The family of British fighter Aiden Aslin have asked Russians to treat him in a “humane and dignified” manner.
Aiden, 28, from Newark in Nottinghamshire, will have to surrender after running out of food and ammunition during the on-going siege of Mariupol in Ukraine.
He is a soldier in the 39th Brigade Ukrainian Marines.
He swore an oath to fight for his newly found country after meeting a girl from Ukraine.
The couple plan to marry soon.
Aiden’s brother Nathan Wood told the MailOnline:
‘We don’t have too much information at this stage.
“All we know is that Aiden’s unit commander has been in communication with his opposite number in the Russia Army negotiating a possible surrender early this morning.
“If the Russians do have Aiden captive, we would want to remind them of the Geneva Convention and to treat him and other soldiers in a humane and dignified way.
“This is a worrying time for our family.
“Russia has a reputation with how it deals with its prisoners.
“Those soldiers from Snake Island, who told the Russians to ‘go f*** yourself’, talked about being tortured before they were released.
“Aiden may well become a propaganda tool by the Russians and be paraded about.
“We just hope they don’t do anything drastic.
“We want him to be safe.”
Nathan, 25, said his brother sounded unhappy in a short phone call with him before being cut off.
The former care worker, who was said to have “fought like hell”, reportedly told a friend that Russian forces were looking for him specifically to capture the Westerner who had been updating his followers on social media “from the trenches”.
Aiden passed on a message to his followers, saying:
“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.”
The fighter has been keeping his followers updated over social media.
He called for the West to bring an end to Putin’s “civilian bombing” campaign.
In his latest selfie video, he confirmed he was still alive in the war-torn city of Mariupol.
A friend added on an Instagram page:
“He said he loves you all.
He is strong in spirit and showed no weakness at all.
“He is surrendering to Russians which is only slightly better than surrendering to the Chechens.
“Their commander will be meeting them soon.
“Please Lord have mercy.”
More than 10,000 civilians have died in the battle for Mariupol.
However, the town’s Mayor Vadym Boychenko fears the death toll could be twice that number.
