British troops providing training to the Ukrainians could be prosecuted under human rights laws by Vladimir Putin. The peacekeeping soldiers are expected to be stationed in the west of Ukraine and far away from the borders.
Defence Secretary John Healey confirmed in a letter that they would not be a fighting force but instead provide key training for the Ukrainian troops. There are fears that the UK soldiers could become targets of Russian “lawfare” but Mr Healey dismissed calls to protect them from Moscow’s attempts to weaponise the hated European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR). He insisted that obeying the convention would not “prevent us from achieving our objectives”.
James Cartlidge, the shadow defence secretary, had warned Mr Healey that Russia could use the ECHR to prosecute UK forces. He said Putin could use the move to pursue human rights cases through the London courts.
As reported by the Telegraph, Mr Healey said: “We expect the highest standards of our service personnel and rightly hold them to account if they fall short of these expectations. Where the UK undertakes military action it complies fully with UK and international law. We will give due consideration to the provisions of the ECHR as we develop the details of the coalition of the willing deployment.”
He added: “Abiding by the ECHR … will not prevent us from achieving our objectives. We expect those objectives to focus on rebuilding a modern and capable armed forces of Ukraine, rather than delivering combat operations.”
Sir Keir Starmer previously described the mission as a deterrent force. He said there would be British “troops on the ground and planes in the sky”.
However, these plans seem to have been scaled back with Mr Healey saying the plan focuses on helping Ukraine “regenerate an armed forces capable of deterring future Russian aggression”.
While troops will be stationed in the west of Ukraine, the RAF and the Navy will also be on hand to protect Ukraine. Mr Cartlidge said it was “disappointing” that the government have “ruled out derogating from the ECHR for the deployment”.
He said: “On previous operations our personnel were subject to hundreds of vexatious claims, and we know Russian nationals have been adept at using lawfare in our courts.
“Even if the Prime Minister’s ambitions for any deployment have clearly been substantially scaled back, it’s hard to believe a substantial British presence in Ukraine – whatever the precise role – would not attract potential threats of any sort.”
