British fighter told UK has forgotten him and he will face firing squad

‘I believe what Aiden said to us, that if the DPR don’t get some response they will execute him’

A BRITISH fighter sentenced to death during a show trial in Russian-held Ukraine has been told the execution will go ahead, it was reported last night.

Aiden Aslin, 28, and Shaun Pinner, 48, were captured in the besieged city of Mariupol in April after their unit surrendered following a 48-day siege.

The men were convicted of attempting “a violent seizure of power” by the “Supreme Court” of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR).

They were told to expect execution by firing squad after pleading guilty to mercenary and terrorist activities.

Last night, the family of Mr Aslin told the BBC his captors had informed him that the UK has yet to make any attempt to negotiate on his behalf.

Pamela Hall, Mr Aslin’s grandmother, said the family had spoken to him in a phone call in which he said he had been told “time is running out” by his captors. “It’s got to be everyone’s worst nightmare to have a member of your family threatened in this way,” she said.

“Aiden was extremely upset when he called his mother this morning. Aiden has said the DPR has told him nobody from the UK has made contact, and he will be executed. I believe what Aiden has said to us, that if the DPR don’t get some response then they will execute him. Obviously I hope that isn’t true.”

Liz Truss, the Foreign Secretary, previously said she had discussed the case with her Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba. Russia and the Kremlin-backed rebel regions in the Donbas have consistently described Mr Aslin and Mr Pinner as mercenaries, rather than prisoners of war, a distinction that enabled the sham trial earlier this month to order them to be shot.