FREEDOM FIGHTERS
5 Brit POWs including Aiden Aslin who spent 5 months in captivity RELEASED after being captured by Russians in Ukraine
FIVE British prisoners of war who were captured by Russia while fighting in Ukraine have been freed.
Among them are Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, who had been sentenced to death by a Kremlin-backed kangaroo court and held in captivity for five months.
13
13
13
13
13
13
The captives were freed in a surprise deal negotiated between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Russian president Vladimir Putin.
It's believed they may have been traded for high ranking Russian officers captured by Ukraine in its recent lightning victory.
The release came just hours after unhinged tyrant Putin threatened to nuke the West and ordered reserves to be mobilised in a bid to reverse his armed forces' crumbling fortunes in Ukraine.
On the flight out of captivity, Aiden recorded a video message for his supporters with Shaun sitting next to him.
READ MORE ON UKRAINE WAR
"We just want to let everyone know that we're now out of the danger zone, " he said, to which Shaun added "by the skin of our teeth!".
"We're on our way home to our families," Aiden continued.
"We just want everyone to know the good news and thanks to everyone who's been supporting us."
Ex-care worker Aiden, 28, from Newark, Nottinghamshire, was captured fighting for the Ukrainian armed forces during the brutal battle for the Azovstal steel plant in the city of Mariupol, in April.
Most read in News
Former British army soldier Shaun, 46, was captured alongside Aiden.
The men's families spoke of their joy and relief after hearing the news that they had been released.
Shaun’s mum Debbie Price told The Sun: “I have no idea how this has happened or why he’s in Saudi Arabia but I’m overjoyed - it’s wonderful news.”
Sister Cassandra said she was "just so relieved that my brother and the others will be home tomorrow".
"It has been hell for everybody but at last the worrying can stop for us," she told MailOnline.
"We must not forget all that is still happening in Ukraine, but for now our families can celebrate that our boys are home!"
Aiden’s gran Pam Hall sobbed: “This is unbelievable. I’m absolutely over the moon.
“I can’t believe it and until I see him I won’t. Over the last five months we have been taken to some very dark places.”
His overjoyed mum Angela said she was "so emotional and over the moon" at the news.
The other freed Brits were understood to be foreign fighters Andrew Hill and John Harding and civilian detainee Dylan Healy.
The Russians had claimed Aiden and Shaun were mercenaries and sentenced them to death by firing squad after a sham trial in a pro-Moscow breakaway region of Ukraine.
Both were paraded on Russian TV in sick propaganda stunts and disturbing footage showed Aiden being forced to sing the country's national anthem.
Ukraine insisted both men were entitled to protection under the Geneva Convention as they were residents of the country and serving under regular military contracts with its armed forces.
Prime Minister Liz Truss hailed the "hugely welcome news that five British nationals held by Russian-backed proxies in eastern Ukraine are being safely returned".
She said it ended "months of uncertainty and suffering for them and their families".
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly thanked the Saudis and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky.
13
13
13
13
13
"This brings to an end many months of uncertainty and suffering, including the threat of the death penalty, for them and their families, at the hands of Russia," he said.
Aiden's release was confirmed by his MP Robert Jenrick, who said he was "delighted" and "deeply grateful" for the work done by the Saudis.
He said Aiden's "return brings to an end months of agonising uncertainty for his loving family".
The MP said they had "suffered every day of Aiden’s sham trial but never lost hope".
"As they are united as a family once more, they can finally be at peace," he said.
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.
"They've almost certainly been freed as part of a prisoner swap," he told Sun Online.
"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."
Alongside the British prisoners, the others freed come from the US, Sweden, Croatia and Morocco.
The names of two Americans, Alex Drueke and Andy Huynh, were confirmed in Drueke's family.
Both Aiden and Shaun were professional salaried soldiers in Ukraine's 36th Marines.
Aiden moved to Ukraine and enlisted as a member of the country's army in 2018.
He had previously fought against Isis in Syria with Kurdish forces, serving with the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG).
Watford-born former waste manage Shaun, who served with the Royal Anglian Regiment, was detained alongside Aslin in Mariupol.
He moved to Ukraine several years ago with his wife and later joined the military.
Shaun was due to finish his three-year military contract later this year and according to reports quoting his lawyer, was hoping to enter a humanitarian role.
Sadly another Brit, Paul Urey, died while in Russian captivity after being captured in April.
The 45-year-old humanitarian worker showed signs of suffering "unspeakable torture" Ukraine's foreign minister said when dad-of-two Paul's body was returned home in July.
The group have now landed in Saudi Arabia after travelling to the Middle East by plane.
The move came following efforts by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler.
The Saudi foreign ministry said this was part of the "in continuation of (his) commitment to the humanitarian initiatives towards the Russian-Ukrainian crisis".
The war in Ukraine has fuelled tensions between Saudi Arabia and the United States, a critical ally for decades.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
Saudi Arabia voted in favour of an early United Nations resolution to denounce Russia's invasion and demand that Moscow withdraw troops.
But it's largely resisted pressure from the US to ramp up oil production to ease the energy crisis resulting from the war - a campaign that included a visit by US President Joe Biden in July.
13
13
Topics