Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Friday strongly condemned the "sham trial" of the three foreign prisoners of war who have been accused of being mercenaries and sentenced to death by a court in the pro-Russian so-called Donetsk People's Republic (DPR). Russian state media said the three prisoners have a month to appeal their convictions before being executed. Kuleba tweeted on Friday, "As combatants, they are protected by international humanitarian law and must be treated accordingly," adding that Ukraine will keep working with the UK to ensure their release. Ukraine's Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova also commented on the plight of the men Friday, saying, "these people are the military who have the status of combatants. Condemning the trial of the men as "showing the faces of very wild, dark tribes," Venediktova said, "civilized people do not do that."

Source: CNN June 11, 2022 02:35 UTC