Summary
Three men are convicted by a Russian proxy court in eastern Ukraine.
We speak to Tim Whewell, a BBC reporter who has been investigating the fate of more than a million Ukrainian refugees who have ended up in Russia. Have they been rescued? Or illegally deported?
And we check-in with Natalia, whose husband fought during the siege of the Azovstal steelworks.
This episode of Ukrainecast was made by Estelle Doyle with Osman Iqbal and Alix Pickles. The technical producer was Michael Regaard. The assistant editor is Sam Bonham.
Email Ukrainecast@bbc.co.uk with your questions and comments. You can also send us a message or voice note via WhatsApp to +44 0330 1239480.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC sounds, music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:04.8 | Hello, it's 106 days since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began. |
| 0:10.8 | We have been telling you about the two British men and the Moroccan men who are being held |
| 0:17.4 | in the so-called People's Republic of Donetsk, and we told you that they were in court accused |
| 0:24.0 | of being mercenaries by the Russian forces. |
| 0:27.2 | And we've just heard that this court, quote unquote, because it's not internationally recognized, |
| 0:34.0 | has sentenced them the two Britons and the Moroccan national to death. |
| 0:41.2 | Aiden Aslin, who's from New York in Nottinghamshire, was seen alongside Sean Penner, |
| 0:46.9 | who's from Bedfordshire, who in the UK, and Sfordun Brahim from Morocco, |
| 0:53.8 | and they were seen in a telegram video, standing alongside each other in what looks like a cage |
| 1:00.2 | as the judge read out the sentencing, and one of the men has his head down, he's looking down |
| 1:07.6 | at the ground with his arms behind his back, and the other two are looking around the courtroom |
| 1:14.8 | as they receive this shocking sentence. |
| 1:18.4 | Now it's important to note that nothing happens in Donetsk without Russia's approval, |
| 1:26.2 | and a lot happens there on Russia's orders, and there is hope that they might be pardoned, |
| 1:35.8 | they may not actually be executed, that this could be part of some negotiating tactic that could |
| 1:42.0 | potentially lead to a prison exchange, but this is a very dangerous and serious situation. |
| 1:50.6 | The president of the Donetsk People's Republic has accused the men of monstrous crimes, |
| 1:56.1 | such as trying to seize power and crimes against groups of people. |
| 2:00.3 | The men's families say they're not mercenaries, they were there with the Ukrainian military. |
| 2:06.9 | This is Ukraine, Kostya. |
| 2:09.9 | Ukraine, Kostya, from these rooms. |
... |
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