Aiden Aslin: Newark ex-soldier captured by Russia set for Ukraine return

Aiden Aslin and fiancée Diana Okovyta plan to return to Ukraine soon

A former soldier who was captured and held hostage by Russians says he will return to live in Ukraine.

Aiden Aslin, from Newark, was given a death sentence after being detained by Russian-backed forces in Mariupol before he was freed last year.

He told the BBC's Ukrainecast podcast he would be heading back to Ukraine with his fiancée, Diana Okovyta, who is from the country.

Once there he is aiming to start a career in conflict journalism.

Aiden Aslin was speaking on the Ukrainecast podcast

Mr Aslin - who has written a book about his time in captivity - said he had to finish the process of discharging from the Ukrainian army, after which he and Ms Okovyta would look to settle down.

"It's going to be a long drive and hopefully everything will go as planned," he said.

"There's always the risk that you might get injured or killed in one of the air attacks, but because we've lived in Ukraine for so long, life goes on, especially for a family that's over there."

Aiden Aslin, photographed here in Syria, had been fighting alongside the Ukrainian army when he was captured

Mr Aslin also told the podcast of the experience of being held by Russian soldiers for months, which only came to an end after intense negotiations.

"It's like some old Soviet sort of police thing," he said.

"There's no beds, just concrete floor, no toilet, and they give you like a tiny piece of bread a day, just one piece, and then they also give you a two-litre bottle to share amongst everyone, so you'd be lucky if you get maybe a quarter of a cup of water.

"So it's just the bare minimum to just keep you alive, and then on top of this, you have people that will get taken out - they'll find out something about them, and you just hear them being beaten."

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