British mercenary says he was ‘duped’ into Ukraine conflict by Western media
A UK national captured in Donbass says he has been abandoned by both Kiev and London
A UK citizen who fought for the Ukrainian forces in Mariupol before surrendering in mid-April has told RT that he regrets his decision to fight for Kiev.
Aiden Aslin said the Western media had played a major role in convincing him to support the Ukrainian cause and eventually made him a “pawn” in a political game.
He was speaking to RT in an interview before a court in Donetsk sentenced him and two other foreigners to death on charges of acting as mercenaries and seeking to seize power by force in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR).
Aslin said he had followed the Ukrainian conflict since 2014 and was “originally pro-Russian” and “pro-Donbass.” He supported Crimea’s reunification with Russia and believes the people of Donbass have a right to independence.
“My views started to change after I started seeing media reports and stuff that was basically saying that it was not locals but the Russian soldiers that were doing everything [in Donbass],” Aslin admitted, adding that he was watching CNN as well as BBC and Fox News. Since surrendering to the DPR militia, he has found that he has more in common with the Donbass soldiers than Ukrainians with whom he had fought.
I was kind of duped.
The Briton said he even received threats from fighters of the infamous Azov Battalion, known for its neo-Nazi ideology. Aslin said he believed Azov had changed since being incorporated in the Ukrainian National Guard but eventually saw firsthand that “they have not changed much.”
https://www.rt.com/russia/556897-british-mercenary-ukraine-western-media/
I really think that they should have never got the death penalty. The media here in the UK is crooked and spews propaganda about how innocent Ukraine is.
People are responsible for their own actions. Period. The correct info was out their for years. I know that I can listen to stupid and underhanded people, and might pay with my life. I will say a prayer for them.
These foreign fighters should get the death penalty. They knew that was a possibility, or should have, before they got involved in someone else's fight. I don't understand someone who is willing to travel to a foreign county, get paid to kill people in a conflict that is not his and he doesn't understand what is really going on. This guy says he was duped. Don't you think this was a serious enough decision that you might want to really know what you're getting into before you jump in? You researched, or not. You decided you had to join the Ukrainian forces. Now you had an epiphany. Too late. Be a man and take your execution with dignity.
I kind of agree with you. If he did not know the rules going in, it's his fault. If he knew the rules, that if he got caught he might face the death penalty, and chose to go anyway, he can't now think his predicament is unfair.