A British soldier fighting alongside Ukrainian troops in the besieged city of Mariupol in southeastern Ukraine said his unit has no choice but to surrender to the Russians.
Aiden Aslin (28), who moved to Ukraine in 2018 and has been fighting in the war, said forces have run out of supplies with Russians closing in.
The former care worker moved to Ukraine in 2018 after falling in love with a woman from Mykolaiv, a city near the Black Sea in southern Ukraine. In a message posted via a contact on Twitter, Aslin said:
It’s been 48 days, we tried our best to defend Mariupol but we have no choice but to surrender to Russian forces.
We have no food and no ammunition. It’s been a pleasure everyone, I hope this war ends soon.
We’re putting this out after direct consultation with his family.
Until we’re told otherwise we’ll continue working on sharing the facts of the war. Hope for a prisoner exchange.
Aslin, from Newark, Nottinghamshire, is now in his fourth year with the Ukrainian armed forces.
He was due to get married this Spring and complete his service in September.
When Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February, Aslin was stationed in the Donbas region where separatists and the Ukrainian military have been fighting since 2014.
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At least he tried. Like so many others.