In recent days, Russian propaganda media, citing Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov, have been spreading a fake that Britain, if it appeals against the "sentence" of foreigners captured and detained in the occupied Donbas, would mean recognizing a quasi-state.

It is a bunch of fakes in one. Firstly, neither the United Kingdom, Ukraine, nor any other state or international organization recognizes the "court decision" that found three foreigners, two British citizens and one Moroccan, guilty and "sentenced" to death. This sentence is illegal and will be recognized as another war crime of Russia and its puppet groups.

Secondly, three people - Aiden Eslin, Sean Pinner, and Brahim Saadun - are not mercenaries. They are soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and one of them is a citizen of Ukraine. Like any other combatant, they are covered by the Geneva Convention on Prisoners of War, which means that they must be exchanged, not tried, only in cases of actual crimes for which there is no evidence. And thirdly, Britain is negotiating the release of its citizens and will take all measures to exchange and return them - but these actions do not mean any legitimization of criminal groups. The newspaper "NV" wrote more about this.