LONDON, England: The non-profit organization Presidium Network has announced that five British prisoners of war captured in Ukraine have been released by Russia, as part of an exchange between Moscow and Kyiv.
The five, Aiden Aslin, Shaun Pinner, John Harding, Dylan Healy and Andrew Hill, have arrived back in the UK.
In a statement, Presidium Network, which conducts relief work in Ukraine, including evacuations, said it was thankful to all parties who helped bring back the five.
Aslin and Pinner were captured by Russian-backed forces in the city of Mariupol in April. They were then sentenced to death by a court in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, a Russian proxy in eastern Ukraine.
In a statement released by the UK Foreign Office, the Pinner family thanked everybody involved, including the British and Ukrainian governments, stressing, “Shaun would also like to thank the hospitality of the Saudi Government and Prince Mohammed bin Salman al Saud, who also assisted in the negotiations for his freedom.”
Along with Moroccan Brahim Saadoun, Aslin and Pinner were found guilty of “mercenary activities and committing actions aimed at seizing power and overthrowing the constitutional order of the DPR.”
Healy, a humanitarian worker, was detained in April alongside Paul Urey, who died while imprisoned, Harding and Hill were serving with Ukrainian forces.
