Two British citizens who were said to have fought the same with Ukrainian forces in Mariupol were captured by the Russians. In new videos on Russian television, it seems that they are asking for help in a prisoner exchange.
In the videos, Sean Boehner, 48, and Aiden Aslin, 28, address British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and ask him to negotiate his release. They propose an exchange of prisoners between them and the Ukrainian oligarch and opposition politician Viktor Medvedchuk, who was arrested in Ukraine last week.
– As far as I understand, Mr. Medvedtsjuk has been imprisoned, and I want Aiden Aslin to be exchanged with Medvedtsjuk. We’d appreciate your help with this, Pinner says in the video posted here daily Mail.
– May we be exchanged with Mr. Medvedtsjuk, he concludes, after saying that they are given food and drink in captivity.
In an earlier video, Benner was said to have fought with Ukrainian forces in Mariupol for five to six weeks, but is now in Donetsk, one of the regions in Ukraine ruled since 2014 by Russian-friendly separatist forces. .
The two speak separately, in different videos. Whether they are talking about free will is unknown.
Ukrainian video
Aslin says in his “video” that “if Boris Johnson really cared about British citizens, as he says, it would help”.
– He should pressure Zelensky to do the right thing, to return Victor to his family and us to ours.
In another video, published by the Ukrainian security service SBU, Medvetsjuk also requests an exchange of prisoners.
This is also published on Mondays. It is also uncertain whether he is speaking of his own free will.
Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky proposed an exchange of prisoners with Medvetszhok, but Russia did not agree to this. They described him as a Ukrainian who didn’t care.
Medvedev is known as a politician friend of Putin.
The mother is afraid
It’s unclear how the Russians ended up arresting Benner and Aslen, but according to her Watchman The latter is said to have recently told the family that he was forced to surrender after the ammunition he was a part of ran out of ammunition.
According to the family, Aslin is engaged to a Ukrainian woman. This must be the reason why he chose to fight in the ranks of the country’s military forces.
Aslin’s family previously stated that since he is part of the Ukrainian army, he is considered a prisoner of war and should be treated humanely.
The mother said – I expect Vladimir Putin will be bound by the Geneva Convention Daily Telegraph.
She also sought help from the British authorities. The impact of getting to know her son in the photos published by Russia on her.
– Burning my heart. Maybe my son is scared, too, as we are, she says.
So far, there has been no response from the British authorities to the POW videos.
Nor is it clear how the Russian and Ukrainian authorities will respond to a possible exchange between the two and Viktor Medvedchuk.
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