Russia defends death sentences for 3 foreign fighters in Ukraine as outrage grows in the West.

As Western governments condemned the death sentences given to two Britons and a Moroccan by a court in Russia-occupied eastern Ukraine, Moscow defended the decision, saying the men were mercenaries who did not have the right to be treated as prisoners of war.

Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, speaking during a news conference in Yerevan, Armenia, said the “crimes” the men were convicted of had been committed in the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic, adding that he would not “hinder the operation of the judiciary and law enforcement authorities” in the territory.

Maria Zakharova, the Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman, asserted on Friday that the Britons sentenced to death were not defined as combatants under international law and, as such, were not entitled to prisoner of war status — a contention vehemently rejected by experts in international law and the British government. Read more

@nytimes