MY HOPE FOR POW BROTHER
Plea for prisoner swap
THE brother of a British soldier caught by Russians is confident he will be freed in a prisoner swap.
Nathan Wood was hopeful after a video this week showed unscathed Aiden Aslin, 28, and fellow Brit Shaun Pinner, 48, asking to be exchanged with a prorussian politician held in Ukraine.
Nathan, 25, was encouraged after Prime Minister Boris Johnson raised Aiden’s plight in Parliament.
He said: “It gives us a bit of hope but it is now a waiting game. The Russians are talking about him being freed in a prisoner swap, he is hopefully being treated with humanity. Hopefully they are treating him like a prince, they don’t want to show him with scratches and bruises as it could harm their chances. This could all take days, weeks, months.”
Both Brits were living in Ukraine before the invasion and were serving in the country’s marines when they were captured in Mariupol.
They have since appeared in separate videos pleading to be swapped for prokremlin politician
Viktor Medvedchuk.
An earlier clip showing a bruised and handcuffed Aiden, of Newark,
Notts, has been removed from Youtube following claims that he was being interviewed under duress for propaganda purposes.
Aiden was heard saying: “Diane, my wife, I want you to know I love you. I hope the British Government is able to push this prisoner exchange through so I can return to you and we can build our life in Britain.”
The couple hope to marry this summer. And Nathan said his future sister-in-law has fled Ukraine and is now safe in another country, thought to be Hungary.
He said: “She is trying to come to England but we have no idea when that will be.”
Aiden’s mum, Ang Wood, is in regular contact with Shaun’s family and the Foreign Office. She has also spoken to her son’s captors over a video call.
Ang said: “They wanted me to press Boris Johnson for this swap deal involving Viktor Medvedchuk.
“I had to say that I didn’t have the Prime Minister on speed dial. I could hear his Russian captors talking in the background. There were pauses where Aiden was being told what to say, that he had to do this, had to do that.”
She said the Russians seemed to want her to know that Aiden was now being treated well, adding: “He said he had now had some sleep, had eaten, and had been given a vape.”