She denounces a violation of the Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners. The family of Aiden Aslin, a Briton captured in fighting in Ukraine, have slammed a video released in Russia. “The video of Aiden speaking under duress and clearly sustaining physical injuries is deeply distressing”underline his relatives in a statement relayed on Twitter by MP Robert Jenrick.
Statement from the family of Aiden Aslin
Aiden’s family, my constituents, have asked that I issue the following statement on their behalf:
“In 2018 Aiden moved to Ukraine where he met his girlfriend and eventually settled down in Mykolaiv. 1/5
—Robert Jenrick (@RobertJenrick) April 19, 2022
Aiden Aslin, born in 1994, appears alongside his compatriot Shaun Pinner, also captured in Ukraine, in recordings presented as interviews and broadcast by Russian public television on Monday. The two men, who appear with drawn features, ask to be exchanged for Viktor Medvedtchouk, a wealthy Ukrainian businessman close to Vladimir Putin and arrested in Ukraine.
According to Russian media, they were captured after fighting on the Ukrainian side in Mariupol. They are believed to be from a unit that surrendered last week to Russian forces. Aiden Aslin’s family said he moved to Ukraine in 2018, where he met his girlfriend and eventually settled in Mykolaiv. He decided to join the Ukrainian Marines and served in this unit for almost four years.
“He is not, contrary to Kremlin propaganda, a volunteer, a mercenary or a spy. Aiden was planning for his future outside the army, but like all Ukrainians, his life was turned upside down by the Putin’s Barbaric Invasionthey point out.
Shaun Pinner’s family also explained in a statement that he was not “neither a volunteer nor a mercenary, but officially serves in the Ukrainian army in accordance with Ukrainian law”. He also moved to Ukraine in 2018 and married a Ukrainian.