British fighters who fought on the side of Ukraine were released last week. Aiden Aslin reports on his time in the torture prison of the “People’s Republic” of Donetsk.
In a major exchange, numerous Ukrainian fighters have been released over the past week, including foreigners who fought on the side of Kiev and fell into Russian hands. Now the Brit Aiden Aslin, 28, speaks for the first time with the “Sun” about his captivity.
Meanwhile, Aiden Aslin is back with his mother and his Ukrainian fiancée. He told The Sun: “I never thought I’d get out of there alive.”
Lived in Ukraine
Aslin lived in Ukraine before the Russian invasion, fell in love there, resettled and served in the Navy. Then his unit was trapped in Mariupol. When food and ammunition ran out, the fighters had to give up. Before that, he was still able to call his family. He encouraged his fiancé: “No matter what happens, I will see you again.”
But as soon as he was captured, the Russians realized that he was not Ukrainian. “They looked at my passport and quickly realized that it was not Ukrainian.” When he admitted to being from the UK, he was slapped squarely in the face.
“They separated me from the others and began questioning me in the back seat of an armored vehicle.”
Aiden realized that things were bad for him. Before he was transported away, he said goodbye to his commander. He told him that the Russians would probably kill him. And asked: “You have to tell my family that I love them when you get out of here.”
Five months torture prison
He was interrogated in a camp in the “Donetsk People’s Republic” and repeatedly hit on the head. For each answer he gave, he received more beatings and was threatened with having his ear cut off.
Then there was psychological terror. The man who was torturing him knelt in front of him and asked, “Do you know who I am? I am your death.” He showed him the knife he had stabbed him in the back with. Then Aiden was asked if he wanted a quick death or a nice death – meaning a slow, spectacular death. Aiden wanted a quick death. The man told him, “No, you’ll have a nice death… and I’ll make sure it’s a nice death.”
For five months he was held in a cell measuring only 1.5 by 1.5 meters. Without sunlight, the Russian national anthem was constantly played to him. In May he stood trial and was sentenced to death as a mercenary. “When I heard that I had been sentenced to death, I wanted to cry, but I just couldn’t. It was literally about surviving.”
This survival was bad because you had to bow to arbitrariness. “Your life is in these people’s hands and you do as they tell you or face the consequences.”
Still, he didn’t give up hope. From the beginning of captivity there was speculation that the prisoners would be exchanged. This is unusual for a war, but in Ukraine prisoners are exchanged even during hostilities. After the fall of Mariupol, the problem arose that Russia had far more prisoners than the other side. Only with Putin confidante Viktor Medvedchuk did Kyiv have a person who was “valuable” enough to exchange for the foreign fighters.
Even before the surrender, rumors reached the prisoners. “I heard one of the soldiers say ‘Exchange.’ I started to get upset, but I kept saying to myself, ‘Stop it, calm down.'”
gratitude for mediation
Tied up and blindfolded, they were finally transported in a truck for hours. “I had no idea what was going on, but after a few hours we got to the airport. Then I saw a group of Saudis and one of the guys said, ‘Is that Roman Abramovich?'”.
In that moment, Aslin knew they had been freed. At first, Abramovich just watched her in the jet. “He was a bit shy and didn’t want to push us.”
The interview ends: “I would like to thank Mr. Abramovich from the bottom of my heart. It is because of him that I am here today and not in this terrible place.”
Source:
Source: Stern
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