Aiden Aslin appeared handcuffed and with a cut on his forehead in pictures broadcast by Russian public television on Thursday.
A Briton, a member of the Ukrainian army, was captured by the Russians and his mother told The Daily Telegraph newspaper that he be treated “humanely” and released.
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Russian public television on Thursday evening, April 14, broadcast images showing a young man with handcuffs and a cut on his forehead, claiming it was Aiden Aslin. His mother Ang Wood confirmed to the Telegraph, which has devoted several articles to the 28-year-old, including before the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, that it was indeed her son who had a conspicuous tattooed feature.
“Aiden is an active member of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and therefore a prisoner of war” who “must be treated humanely,” she told the newspaper, reminding the Russian president of the Geneva Convention on Prisoners of War. “It looks like he’s been beaten. It is time for the British government to take action to secure Aiden’s release.” The British Foreign Office did not immediately respond to a request from AFP on Friday.
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We had no other choice
According to a message shared on social networks run by relatives who are hoping for an exchange of prisoners, after consulting his family, the young man explained on Tuesday that after 48 days we tried to do our best to protect Mariupol (south-eastern part of Ukraine), but we had no choice but to surrender to Russian forces”. “We have no food and no ammunition (…) I hope this war will end soon,” he added.
According to the Telegraph, Aiden Aslin, known by the first name Johnny, enlisted in the Ukrainian Navy in 2018 and bought a house in the country to start a family with his fiancé. Before the fight in Ukraine, Aiden Aslin had joined the YPG Kurds to fight against the Islamic State group in Syria. He was 21 then.