Shaun Pinner and Aiden Aslin both spoke separately after being prompted by an unidentified man in footage broadcast on the Rossiya 24 state TV channel. It was unclear how freely the two men were able to talk. Mr Pinner, 48, a former Royal Anglian soldier, was captured in Mariupol while fighting with the Ukrainian marines, and Mr Aslin, 28, originally from Nottinghamshire, had been defending the besieged city before having to surrender after running out of food and ammunition. The two men asked British prime minister Boris Johnson to help bring them home in exchange for Ukraine releasing pro-Russian politician and oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk, whose close friend Mr Putin is godfather to his youngest daughter Daryna. Mr Medvedchuk was shown in a video released around the same time on Monday by Ukraine’s SBU intelligence service asking to be swapped too. In his appeal to Russian president Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian president Volodymr Zelensky, he asked to be exchanged for the defenders of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol and any civilians allowed to leave. Viktor Medvedchuk is a key ally of Vladimir Putin and has been captured by Ukrainian forces (via Reuters) Both Mr Pinner and Mr Aslin fought on the Ukrainian side in Mariupol, which is now almost entirely under Russian control. The unidentified man shown on Russian state TV was seen showing the two Britons a video on his mobile phone of Mr Medvedchuk’s wife, Oksana, making an appeal over the weekend for her husband to be swapped for the two British nationals. Three days after Russia moved its forces into Ukraine on 24 February, Ukrainian officials said Mr Medvedchuk had escaped from house arrest. He had been placed under house arrest in May 2021 and charged with high treason and later with aiding terrorism. Shaun Pinner and Aiden Aslin (pictured) have both been captured by Russian forces (cossackgundi) The pro-Russian figure has denied wrongdoing but said: “I understand the situation.” Mr Pinner, who looked tired and nervous, said after being shown the video. “I’d like to appeal to the government to send me back home, I’d like to see my wife again,” he said. Mr Pinner made a direct appeal to Mr Johnson on his own behalf and that of Mr Aslin. “We look to exchange myself and Aiden Aslin for Mr Medvedchuk. Obviously I would really appreciate your help in this matter,” he said, saying he spoke a little Russian and had been treated well. This map shows the extent of the Russian invasion of Ukraine (Press Association Images) The unidentified man was then shown speaking to Mr Aslin, who was sat on a chair wearing a T-shirt bearing the emblem of Ukraine’s far-right Azov battalion. “I think that Boris needs to listen to what Oksana [Medvedchuk’s wife] has said,” said Mr Aslin. “If Boris Johnson really does care about British citizens like he says he does then he will help.” The Independent has a proud history of campaigning for the rights of the most vulnerable, and we first ran our Refugees Welcome campaign during the war in Syria in 2015. Now, as we renew our campaign and launch this petition in the wake of the unfolding Ukrainian crisis, we are calling on the government to go further and faster to ensure help is delivered. To find out more about our Refugees Welcome campaign, click here. To sign the petition click here. If you would like to donate then please click here for our GoFundMe page Additional reporting by Reuters
