Briton sentenced to death for fighting in Ukraine WILL be executed, family says – World News

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A British soldier captured by Russian forces fighting for Ukraine and sentenced to death has been told his execution will take place, his family said.

Aiden Aslin, 28, was captured fighting Kremlin troops in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol.

Earlier this month he was sentenced to death by the internationally unrecognized Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) along with his British compatriot Shaun Pinner.

Aiden told his family over the phone that his kidnappers had told him that “time was running out.”

Grandmother Pamela Hall told the BBC: “There are no words, just no words, it has to be everyone’s worst nightmare to see a family member being threatened in this way.

“Aiden was extremely upset when he called his mother this morning. The bottom line is that Aiden has said the DPR told him that no one from the UK had been in touch and that he was going to be executed.

“I have to believe what Aiden told us, that if the DPR doesn’t get an answer, they will execute him. Of course I hope that’s not true.”

Ms Hall said she ‘cried buckets over it’ and thought ‘contact should be made between Britain and Russia’.

Aiden and Shaun both moved to Ukraine in 2018. Both had previously served as part of the Ukrainian armed forces prior to the Russian invasion.

Both men had made Ukraine their home. When captured, they were branded as “mercenaries” – accusing them of having been sent into battle for money.

Both had Ukrainian partners and made the country their home. They were captured after weeks of defending the besieged city of Mariupol.

Their families and the British government have insisted that they should be treated as prisoners of war.

According to Russian media, both men have been charged with crimes including seizing power by force and have been trained to carry out terrorist activities.

It comes after Brennan Phillips, an American former soldier who worked alongside Aiden in Ukraine, said the verdict was a “provocation”.

Speaking to BBC Newsnight earlier this month, Mr Phillips said: “I think it’s going to uplift people more than anything.

“Whatever effect you were hoping for from this provocation, I don’t think it will be well received. And they did it as a provocation.”

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