The family of Aiden Aslin, a Briton captured during fighting in Ukraine, denounced a video broadcast in Russia, filmed according to them “under duress”, in violation of the Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners.
• Read also – Mariupol looks set to fall, fighting escalates in east and south
• Read also – 56th day of war in Ukraine: here are all the latest developments
“The video of Aiden speaking under duress and clearly sustaining physical injuries is deeply distressing. Using images and videos of prisoners of war is contrary to the Geneva Convention and must stop, ”said his family in a statement relayed on Twitter by MP Robert Jenrick.
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, are asking to be exchanged for Viktor Medvedchuk, 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 in the southeast. They are believed to be from a unit that surrendered last week to Russian forces.
Mr. Aslin also appears handcuffed in a video posted on the YouTube channel of Briton Graham Phillips, who describes himself as a journalist.
Robert Jenrick questioned Prime Minister Boris Johnson on this subject in the House of Commons on Wednesday noon, denouncing a video made “for propaganda purposes” and a “flagrant violation of the Geneva Convention”.
“I hope he was treated with care and compassion,” declared Boris Johnson, who underlined that his situation was “very different from that of a mercenary”, since the young man had served in the Ukrainian army “for some time “.
Boris Johnson also said he shared the MP’s opinion on “those who spread propaganda messages”.
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 Putin’s barbaric invasion,” his family said.
Aiden Aslin’s family explained that they, like Shaun Pinner’s, are in contact with the British Foreign Office “to ensure that the Russian authorities fulfill their obligations towards prisoners of war under international law, and ultimately to obtain the release of Aiden and Shaun”.
Shaun Pinner’s family had explained in a press release that he was “neither a volunteer nor a mercenary, but officially serves in the Ukrainian army in accordance with Ukrainian legislation”.
He also moved to Ukraine in 2018, and married a Ukrainian.