Briton held hostage by Russia to be paraded on state TV as Putin aides gloat at Boris plea

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And in a clip to plug the forthcoming broadcast, the former care worker is shown with a nasty cut and bruise to his forehead, suggesting he may already have been brutally beaten by Russian troops.

Meanwhile the 28-year-old’s mother admitted she was “in bits” – and called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to adhere to the Geneva Convention.

Mr Aslin, from Newark in Nottinghamshire, known by his Twitter handle, Cossack Gundi, moved to Ukraine in 2018, having fallen in love with a woman from the city of Mykolaiv, in Ukraine’s south-west, and subsequently joined the Ukrainian armed forces. His family says he has dual Ukrainian/British citizenship.

Earlier this week, he confirmed via social media he had been left with little choice but to surrender after his 36th Marine Brigade ran out of supplies and ammunition, with Russian troops poised to capture the southern port city.

In the unsettling footage, he is shown wearing handcuffs, with facial bruising and a deep laceration to his head. A voiceover describes him as “an English mercenary who fought on the side of the Nazis in Mariupol”. It adds: “Many lost him, but we found him. An interesting interview is coming soon.”

The interview was promoted by prominent state television correspondent Andrey Rudenko.

Russian state broadcaster Channel 1 claims Mr Aslin “previously fought on the side of radical Islamists in Syria”, while another broadcaster, Rossiya 1, said he was “suspected of fighting for terrorists”. It adds: “In London, after the odious Briton Aiden Aslin surrendered, they suddenly remembered the Geneva Convention and asked for him to be treated gently.”

Mr Aslin’s mother, Ang Wood, from Balderton in Nottinghamshire, said she had recognised her son from his distinctive ‘Happy Days’ TATTOOS.

She explained: “It’s Aiden I can’t deny it. It’s him. They are his tattoos. There is a faint hope it is a doctored image but I can’t see it.

“I now hold Vladimir Putin to the terms of the Geneva Convention. Aiden is a serving member of the Ukrainian armed forces and as such is a prisoner of war and must be treated with humanity.

“It already looks like he has been beaten up. It is time now for the British Government to get involved and help secure Aiden’s release, because he is still a British citizen.”

She continued: “Possibly there is hope for a prisoner swap arranged by the Ukrainians. I’m in bits. My son will be scared just as we are.”

As many as 1,000 men from the 36th, 300 of them wounded, are believed to have been taken prisoner.

Earlier this week, Aiden’s brother Nathan Wood, 25, said: “I’ve read about how the Ukrainian troops on Snake Island were tortured after their capture.

“Aiden is British so maybe the situation will be different, but Putin gave dire warnings as to the fate of any foreigners who fought on the side of Ukraine.

Mr Wood added: “My thoughts are that he could be used as some sort of propaganda tool, a trophy prisoner. The most difficult thing is not knowing what the end game will be.

“I hope there is something that can be done diplomatically because I face the possibility of never seeing my brother again. If he survives this, he may spend the rest of his life locked away in a Russian prison.”

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