Two captured British fighters asked on Russian state television on Monday for a prisoner swap with pro-Russian politician Viktor Medvedchuk. This is reported by international news agencies. Shaun Pinner (48) and Aiden Aslin (29) appeared separately on Rossiya 24. It was not clear whether they could speak of their own volition and freely.
Pinner and Aslin both fought on the Ukrainian side in Mariupol, which is now almost completely occupied by the Russians. On the broadcast, they call on British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to help them get home. Aslin“If Johnson really cares about British citizens, as he claims, then he will return Medvedchuk to his family and we to ours.”
Medvedchuk
Ukrainian oligarch Medvedchuk was arrested last Tuesday by the Ukrainian secret service SBU. While Pinner and Aslin appeared on Rossiya 24, the SBU a video in which Medvedchuk also called for a prisoner exchange. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had suggested this before, but because Medvedchuk is not a Russian citizen, the Kremlin did not like it.
Pinner, dark circles under the eyes, said the Russians treated him well. “We have been fed and given water.” Aslin left the UK before to fight in a war. In 2016 he left for Syria to fight on behalf of the Kurds against IS. The former healthcare worker was frustrated with how the British government dealt with the terror organization, he later told television show Good Morning Britain†
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