John Harding, Andrew Hill and Dylan Healy are among a group of five Europeans on trial at a court run by Kremlin-backed separatists in the city of Donetsk. Mr Harding, Vjekoslav Prebeg, who is Croatian, and Mathias Gustafsson, a Swede, who were arrested in and around the port of Mariupol, could face a possible death penalty under the laws of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic. Russia leaves thousands of troops ‘exclusively’ in tactical withdrawal – live updates All five men pleaded not guilty to charges of mercenary and “training to seize power by force,” Russian state news agency TASS reported. The next trial in their case is scheduled for October, the Interfax news agency reported, citing a statement from the separatist court. Healy, 22, who was in Ukraine as an aid worker, was arrested at a checkpoint south of the city of Zaporizhzhia in April along with British national Paul Urey. He died in custody in July after being charged with “mercenary activities”. Mr Hill, a military volunteer, was also arrested in April by Russian forces. Harding had been fighting in the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine since 2018 before he was captured. Originally from Sunderland, he asked Boris Johnson for help last month after being told he could face the death penalty. Image: John Harding faces the death penalty if convicted In June, Donetsk authorities sentenced to death two Britons, Aiden Aslin, 28, and Shaun Pinner, 48, and Moroccan national Saaudun Brahim, accused of being mercenaries. All were captured by Russian forces while fighting in Ukraine and all three have appealed their verdicts. Read more: Family members of Britons facing death row in Donetsk speak of their devastation Steven Seagal visits prison holding Ukrainian prisoners days after dozens killed in attack Ukrainian social media has speculated that the Kremlin may seek to use the foreign fighters to extract concessions from Ukraine or exchange them for Russian prisoners. Foreign governments have refused to negotiate with the Donetsk People’s Republic, one of two Russian-backed entities that have controlled parts of eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region since 2014, citing its internationally recognized status as part of Ukraine.
