The man was captured by pro-Russian separatists a few weeks ago.
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He faces the death penalty. The International Legion for the Defense of Ukraine (LIDU) denounced, on Wednesday June 8, the announced trial of one of its members of British origin, captured by pro-Russian separatists in the midst of the war in Ukraine. “It was announced in the Ukrainian press that the Russians had completed a criminal investigation against three foreigners whom they were preparing to put on trial and that they risked the death penalty”LIDU spokesman Damien Magrou told AFP.
“One of the three names that is mentioned in the article, Andrew Hill, is a legionnaire who has a contract with the Ukrainian army”he specified. “According to Article 4 of the Third Geneva Convention, he is considered in law as a legal combatant and as a prisoner of war”, he added. According to the LIDU, Andrew Hill is detained “in captivity for a few weeks” by pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine and “Executing prisoners is a war crime”.
Pro-Russian officials have hinted in recent weeks that captured Ukrainian soldiers, including those from the nationalist Azov regiment, could face trial and the death penalty. A moratorium on the death penalty has been in force in Russia since 1997, but this is not the case in the two separatist territories in eastern Ukraine.