Oct 29, 2022
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This is the true and frightening Combat Story of Aiden Aslin, a British citizen fighting for the Ukrainian military who was taken as a POW in February 2022 and then beaten and stabbed by his Russian captors for over five months.
Listeners will recall our first interview with Aiden from Feb 5th, 2022 (https://youtu.be/IbHSQ1xzpRc), just weeks before the Russian invasion where he predicted what would come after two deployments to the frontlines in Ukraine and significant fighting in Syria.
Aiden was fighting on the front lines in the Donbas region of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, when Russia, completely unprovoked, invaded Ukraine. His unit fell back to the steel factory Mariupol where it was surrounded by Russian and Donetsk People’s Republic (or DPR, which is Russia’s foot soldiers and lackeys in Donetsk).
Out of food and ammunition, Aiden’s unit would eventually surrender to the Russian military which promptly handed Aiden over to the DPR for regular beatings and violations of the Geneva Convention which surprised nobody.
In our interview, Aiden recounts the harrowing experience of being on the frontlines when Russia invaded and how he survived captivity, without any of the advanced training that people like myself received regularly while in service to survive and escape these situations to return with dignity.
I’m sure you will be amazed at Aiden’s spirit and strength that pulled him through this difficult time and it will be a stark reminder for each of us that our day-to-day problems are not as hard as we might think when compared with what he endured.
As you can imagine, I was elated to hear of Aiden’s release in September and was nearly brought to tears after seeing his face again as we started this interview. Please enjoy this rare glimpse of hope and optimism from someone who survived a history-altering invasion and months in captivity as a modern-day POW as much as I did.
Definitions:
You’ll hear a reference to “GRADS” which is a mobile artillery vehicle used by the Russians that fire 122mm rounds (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BM-21_Grad).
You'll hear DPR, which is the Donetsk People’s Republic.
Find Aiden Online:
- Conflict Dispatch https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2y-SiuIRHPpnUpcWgZRLgw
- Instagram @CossackGundi https://www.instagram.com/cossackgundi/?hl=en
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- - Intro Song: Sport Rock from Audio Jungle
Show Notes:
- 0:00 - Intro
- 1:05 - Guest Introduction (Aiden Aslin)
- 2:59 - Interview begins
- 8:19 - Fighting on the front lines February 24, 2022 when Russia invades Ukraine
- 37:47 - Knowing they were encircled
- 50:33 - Being on the receiving end of an air strike
- 56:52 - Choosing to surrender and live
- 1:01:20 - Steps taken while preparing for surrender
- 1:09:09 - Being processed by Russion military after surrender
- 1:22:33 - Interrogations and beatings and getting stabbed
- 1:30:28 - Keeping spirits up in the cell
- and making propaganda videos
- 1:38:30 - False charges and getting sentanced to death
- 1:41:50 - What kept you going?
- 1:48:14 - Returning with dignity
- and being POW in the era of technology
- 1:56:04 - What did you want to do when you had your freedom?
- 2:02:43 - Are you going do anything differently now?
- 2:06:52 - Listener comments and shout outs
This video covers the following subjects:
- - Prisoner of War
- - Ukraine Marines
- - Tortured in Captivity by Russia
- - Ukraine Military
- - Ukraine War
- - POW
- - Modern POW