This is what 28-year-old Aslin says in a interview with the British newspaper The Sun. He was arrested in April, fighting in the Ukrainian army, during the siege of the city of Mariupol. He says he thought his days were numbered when the Russians found out he was British.
Cut the ear
In that first interrogation he was beaten for every answer he gave. “I didn’t think I was going to survive.” His attackers also allegedly threatened to cut off his ear.
The guard who had asked him if he preferred a quick death or a good death had introduced himself with the words: “I killed you.” When Aslin asked for a quick death, the man said, “No, it will be a beautiful death and I’ll make sure you get it.”
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After his arrest, Aslin was deported to the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic in eastern Ukraine. There he was tried by a court. Together with two fellow inmates, including another British, he received him in early June the death penalty imposed.
A question of survival
“When I heard I wanted to cry. But I couldn’t anymore. It literally became a matter of survival. You are at the mercy of those people and do what they tell you, otherwise the consequences will be on you.”
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He spent most of his captivity in a two-person cell with four men, Aslin says. There was no toilet: they had to let off steam in the bottle.
Sing the national anthem together
The Russian national anthem was played one after another until the prisoners could sing it together. They had to do it every morning, Aslin says. “If you did not participate, you were punished. Then you were beaten.”
Aslin has had a Ukrainian girlfriend since 2018 and has built a new life in her country. She was part of the group of ten prisoners who were released Wednesday evening after the intervention of Saudi Arabia. Among them were five Brits. Read more about the prisoner exchange in this video:
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