Brit ex-PoW Aiden Aslin reappears back on FRONTLINE in Ukraine 16 months after escaping Russian death sentence
The man previously promised his fiance he would never go back on the frontline after he was freed
A BRITISH ex Prisoner of War is back on the frontline after escaping a chilling Russian death sentence.
Aiden Aslin, 30, is back helping out Ukraine after he says he was beaten, stabbed and forced to live in a tiny jail cell by evil Russian officials over 16-months-ago.
Aslin was released in September 2022, in a shock last-minute prison deal brokered with Saudi Arabia.
He was set free alongside nine other foreign fighters including four Brits.
He posted a video from blitzed Avdivvk – a key frontline in the fighting – announcing his return to the war this week.
The 30-year-old was seen delivering medical supplies as he captioned the clip: “We are here in Avdiivka. Just leaving.”
He later said: “We visited Avdivvka today to deliver crucial medical supplies for the civilians that are surviving in the city or what’s left of it.
“Like many other cities such as Bakhmut and Mariupol, Avdivvka is just another city destroyed by Russia.
“Russians say it’s green screen.”
Aslin also heaped on praise for Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky for his efforts during the devastating war.
He continued: “Zelensky has some balls to stand here without body armour and helmet.”
According to reports, Russian’s are furious that Aslin is back in crucial war zones.
Pro-war channel Bloknot Russia 18+ wrote online: “While in captivity, Aslin asked for forgiveness from the people of Donbas and Russia for serving in the Ukrainian troops.
“It turns out that he did not draw any conclusions for himself.”
A year ago he said: “I promised my fiance that I wouldn’t go back to soldiering.
“That was a big promise I made to her.”
The Brit was captured by the Russians in April 2022, while fighting as a Ukrainian Marine in Mariupol.
His battalion was cornered after they ran out of food and ammo at the bloody siege and were forced to surrender.
He was sentenced to death two months later and became the face of propaganda footage used by Russian-backed forces.
Aslin’s defence team later filed an appeal, requesting the dismissal of the verdict due to lack evidence of a crime.
In his first interview since being freed, a brave Aslin told The Sun on Sunday how he was beaten up, stabbed and forced to listen to Soviet songs in a tiny cell for 24 hours a day.
Nottingham born Aiden built a new life for himself in Ukraine back in 2018 after he fell in love with Diane Okovyta.
He joined the marines and was sent to fight against evil Vladimir Putin’s men after Russia’s invasion.
Before they surrendered, Aslin rang his mum Angela Wood, 51, and also told Diane: “No matter what, I will see you again.”
However, he soon feared his days were numbered.
He recalled: “They flicked through my passport and quickly realised it wasn’t Ukrainian.
“The soldier asked in Russian, ‘Where are you from?’ I told him I was from Great Britain and he punched me in the face.
“They separated me from the others and began interviewing me in the back of an armoured vehicle.
“I went to my commander and said, ‘Look I’m going to be taken, they’re probably going to kill me, I need you to tell my family when you get out, if you get out, that I love them’.”
The Brit was driven on to the Donetsk People’s Republic and taken to a detention centre with a hood over his head.
Here he claims he was beaten repeatedly with a nightstick during a lengthy interrogation.
Aslin also remembers them threatening to cut off his ear if he didn’t give them answers.
After the interrogation and further chilling attacks Putin’s henchmen announced his capture on social media.
Aiden said: “The officer was smoking a cigarette and knelt down in front of me to ask, ‘Do you know who I am?’ I said ‘no’ and he replied in Russian, ‘I am your death’.
“He said, ‘Did you see what I did to you?’. He pointed to my back. He showed me his knife and I realised he’d stabbed me.
“He then asked me, ‘Do you want a quick death or a beautiful death?’.
“I replied in Russian, ‘A quick death’. He smiled and said ‘No, you’re going to have a beautiful death . . . and I’m going to make sure it’s a beautiful death.”
Over the next five months, he was held for 24 hours a day in a tiny 4ft by 6ft cell, littered with cockroaches and lice.
He was starved of sunlight and only allowed out to film propaganda videos and speak with the Foreign Office.
His captors played the Russian national anthem on a loop and ordered him to stand and sing it or be beaten again.
When they flipped open the grill of his cell, he was ordered to yell: “Glory to Russia.”
In May, he went on trial for being a mercenary and used the opportunity to communicate with his family — rubbing his nose when lying.
Amid global outcry, he was sentenced to death and told he would be shot dead by a firing squad.
But he was freed in a surprise deal negotiated between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
It’s thought they were apart of a lucrative trade for high-ranking Russian officers captured by Ukraine.
James Rushton, a British independent security analyst based in Kyiv, claimed those released were part of a high level prisoner swap, with senior Russians going the other way.
He told The Sun: “They’ve almost certainly been freed as part of a prisoner swap.
“The Ukrainians caught some pretty high level prisoners around Kharkiv, so probably swapped them back for these foreign fighters and the Azovstal guys.
“I’m pretty sure the Russians would only release them if they got something in return.”
