Shaun Pinner is a former soldier of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

who joined the

Ukrainian Armed Forces , imports = , exports = , history = , ranks = Military ranks of Ukraine , country=Ukraine The Armed Forces of Ukraine ( uk, Збро́йні си́ли Украї́ни), most commonly known ...

as a contracted fighter in 2018 and fought during the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

. During the

siege of Mariupol The siege of Mariupol began on 24 February 2022 and lasted until 20 May 2022, as part of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. It saw fighting between the Russian Armed Forces (alongside the Donetsk People's Militia) and the Ukrainian Armed F ...

, he was captured and sentenced to death in a

show trial A show trial is a public trial in which the judicial authorities have already determined the guilt or innocence of the defendant. The actual trial has as its only goal the presentation of both the accusation and the verdict to the public so th ...

by the Supreme Court of the self-proclaimed

Donetsk People's Republic The Donetsk People's Republic ( rus, Донецкая Народная Республика, Donetskaya Narodnaya Respublika, dɐˈnʲetskəjə nɐˈrodnəjə rʲɪˈspublʲɪkə; abbreviated as DPR or DNR, rus, ДНР) is a Territorial ...

(DPR), but was freed in September in a

prisoner exchange A prisoner exchange or prisoner swap is a deal between opposing sides in a conflict to release prisoners: prisoners of war, spies, hostages, etc. Sometimes, dead bodies are involved in an exchange. Geneva Conventions Under the Geneva Convent ...

. In December 2022 he was awarded the state ‘Order of Courage, 3rd Degree’ in a decree by President Zelensky for “selfless acts in the defence and sovereignty of Ukraine”. His service in the Ukrainian marines makes him an active-duty soldier protected by the

Geneva conventions upright=1.15, Original document in single pages, 1864 The Geneva Conventions are four treaties, and three additional protocols, that establish international legal standards for humanitarian treatment in war. The singular term ''Geneva Conven ...

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold priso ...

. However, Russian state media has portrayed him as a

mercenary A mercenary, sometimes also known as a soldier of fortune or hired gun, is a private individual, particularly a soldier, that joins a military conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any o ...

. Another British citizen,

Aiden Aslin Aiden Aslin (; born in 1994) is a British-born dual citizen of the United Kingdom and Ukraine who was captured by Russian forces in April 2022 while fighting as a Ukrainian Marine in Mariupol. He was sentenced to death on 9 June by authorities ...

and the Moroccan Saadoun Brahim, received identical verdicts in the same trial. British

Foreign Secretary The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, known as the foreign secretary, is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom and head of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Seen as ...

Liz Truss Mary Elizabeth Truss (born 26 July 1975) is a British politician who briefly served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from September to October 2022. On her fiftieth day in office, she stepped down ...

tweeted that: "The judgement against them is an egregious breach of the Geneva convention." The defence attorney did not even ask for an explanation as to why the existing arguments against mercenary status were not been taken into consideration, simply saying instead that "the guilt of my client has been fully established". Pinner was described by his family as a well-respected soldier within the British Army, where he served in the

Royal Anglian Regiment The Royal Anglian Regiment (R ANGLIAN) is an infantry regiment of the British Army. It consists of two Regular battalions and one Reserve battalion. The modern regiment was formed in 1964, making it the oldest of the Line Regiments now operating i ...

. He spent nine years in this regiment with a spotless record. He also volunteered to fight against

ISIS Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. Isis was first mentioned in the Old Kingd ...

in the Middle East and served with the

United Nations mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina The United Nations Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina (UNMIBH) was an international organization formed under the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1035 on 21 December 1995. It completed its mandate on 31 December 2002, when it was succeed ...

. After retirement, Pinner was employed for some time as a waste manager in

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

, working for about 16 hours a day. Pinner moved to Ukraine with his Ukrainian wife before joining the nation’s armed forces in 2018. Being an experienced soldier, Pinner was made a squad commander in Ukraine. At the time of his capture, he was due to complete his three-year military contract later in 2022 and was hoping for a humanitarian role. Pinner considers Ukraine to be his adopted country over the last four years, calling

Mariupol Mariupol (, ; uk, Маріу́поль ; russian: Мариу́поль) is a city in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. It is situated on the northern coast (Pryazovia) of the Sea of Azov, at the mouth of the Kalmius River. Prior to the 2022 Russian i ...

his home city. On 29 June 2022, Pinner appealed against his death sentence, requesting for it to be changed to

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...

. The appeal will be reviewed within a two-week period; if it is rejected, Pinner will, according to his lawyer, request to be

pardon A pardon is a government decision to allow a person to be relieved of some or all of the legal consequences resulting from a criminal conviction. A pardon may be granted before or after conviction for the crime, depending on the laws of the ju ...

ed by the head of the DPR. A day later the

European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that a ...

told Russia to ensure that the death penalty is not carried out on Pinner and fellow prisoner Aiden Aslin. Russia, however, has said it no longer complies with the ECHR's prescriptions, although the country is only due to withdraw from the organisation in September 2022. Pinner was released in a prisoner exchange in September 2022.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pinner, Shaun Living people 1974 births Ukrainian military personnel of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine Prisoners of war held by Russia Siege of Mariupol British prisoners sentenced to death Military personnel from Bedfordshire People from Watford Royal Anglian Regiment soldiers British expatriates in Ukraine Foreign volunteers in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine

See also

References