Angela Wood stated that her son is not a mercenary or a volunteer, in interviews on Friday BBC And Sky News† With this she responded to the interview broadcast on Rossia 1, the second largest television channel in Russia, in which Aiden is depicted as a mercenary. He hasn’t been there recently thinking ‘I’m going to fight for honor. My son was there four years ago and fought like a legitimate Ukrainian Marine,” Wood continued.

Aslin, from Newark in Nottingham, moved to Ukraine in 2018 and started living there with his Ukrainian fiancée. The Briton applied for and received Ukrainian citizenship, which means that he now holds dual citizenship. His family said the former health care worker, who returned from Syria two years ago where he fought alongside Kurdish fighters against ISIS, joined the Ukrainian armed forces in his new homeland as a Marine.

He defended the southern port city of Mariupol with the 36th Marine Brigade of Ukraine for more than 50 days. His unit was forced to surrender to Russian forces last week due to lack of supplies. Just before the surrender, Aslin had his last contact with his family in the UK. “We told him in the video messages that we love and support him,” Sister Shannon Tennegate told Sky News. “In the videos he sent (see below, editor), Aiden showed no signs of physical injury. Anyway, at least now we know he’s still alive. The only thing we can cling to right now are pictures of his physical appearance, And we don’t get it from our retina anymore. That part is annoying.”

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She described her brother’s video, broadcast on Russian state television, as “painful” and, like the rest of the family, is concerned about his health. “He looks exhausted and exhausted,” the sister added. , but yeah, he’s fought over 50 days, so who doesn’t look like that? She says the uncertainty about his fate is the worst. “Ignorance is the worst.”

In questioning her brother, the Russian interrogator first asked him in Russian if he understood the language to which the Book of Twenty answers in Russian “50/50”. Then the questioner confronted him with his previous statement, apparently wanting to protect Ukraine. “But your fellow fighters are killers,” the book reads. The British confirm this. “Yes you are right.”

Then he makes a statement that appears to be purely Russian propaganda. “After Russia recognized the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (three days before the Russian invasion on February 24), I said: Let’s stop. If Ukraine really wants peace, its forces will leave the Donbass region. We recognize the independence of both the People’s Republics and the Crimea,” Islin said. “.

Then he was asked why the Ukrainian army was killing peaceful civilians. “Because they are criminals,” he replied in English. “They emptied the stores first and then they killed the people who wanted to pick up food parcels somewhere,” said the marine. He appears to be blamed for crimes allegedly committed by Russian forces in the strategic port city. His statement can also be a reference to Massacre in Bucha, a town located about 25 kilometers northwest of Kyiv. Russian forces killed hundreds of civilians before withdrawing, according to Ukraine. Moscow calls it the “fake news” that has been circulated.

Then the questioner wants to know if Aslin killed anyone or saw others killing people in his presence. The Briton replied: “I did not fight.”

His family asked the British Foreign Office to help secure his release. If not, they hope it will be part of a prisoner exchange between Ukraine and Russia. “Whatever is said about you, we love you and are proud of you. Both Newark and Nottingham are behind you.”

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