A Swedish man is said to have been captured by Russian-backed forces in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, according to the Russian state-controlled news agency Tass.
The man is alleged to have fought with Ukrainian soldiers in the battle for the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol. The so-called authorities in the Russian-backed Donetsk region – in practice a Russian obedient state – accuse him of fighting as a mercenary, which is considered by the occupying forces to be a crime punishable by death.
Two British citizens were sentenced to death this week on the same charge. Their sentences have not yet been served.
– If that is true, it is of course very, very serious because we have earlier in the spring and winter seen cases with foreign citizens who have been captured, says TV4 Nyheter’s foreign reporter Jonas Björck.
The Swede has in interrogation denied all accusations, according to Tass. So do the two Britons.
Jonas Björck comments on the incident in the player above.