Ukraine war: Captured Britons paraded on Russian state TV

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Two Britons captured fighting for Ukraine by Russia have been forced to beg Boris Johnson to exchange them for a pro-Moscow politician detained by Kyiv.

Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, who had been serving in the Ukrainian marines, were captured by Putin‘s troops in the besieged city of Mariupol last week.

The pair were dragged on to Russian state TV Monday where they were filmed asking Boris Johnson to intervene and have them exchanged for Viktor Medvedchuk in a prisoner-swap.

Medvedchuk – known both as the ‘prince of darkness’ and Putin’s ‘grey cardinal’ – is one of Ukraine’s richest men and the Russian strongman’s closest political ally in the country, and has helped exert Kremlin pressure in influential circles in Kyiv.

Having escaped house arrest in the early days of the war, he was re-arrested in Kyiv last week after Ukraine’s military intelligence service said he was planning to flee the country to Russian-controlled regions of Moldova with the help of the FSB.  

Pinner and Aslin spoke after being prompted by an unidentified man who showed them footage of Medvedchuk’s wife pleading for his release, and were almost certainly speaking under duress.

‘I understand the situation,’ Pinner, who looked tired and nervous, said after being shown the video.

‘I’d like to appeal to the government to send me back home, I’d like to see my wife again,’ he said.

Pinner made a direct appeal to Johnson on his own behalf and on Aslin’s behalf.

‘We look to exchange myself and Aiden Aslin for Mr Medvedchuk. Obviously I would really appreciate your help in this matter,’ he said, saying he spoke a little Russian and had been treated well.

The unidentified man was then shown speaking to Aslin, who was sat on a chair wearing a T-shirt bearing the emblem of Ukraine’s far-right Azov battalion, in a different location.

‘I think that Boris needs to listen to what Oksana (Medvedchuk’s wife) has said,’ said Aslin, who also looked nervous.

‘If Boris Johnson really does care about British citizens like he says he does then he will help.’

Separately, Ukraine’s SBU intelligence service released a video of Medvedchuk who asked to be swapped too. 

Medvedchuk addressed Putin and Zelensky, asking to be exchanged for the defenders of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol and any civilians allowed to leave.

Three days after Russia moved its forces into Ukraine on Feb. 24, Ukraine said Medvedchuk had escaped from house arrest. 

He had been placed under house arrest in May 2021 and charged with high treason and later with aiding terrorism.

The pro-Russian figure, who says Putin is godfather to his daughter, has denied wrongdoing. 

Zelensky had proposed to exchange Medvedchuk, 67, for Ukrainians currently being held in Russia.

Asked about a potential exchange last week, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stressed that Medvedchuk was “not a Russian citizen” and said he did not know if he wanted Moscow to interfere in his case.

On Monday, Peskov promised to “communicate” any response to the idea from Putin.

Pinner is a British Army veteran who served with the Royal Anglians before marrying a Ukrainian woman. He subsequently enlisted in the Ukrainian marines.

Aslin is a former care worker who went to Syria in 2015 to fight for Kurdish forces, who were leading a western-backed coalition in the war against ISIS.

After two tours of Syria, Aslin – who has Ukrainian citizenship – became a member of the country’s military and ended up serving in the marines.

Both he and Pinner were guarding trenches in Ukraine’s east when war with Russia broke out in late February, and ended up joining the defence of the nearby city of Mariupol when it was surrounded and besieged by Putin’s men.

Aslin, who tweeted under the name ‘Cossackgundi’, was captured first – with family members using his Twitter account to say he had been forced to surrender after running out of ammunition.

He was subsequently pictured in detention by Russian troops, having apparently been beaten across his face.

Pinner was then reported captured at the weekend, and was paraded in front of TV cameras for the first time on Saturday.

‘I am Shaun Pinner. I am a citizen of the United Kingdom. I was captured in Mariupol,’ he told the camera.

‘I am part of 36th brigade, 1st Battalion Ukrainian Marine. I was fighting in Mariupol for five to six weeks and now I am in the Donetsk People’s Republic.’

Since both men were enlisted in the regular Ukrainian military before surrendering, they are protected by the Geneva Convention which states they should not be mistreated or abused.

However, Russian state media has described both men as foreign mercenaries – meaning soldiers who are not part of an official military – which has sparked fears the pair have been or will be tortured.

Angela Wood, Aiden’s mother, has already spoken of her fear that her son will be abused – telling Sky News: He’s not a mercenary, he’s not a volunteer, he did not go out there in the last month and think “I’m going to fight, I’m going to get glory.”

‘He has been out there four years and he is a legitimate Ukrainian marine.’

Shannon Tinegate, Mr Aslin’s sister, told the channel that she spoke with him in Mariupol shortly before he surrendered and he did not have any of the facial injuries he was seen with on TV.