Aiden Aslin is unshaven and has short hair as he sings “The State Anthem Of The Russian Federation” in a small room with bars over the windows and a table in the middle. The 28-year-old, from Newark, Nottinghamshire, wears blue trousers and a red shirt over a red T-shirt as he sings the anthem for around two minutes. Russia ‘storing weapons at nuclear plant’ – live war updates He stands alongside former US police officer John Duggan, who moved to Russia in 2016 and is now reported to be a prominent conspiracy theorist helping to spread pro-Moscow disinformation online. In the video, which was shared by Russia Today reporter Roman Kosarev on the Telegram messaging app on Friday, Mr Dougan shakes his head and smiles throughout the performance. He then applauds when Mr Ashlin stops singing and tells him the performance was ‘amazing’. In a post accompanying the video, Mr. Kosarev says that Mr. Ashlin’s relatives told him he had a talent for singing after hearing his hymn. Mr Dougan is then said to have asked Mr Aslin if he would be happy to sing the anthem on camera. “He happily agreed, and that was it,” adds Mr. Kosarev. Sky News chose not to show the video. Read more: Russian ambassador warns of ‘prolonged’ warVideo shows ‘last minutes’ of young girl killed in Russian strike Use Chrome browser for more accessible video player 0:18 June: Aiden Aslin reacts to the death penalty A former nurse, he joined the armed forces of Ukraine in 2018 Mr Ashlin is one of two Britons sentenced to death by a Russian-backed tribunal in June after fighting in Ukraine. The former care home worker and Shaun Pinner, 48, have been charged as mercenaries. Mr Ashlin joined the armed forces of Ukraine as a marine in 2018 and applied for citizenship. He also has a Ukrainian fiancee. The British fighter said “God will be the one to judge me when the time comes” after being sentenced to death. ‘The new reality has begun’ – listen to Ukraine’s War Diaries Use Chrome browser for more accessible video player 1:20 Britons sentenced to death Foreign Office slams ‘fake decisions’ Aslin and Piner were arrested in Mariupol in April during the intense battle for control of the Ukrainian port city, before appearing in court in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) – a self-proclaimed pro-Russian breakaway region in eastern Ukraine. According to Russia’s Interfax news agency, they were found guilty of “payroll activities and committing actions aimed at seizing power and subverting the constitutional order of the DPR.” The UK Foreign Office regards the verdicts as “false verdicts” and supports the families of Mr Ashlin and Mr Pinner. The men say they were serving in regular military units in Mariupol, so they should be protected as prisoners of war under the Geneva Convention. Mr Ashlin’s family said in a statement after the verdicts that the pair were not mercenaries and needed time to “take it all in”. He continued: “We love Aiden with all our hearts. He and Shaun, as members of the Ukrainian armed forces, should be treated with respect just like any other prisoner of war.” They said they hoped the sentence would be overturned and called on the British and Ukrainian governments to “do everything in their power to return us safely and quickly”. He added: “We can only imagine what they are going through right now. This is a very disturbing development.”
