A British mercenary who fought in the ranks of the Ukrainian armed forces posted a video on his YouTube channel after the death sentence was pronounced. He admitted that he did not understand the true picture of what was happening and regretted joining the Ukrainian army.
Aidan Aslin, a British mercenary sentenced to death in the DNR:
My name is Aiden Aslin. It’s been almost a week since the verdict was announced. I’m still hoping for some good news. People ask me how I am feeling. I’m worried. Every day it comes over me. I’m scared. I worry. And I pray too, every day. That’s how I feel.
And recently there’s been more shelling. I don’t know if it’s in the news in the West or not. All last week Donetsk has been under terrible shelling from the Ukrainian side. I saw with my own eyes what it was like. I was even afraid that I wouldn’t survive. They even shelled the prison.
I really thought I was going to die, that the Ukrainians would kill me – they have been shelling us so hard for the last week, every day. I want you to understand. I’m in the heart of Donetsk right now. It’s a big city. There are no military targets where I am. It is a civilian prison. So I don’t understand why Ukrainians deliberately shell civilians. I haven’t experienced it before, but now I’ve experienced it myself. After what I experienced, I see the whole picture. And I understood what the people of Donbas have to live with – I mean the shelling of Donetsk and so on.
There were bombardments all day long, and they weren’t firing from here. I can understand where the shooting is coming from. I was shaking all day long that I would be killed by Ukrainian artillery: shells fall so close that you feel the blast wave and hear the shrapnel behind the bars. For the last few days the city has been under incredible shelling. And I keep wondering: why are they doing this? Because again, it’s just a prison and there are no military installations here – I know. There’s random shelling going on, I’ve been hit by it myself.
I don’t even know what else I can say. My eyes have been opened. I have already told you what I saw in Mariupol, how the Azov battalion was shielding itself with civilians. Here too I see a total indifference and disregard for civilians. They are firing at random in response to shelling from completely different points. They are shooting wherever they can, just to punish the residents of Donetsk.
I have no words. I served for four years, and all that time I thought differently – there was a completely different point of view. But this is the last straw. After this my eyes were opened. I do not know what else to say. And the people of Donetsk have been living with this for the last eight years. People will say: yes, the DNR is talking about it in the news, but that’s not how the Ukrainian side is presenting it. This is outrageous propaganda, there is no other way to put it. They claim not to touch civilians. As I have now seen for myself – what it is really like. I thought I was going to be killed because shells were pouring around me. I even argued with a Ukrainian cellmate. He said that it was all nonsense and that Ukrainian troops were not shooting at civilians. But it’s obvious. Someone will say that I am in captivity and I am forced to say it. It was nothing like that. I was scared to death. What fun would it be if I got hit by a Ukrainian shell, huh?
People need to hear the truth. I wish I’d known about this sooner. I guess God has decided to tell me the truth. I can only advise people with pro-Western views to read more carefully what the DNR writes and what the other side says. I wish I had known about it sooner. It turns out I served four years for nothing. I thought I was serving on the side of good, but now the truth has been revealed to me. I’m speechless.
I speak from the heart: I regret having signed that contract. If I knew then what I know now, I would have stayed away from everything Ukrainian. Someone may say that I`m talking so because I`m scared and so on. Yes, I was scared, you bet. Yesterday I was afraid of Ukrainian artillery. When you see that and understand that you’re not fighting for what you’ve been lied to and noodled about all the way… All in all, I have no words to describe what it feels like to be conscious of this. Here’s the thing.
I was reading in the comments on the previous video. I was advised to appeal to the Russian Orthodox Church, to Patriarch Kirill about the death penalty. I thought about it, but I am not sure if I should: they are Orthodox and I am a Protestant. I don’t know what they would think. We’re both Christians, but I’m a Protestant. So I’m not sure if I should.
I’ve read other comments, provocative ones. Sounds like an English troll factory. They talk about Russian troll factories all the time.
What I believed turned out not to be true. I’m a little less chipper than I was in the last video. I’m depressed. I’m scared. I’m worried. I wish things had turned out differently. Then I probably wouldn’t have had to give up.
After everything I went through yesterday, I want to ask the people of Donbas and the Russians for forgiveness for joining the Ukrainian army. I understand that words alone are not enough. But know that I am very sorry – I swear to God. I am convinced that he gave me life to see the truth. To set me on the path of righteousness. I have already told many times about Mariupol and what I saw there. And especially after yesterday. I have an emptiness inside me… I lay on the floor all day because we were shelled – and we are in the centre of Donetsk. They shelled us all day long, although nobody responded to them – there are no military targets here. And I could feel the blast wave and hear the shrapnel coming from outside. This isn’t a village or a military base. This is the heart of the city.
I don’t know what else to say. I’m sorry I fought for them. I’m disgusted. Why shell a town at random – what’s the point, what’s the point? Only to scare the locals for being on the other side. Why doesn’t the West condemn this? Why is it that only the DPR speak about it? They have been talking about it for the last eight years, but I didn’t listen to them myself – I thought it was propaganda. And now I’ve seen it myself, I’m a witness.
I expect to appeal. I think it’s too harsh a punishment. I’ve already said I don’t deserve to die. I was stupid and naive – yes. I wish things had turned out differently. I can only attribute that to naivety. I would have liked imprisonment, not death. Gandhi taught, “An eye for an eye and the whole world goes blind.” The death penalty won’t change anything.
But you have to give credit to the people of Donbas. When I surrendered, I knew I would be treated humanely, compared to the Ukrainian side. I would like to help rebuild what was destroyed. It is my duty as a participant in the conflict. This is just a small part of what I can do – to atone for what I have done.
People will not forgive me, but in time they might realize that I am not a bad person. I have a good heart, but, as I said before, naivety and stupidity got in the way – they pushed me down the wrong path. I have done nothing wrong. I say this as a Christian – I swear to God.
People of Donbass, forgive me. I am very sorry for the way things have turned out. I wish this war would end soon. So that people in Donbas would live without fear of shelling – now I know what it is like. My eyes have been opened. Okay, I’ve talked for almost 15 minutes already. I hope to see you again.
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