are holding their positions in intense street fighting as shelling continues to bombard the eastern city of Severodonetsk.
And Russia is set to use the death sentence handed down to two British fighters to ramp up its push for a prisoner exchange with a close personal friend of Vladimir Putin.
Read our full update on the latest situation in Ukraine here.
06:59 AM
Friend of Briton sentenced to death says it will ‘invigorate resistance’
The friend of a British soldier captured by Russian forces while fighting for Ukraine, said his death sentence will “invigorate” those still resisting Russia’s advances.
Aiden Aslin, 28, was convicted of taking action towards violent seizure of power at a court in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic.
Brennan Phillips, an American former soldier who met Mr Aslin in Syria and worked alongside him in Ukraine, said the judgement is a “provocation”.
He said: “I think it will invigorate people more than anything.
“Whatever effect they thought they would have in this provocation, I don’t think that and I don’t think it’s going to be well-received. And they did this as a provocation.”
06:44 AM
‘All diplomatic channels’ to be used to help Britons sentenced to death
The Government will use “all diplomatic channels” to raise the case of the two Britons sentenced to death for fighting Russian forces, minister Robin Walker has said.
He said: “We have been absolutely clear throughout that these people should be treated as prisoners of war under the Geneva Convention, there is no basis on which they can be put on trial.
“This is an illegal court in a sham government that has held this trial and obviously we don’t recognise it has any authority, but we will continue to use all diplomatic channels to make the case that these are prisoners of war who should be treated accordingly.”
05:52 AM
MoD: Mariupol at risk of a major cholera outbreak
Ukraine’s southern city of Mariupol is at risk of a major cholera outbreak as medical services are likely already near collapse, Britain’s defence ministry said on Friday.
There is likely also a critical shortage of medicines in Kherson, the Ministry of Defence said in a Twitter update:
(2/5) Russia is struggling to provide basic public services to the population in Russian-occupied territories. Access to safe drinking water has been inconsistent, while major disruption to telephone and internet services continues.
— Ministry of Defence ???????? (@DefenceHQ) June 10, 2022
Russia is struggling to provide basic public services to the population in Russian-occupied territories, MoD said.
Last month, WHO’s Ukraine Incident Manager, Dorit Nitzan, said Mariupol, which is now controlled by Russian forces after weeks of siege and heavy bombardment, was among occupied areas where there was a risk of cholera.
05:29 AM
British prisoner’s friend believes he will be released
Brennan Phillips said of Russia’s decision to sentence two British fighters to death: “Whatever effect they thought they would have in this provocation, I don’t think that and I don’t think it’s going to be well-received. And they did this as a provocation.”
Mr Phillips, from Tennessee, added that “many people expected” Russia to choose “the most provocative stance that they could take” – namely the death sentence.
“I do not believe that Sean or Aiden will be subject to the death sentence or anything like that,” he said.
“I do believe that their captivity under the Russians will be extended for a little bit, but I do believe wholeheartedly and I’m very confident that they will be released safely back to their families.”
05:16 AM
Death sentence will ‘invigorate’ other fighters
The friend of a British soldier captured by Russian forces while fighting for Ukraine has said his death sentence will “invigorate” those still resisting Russia’s advances.
Aiden Aslin, 28, was convicted of taking action towards violent seizure of power at a court in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic.
Another Brit, 48-year-old Shaun Pinner, and Moroccan national Saaudun Brahim, also were convicted.
Russian state media reported the three are set to face a firing squad.
Brennan Phillips, an American former soldier who met Mr Aslin in Syria and worked alongside him in Ukraine, said the judgement is a “provocation”.
Speaking to BBC Newsnight, Mr Phillips said: “I think it will invigorate people more than anything.
05:01 AM
Zelensky says Moscow is ‘causing hunger’
Volodymyr Zelensky has called for Russia to be expelled from the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), blaming Moscow for “causing hunger” and spurring the global grain crisis by invading his country.
FAO warned that poor countries would suffer the most from the crisis in Ukraine because they were “paying more but receiving less food”.
Africa has been hard hit by the shortage, and the African Union has urged Kyiv to demine waters around the Ukraine-controlled Odesa port to ease exports, warning of “serious famine” and destabilisation on the continent.
Moscow has also called for Ukraine to demine, but Kyiv has refused for fear of a Russian attack.
04:39 AM
Russians accused of destroying sports arena
President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukrainian forces were “holding on” in the flashpoint eastern city of Severodonetsk, where intense street battles with Russian troops could determine the fate of the Donbas region.
Moscow has concentrated its firepower on the industrial city, which it now mostly controls, with the area’s governor saying on Friday that Russian forces had destroyed a major sports arena.
04:00 AM
Putin tells companies they will regret leaving Russia
Vladimir Putin claims foreign companies that have left Russia will regret their decision.
“In today’s conditions, when someone jumped off somewhere, left, chose to stop some activity here, they will regret it,” the Russian president declared at a meeting with young entrepreneurs in Moscow.
“They will regret it, not because we threaten anyone. They will regret it because Russia is a country with great potential, really.”
Putin also appeared to claim that the exodus of foreign firms from Russia was evidence of American domination over other Western states and economies.
“Many regret that they have to leave. This is all a manifestation of the internal state of these countries that cannot make sovereign decisions,” he said.
He reiterated that Russia is “a sovereign country that should be looking to the future”.
03:07 AM
Moscow not fussed by Zelensky’s sanctions
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed a decree imposing personal sanctions on Russian leaders, including President Vladimir Putin and all sitting ministers.
The sanctions – approved by Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council – target all members of Russia’s government and security council, as well as Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
They ban entry to Ukraine, revoke visas and permits, and block financial assets.
The decree came into force on Thursday, according to a copy published on the website of the Ukrainian presidency. Mr Zelensky also signed a directive sanctioning 236 Russian universities and their leaders.
Russia’s education minister said in response that Moscow would not be deterred.
“Today’s decision by the Kyiv regime speaks to its inadequacy and inability to control the situation. It’s a gesture of desperation, which cannot prevent the integration of Donbas and the liberated territories into a single educational space with Russia,” Sergey Kravtsov told the Interfax agency.
02:14 AM
Ukrainian army still a thorn in Russia’s side
The Ukrainian army has said Kyiv’s forces continue to frustrate Russian attempts to take the fiercely contested eastern city of Severodonetsk.
“The occupiers, with the help of motorised rifle units and artillery, conducted assault operations in the city of Severodonetsk. They were not successful; the fighting continues,” the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in a regular operational update on Thursday evening.
It said Ukrainian forces had successfully repelled a Russian attack on the village of Toshkivka, on the northwestern outskirts of Severodonetsk.
The Ukrainian governor of the eastern Luhansk region, where Severodonetsk is located, said “fierce battles” continue to engulf the city.
In a Telegram post, Serhiy Haidai said Russian forces continued to shell the neighbouring city of Lysychansk using large-calibre weapons which “pierce even concrete”.
“It is extremely dangerous for civilians to remain, even in shelters,” Mr Haidai said.
01:46 AM
In pictures – trail of destruction continues
