The verdict was announced on Thursday in the Russian-occupied breakaway region of Donetsk, reports the BBC, citing Russian state news agency Ria Novosti.
According to the court, the two Britons, who are 28 and 48 years old respectively, have, among other things, been guilty of terrorism. According to the verdict, the men are mercenaries who have been trained for the purpose of committing what the separatist court calls terrorist crimes.
The court that issued the verdict is not internationally recognized. International observers describe the whole thing as a “sham trial” with “baseless accusations”, created to resemble the Ukrainian trials of Russian soldiers accused of war crimes, reports the BBC.
The convicted men participated in the Ukrainian defense of the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol. According to the families of the British men, they have not been mercenaries or volunteers without soldiers in the Ukrainian army for a long time.
The so-called People’s Republic of Donetsk was proclaimed with Russian support in connection with the conflict in eastern Ukraine escalating in 2014.