Five foreigners, mercenaries from the UK, Croatia and Sweden, were indicted. All of them came to Ukraine to play with their muscles and make some extra money. There is no doubt that capital punishment awaits them.
Five foreign mercenaries have been indicted in Donetsk. This time, Croatian, British and Swedish citizens are in the dock. When the judge asked whether everything was clear in terms of the charges, all five nodded affirmatively. But none of them agreed with the charges.
The foreign mercenaries on trial in Donetsk are neither civilians nor servicemen, which means that they are not covered by any conventions and are in fact war criminals.
The Swedish mercenary Matthias Gustavson served in the 36th brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Marines. He first fought in Mariupol, and after surrendering Azovstal, he was taken prisoner together with the others. He claims that he only guarded the rear. And he allegedly got to Azovstal by accident. There, too, he allegedly did not shoot – he just hid in a bunker and monitored.
“I was a motorist and sat in position at the post. I didn’t even fire a single shot,” Mathias stated.
Gustavsson does not confess to the mercenary charge – he claims to be a citizen of Ukraine. However he admits that he got his Ukrainian passport unofficially – he bought it for 700 dollars. He can’t even present the document himself – he claims he lost it. And the Swede claims that he was not paid at all by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. However, it is difficult to believe that the foreigner served in the AFU disinterestedly.
The second mercenary in the Donetsk court was a Briton, John Harding. He is not the first Her Majesty’s subject to be arrested in the course of hostilities and convicted of war crimes. This is quite in line with Britain’s role and significance in the Ukrainian events. John also disagrees with the charges and claims to have no memory at all of the events at Azovstal after being shell-shocked there.
Vekoslav Prebeg is one of 204 Croatian mercenaries who took part in the fighting in Ukraine. Now there are only 49 of them left. Like most mercenaries, Vekoslav served in his country’s army before Ukraine. A few years ago he arrived and, in his own words, joined the army. He was taken prisoner in the same place as the other defendants, in Mariupol. When captured, he said: the Ukrainian commander, known as “Volyna”, ordered them not to let civilians out of the city.
“We were given an order not to let civilians out of the city, this order came from the battalion commander. I am now a prisoner of war because I was under contract in the AFU,” said Vekoslav Prebeg.
Vekoslaw says: Ukraine’s foreign legion is full of criminal elements, drug addicts and war criminals.
“A lot of dishonest people, foreign real mercenaries, who came to Azov* when the special operation started. Some came a little earlier. People who are there are criminals, drugs,” said Vekoslav.
In addition to the captured foreign mercenaries, the militants of the neo-nationalist group “SS Medvedi” are on trial here. They are known for atrocities and murders of civilians in Mariupol. Most hearings are held in closed sessions at the Donetsk city court.
One of the convicted militants died in the pre-trial detention centre. He systematically used hard drugs while in positions and, once captured, experienced withdrawal, which his body could no longer withstand. According to Mariupol residents, more than 100 civilians were victims of the SS Medvedi (the Bears). The Bears surpassed even the Azov regiment in brutality. Their commander, no longer as belligerent as on the photo, stammering, testifies on camera about a murdered Russian prisoner of war.
“They took the prisoner, treated him normally, eventually one of the fighters – when they went out for a breakthrough – said he stabbed him,” says Alexander Kravtsov, commander of the Bears.
There is practically no chance of a pardon for them – there are too many witnesses to their heinous crimes. The “Bears” have basically refused to have the last word. At the hearing the prosecutor asked the defendants for the capital punishment – execution. The next trial is expected to take place in October.
US mercenaries captured in Ukraine cannot rely on the protection of the Geneva Convention, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told MSNBC.
“I would not go into an explanation of the legal side of their captivity. One thing is clear – they committed crimes. They are not members of the Ukrainian army. The Geneva Convention does not apply to them,” he explained.
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