A sickening debate took place on Russian state television as panellists argued over how Brit fighters should be executed in a scene that was more akin to medieval times.
Even presenter Vladimir Solovyov, a Vladimir Putin mouthpiece who has his own show and regularly champions the current Russian regime, appeared shocked by the direction of the discussion and said it was "chaos" to be discussing how people should be executed in the 21st century.
British citizens Aiden Aslin, 28, and Shaun Pinner, 48, were captured in Ukraine after travelling to fight against the Russian invasion.
They and Moroccan-born Brahim Saadoun were sentenced to death by a Russian-backed court in Donetsk People's Republic (DPR).
They are said to have admitted "training in order to carry out terrorist activities".
According to reports, the so-called trial lasted just three days and the three are to appeal - which they must do so within a month.
In footage shared by Ria Novosti on social media on Wednesday, a translator can be heard asking Mr Aslin if he would "plead guilty" to an offence, to which he replied: "Yes."
The video appeared to show the two Britons and the Morrocon in the dock in the pro-Russian territory's supreme court.
Mr Pinner was facing more severe charges after allegedly admitting to "seizing power by force".
On Russian State TV a discussion was held over whether the Brits should be shot or hung if they are sentenced to death, reported the Daily Star.
Solovyov, the presenter, asked about what should happen now to the captives: “What can the British Empire respond with if two of its subjects are shot or hanged?”
The sickening debate, shared by journalist Julia Davis on Twitter, saw pundit Yaakov Kedmi convinced that the British citizens be hanged.
“Pirates are never executed by shooting, only hanging,” he said. “Military gets shot, criminals get hanged.”
Solovyov disagreed: “But we’re not dealing with pirates and these are not the Middle Ages, we don’t do quartering, we don’t care whether others execute by hanging.”
The discussion then moved to the history of hangings in Russia, and Kedmi’s point that there were public executions at the end of WW2 was ridiculed, with Solovyov saying times have moved on.
He said: “We’re in the 21st century in the centre of Europe, holding discussions about how to execute mercenaries, to hang them, shoot them or quarter them? This is the new world.
“This is chaos, we’re descending into chaos.”
Russia has been hit hard by sanctions from the West since invading Ukraine, and another pundit, Malek Dudakov, suggested that rather than executing the prisoners, the Brits could be used as a bartering tool for lifting these economic barriers.
“Why can’t we use the current situation to offer them to Britain in exchange for Russia’s frozen holdings?” he said.
“We know that their elites likely won’t go for it; they’ve already shown unwillingness to compromise, but this will cause a storm in British society.”
