Aiden Aslin

Aiden Aslin
Aslin in 2021
Birth nameAiden Daniel John Mark Aslin
Nickname(s)Rojhat Rojava, Johnny Wood, Cossack Gundi[1][2]
Born (1994-01-07) 7 January 1994 (age 30)[3]
Newark, Nottinghamshire, England
Allegiance Rojava
 Ukraine
Service / branch
Years of service2015–2016 (YPG)
2018–2022 (Ukraine)
Unit People's Defence Unit
36th Separate Marine Brigade
Battles / wars

Aiden Daniel John Mark Aslin[3] (Ukrainian: Ейден Аслін; born 7 January 1994) is a British citizen who was captured by Russian forces in April 2022 while fighting as a Ukrainian Marine in Mariupol.[4][5] He was sentenced to death on 9 June by authorities of the Russian-backed breakaway unrecognised puppet state, the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR),[6][7] for "mercenary activities and committing actions aimed at seizing power and overthrowing the constitutional order of the DPR."[8] He was released in a prisoner exchange in September 2022.[9][10]

Before that, in 2015, Aslin travelled to Rojava, also known as the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES). There, he served as a foreign volunteer for the Kurdish People's Defense Units (YPG), fighting against the Islamic State.[11][12] Aslin was briefly detained upon his return to the United Kingdom.[12] In 2018, he travelled to Ukraine and settled in Mykolaiv, and has applied for Ukrainian citizenship.[3]

  1. ^ "An Interview with a British Fighter in Donbass - Cossack Gundi". 2 March 2021. Archived from the original on 14 April 2022. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  2. ^ George, Grylls; Parker, Charlie (12 April 2022). "Briton Aiden Aslin 'surrenders' in Mariupol as he runs out of food". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Archived from the original on 13 April 2022. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
  3. ^ a b c "Freed British POW with Ukrainian State Award Now Blocked from Schengen Zone". 24 April 2023.
  4. ^ "Aiden Aslin: Family's 'distress' at video of captured Briton". BBC News. 14 April 2022. Archived from the original on 12 July 2022. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
  5. ^ "Newark's Aiden Aslin is alive but he may still be in besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol". Newark Advertiser. Archived from the original on 18 April 2022. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
  6. ^ Jones, Sam (27 January 2015). "Ukraine fighting points to Russia designs for puppet state". Financial Times. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  7. ^ "Russia marches on uninhibited in eastern Ukraine". The Washington Post. 18 February 2015. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  8. ^ "Death sentence for 3 foreign fighters given by Russian proxy court". Nikkei Asia. 12 April 2022. Archived from the original on 15 July 2022. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
  9. ^ "Britons held by Russian forces in Ukraine released". BBC News. 22 September 2022.
  10. ^ "Aiden Aslin: Captured Brit in Ukraine appeals against death sentence". The Independent. 12 April 2022. Archived from the original on 12 July 2022. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference Barbarani was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).