Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent steps her Department has taken to help secure the release of (a) Aiden Aslin and (b) Shaun Pinner.

HMG condemns the reported sentencing of two British Nationals, Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, held by Russian proxies in eastern Ukraine. As repeated statements by the Government of Ukraine set out, they are soldiers in the Ukrainian Armed Forces and are therefore prisoners of war. They should be treated in accordance with International Humanitarian Law, including the Geneva Conventions. The UK Government is engaging with the Ukrainian authorities on this issue as a matter of urgency and is fully supportive of all their efforts to secure the prisoners' release.