'He won't make it home': Second Brit captured by Russians and paraded on state TV

16 April 2022, 21:05

A second British fighter has been paraded by Putin on state TV, after he was captured by Russian troops whilst defending Mariupol.

In the clip shared on social media, ex-British Army soldier Shaun Pinner, 48, can be seen in a blue hoodie telling the camera that he was captured by Russian troops in Mariupol.

He says: "Hi I'm Shaun Pinner, I am a citizen of the UK, I was captured in Mariupol I am part of the 36 Brigade First Battalion Ukrainian Marines.

"I was fighting in Mariupol for five-six weeks and now I'm in Donetsk People's Republic."

The clip was posted on Twitter with the caption: "Another mercenary was caught in Mariupol.

"Shaun Pinner is an English mercenary. He says that he no longer needs the war and he wants to go home. He won't make it home.

"Captured Ukrainian soldiers testify about the atrocities of foreign mercenaries. And after the trial, they face the death penalty."

Mr Pinner now faces interrogation by the Russian Investigative Committee.

Pinner who previously served in the Royal Anglian Regiment, had travelled to Ukraine to fight as a "contract soldier".

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'Why would Russia ban these MPs?'

He is the second British fighter to be captured in Mariupol after Aiden Aslin was detained earlier this week.

Aiden Aslin was seen looking bruised, one eye close to being shut, as he is posed with his arms horizontal in front of him on Russian state TV.

The 27-year-old former care worker, known as Johnny, and other international volunteers were reported to have laid down arms earlier this week.

They had run out of food and ammunition as they tried to fight off forces in the devastated city of Mariupol, in the south of the country.

A post shared by a contact on Twitter read: "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 city has been devastated by Russian forces who are desperate to seize it.

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'It makes you worry how nasty Putin will get.'

Capturing the city, which has held out for weeks in the face of heavy attacks, is key to linking Russia with occupied Crimea via the Donbas region.

It is understood Aslin, who has fought with the Ukrainian marines since 2018, spoke to his family prior to surrendering, telling them they had "no weapons left". His mother said on Tuesday he "put up one hell of a fight."

Mariupol has been a key objective for Russia since the start of its invasion on February 24. Capturing the city would allow Moscow to establish a land corridor to Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula that Russia annexed in 2014 and deprive Ukraine of a major port and prized industrial assets.

The giant Azovstal steel mill and other industrial plants have been heavily damaged by the ferocious Russian bombardment that has flattened much of Mariupol, indiscriminately hitting homes, hospitals and other public buildings and killing thousands.

The victims include about 300 people killed in last month's Russian air strike on the Mariupol Drama Theatre that was being used as a shelter and had the word "children" printed in Russian in huge white letters on the pavement outside to ward off aerial attack.

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'Would you like to continue this bloodshed?'

Mariupol mayor Vadym Boychenko told the Associated Press that at least 21,000 people were killed in Mariupol with bodies "carpeted through the streets".

He said the Russians deployed mobile cremation equipment to Mariupol to methodically dispose of the victims' bodies in order to hide the evidence of the massacre and prevent international organisations from documenting "the horror the Russian army is responsible for".

The discovery of hundreds of bodies of civilians apparently executed by Russian forces in Kyiv's suburbs after the Russian retreat from the area has fuelled global outrage and accusations from Ukrainians and the West that Russia is committing war crimes in Ukraine.

Moscow has deployed fighters from Chechnya, known for their ferocity, to wage street battles in Mariupol. Chechnya's Moscow-backed leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, has repeatedly boasted on his messaging app channel about defeating Ukrainians in Mariupol, but the fight has continued.

Mr Boychenko said that several Ukrainian units are still fighting the Russians in Mariupol, including the 36th Marine Brigade, the Azov Regiment, some Interior Ministry troops and border guards.