The Russian authorities handed over 10 foreigners captured in Ukraine to Saudi Arabia. The plane with them has already landed in the Arab country.
Al-Arabiya writes about this.
The mediator in these negotiations was Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. It is noted that he communicated directly with the Kremlin and the Ukrainian side.
It is known that the Russians handed over five Britons, one Moroccan, one Swede, one Croat, and two Americans. Their names have not yet been released, but their nationalities match the publicly known facts about captured foreigners who fought on the side of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Some of them were even "sentenced" to the death penalty by militants in the occupied Donbas.
Most likely, the Russians released Swedish citizen Matias Gustavsson, Croatian citizen Vjekoslav Prebig, British citizens John Harding, Andrew Hill, Dylan Healy, Sean Pinner, and Aiden Aslin, Moroccan citizen Saadoun Brahim, as well as two US citizens — Alexander Druecke and Andy Huynh.
- On August 15, the pro-Russian occupation authorities of the Donetsk region began to "try" five more foreigners who were captured by the Russians in Mariupol on the "Azovstal". The pseudo-court hears the "cases" of citizens of Sweden, Croatia, and Great Britain. Three of the detainees face the death penalty.
- Prior to that, the so-called supreme court of the "DNR" passed the first verdict against three foreign military personnel who fought together with the Ukrainian military. Britons Aiden Aslin and Sean Pinner, as well as Moroccan Saadoun Brahim, were sentenced to death by firing squad.
- The General Staff of Ukraine stated that the legal status of combatants applies to foreign citizens who serve in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This status, in particular, entitles them to be treated as prisoners of war if they fall into enemy hands, as they are protected by the Geneva Convention.
- Russia does not want to guarantee the safety of captured US and British citizens and claims that the provisions of the Geneva Conventions do not apply to them. It is possible that the British, the Croat, and the Swede will face the death sentence.