A second British soldier fighting with the Ukrainian army has been paraded on Russian television after being captured in the besieged city of Mariupol.
Shaun Pinner said he was fighting alongside Ukrainian marines when Vladimir Putin’s forces invaded nearly eight weeks ago.
The 48-year-old former British soldier appeared tired and injured in a short propaganda video broadcast by Russian media on Saturday night.
He says: “Hi, I’m Shaun Pinner, I’m a British citizen. I was captured in Mariupol. I belong to the 1st Battalion of the Ukrainian Marines, 36th Brigade.
“I fought in Mariupol for five to six weeks and now I’m in the Donetsk People’s Republic.”
It is not known when the video was filmed or what led to Pinner’s capture. He was fighting alongside his friend Aiden Aslin, 28, from Nottinghamshire, who is believed to have surrendered to the Russian military last week after his battalion ran out of ammunition.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has contacted Aslin’s family to offer their support. However, the UK’s ability to provide consular assistance or obtain information about British citizens in Ukraine is extremely limited due to the war.
Pinner, originally from Bedfordshire, is said to have moved to Ukraine four years ago and lived with his wife in the Donbass. The former Royal Anglian Regiment soldier said in January he was stationed in trenches 10 miles outside Mariupol.
He told the Mail on Sunday in January: “I’m here to defend my family and my adopted country. Russia started this war. It’s funded by Russia and driven by Russia, but we’re going to fight them, let’s face it.”
Pinner also spoke of his fear of capture: “I’m afraid for my life. The Russians will treat us differently if we are captured because we are British. I always think about being captured.”
He said the fighting in the trenches was “like hell,” with snipers terrifyingly close. He added: “Separatists are now using drones to drop bombs and mortars – along with automatic grenade launchers and [shoulder-fired] RPG missiles. Snipers are always present and there is small arms fire almost daily.
“Ukrainian forces react when we believe our lives are threatened, while separatists seem to shoot whenever they want.
“Sometimes it’s very scary, no matter how used you are to it. Sometimes you can hear it [explosions] Start lower on the contact line, then it will ripple through your position. That’s why you have time to take cover, and sometimes you get a warning beforehand. Snipers are less than 600 meters away.”