Briton facing f iring squad forced to sing the Russian anthem
A BRITON facing death by firing squad in eastern Ukraine has been filmed in his prison cell singing the Russian national anthem.
Unshaven and in shabby clothes, Aiden Aslin, 28, is seen standing and singing the State Anthem of the Russian Federation in a 140-second video posted on the internet by the Kremlin-backed RT news outlet.
As he sings, John Dougan, an American former police officer, stands beside him smirking. When he finishes, Dougan – a prominent Russian propagandist in Ukraine – says: ‘Amazing.’
The footage of Mr Aslin, from Newark, Nottinghamshire, emerged days after reports that another British detainee, Paul Urey, had died in custody. While it may have been filmed under duress, the video provides some evidence that Mr Aslin remains alive, unlike Mr Urey, 45, who was captured by proRussian militants as he tried to rescue a woman close to Donetsk.
Last week, his mother, Linda, said: ‘They let him die there, and I want to know why they let him die.’
Mr Aslin was captured alongside another Briton, Shaun Pinner, 48, in June, and kept in detention by proMoscow separatists. Both moved to Ukraine after 2016, settled in the eastern city of Mariupol and joined the Ukrainian army as marines.
Despite their roles as professional soldiers, the pair were accused of being mercenaries and sentenced to death. The footage emerged as: l Putin’s forces were using Europe’s largest nuclear plant in Zaporizhzhia as a weapons depot; l Three people were killed and at least 15 injured in a Russian missile strike in the city of Dnipro; l The Ukrainian authorities said they have now identified all 23 people killed in the Vinnytsia missile strike on Thursday, including four-year-old Liza Dmytrysyna who perished in her pram.
According to Ukrainian nuclear energy agency Energoatom, around 500 Russian troops are stationed at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant which is being used to house armaments, including missile systems.
One official described the situation as ‘extremely intense’, adding: ‘The occupiers bring their machinery there, including missile systems, from which they already shell the other side of the River Dnipro.’
The nuclear plant in south-eastern Ukraine has been under Russian control since the early weeks of the war, although it is still being operated by Ukrainian staff.
Meanwhile, Russian rockets hit housing in Chuhuiv, a town near the city of Kharkiv in northern Ukraine, killing three people.
With Russia’s ground offensive in the east slowing, air strikes have risen – including that on the town of Vinnytsia.
The great-aunt of tragic Liza Dmytrysyna yesterday said that she is waiting to find out if the child’s mother Iryna will survive her injuries.
Tetiana Dmytrysyna said: ‘She was reaching for her daughter, and Liza was already dead. The mother was robbed of the most precious thing she had.’
Liza, whose mother kept a blog where she would update readers on parenting a child with Down’s Syndrome, has become just the latest face of her nation’s suffering with her charred and bloodied pram seen on media outlets around the world.
‘The situation here is extremely intense’