Freed Brit prisoner of war Aiden Aslin’s mum has told how she was sent sickening videos by Vladimir Putin ’s supporters of her son but she just told them to “f*** off”.
Angela Wood has said how Russian separatists holding Mr Aslin, over a period she described as "torture" for the family, would contact her asking her for money.
But now she has also revealed that they would also send videos during the five months that Mr Aslin was held.
She was given clips of the prisoner of war with his hands tied and being screamed at by prison guards at the prison in the Donetsk region of Ukraine held by the Russian separatists.
Ms Wood was told to put pressure on the UK government to release Russian oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk, who was being held by the Ukrainians, and that was the only way she would see her son alive again.
“They knew how vulnerable the families were, how anxious we felt, and they tried to turn the screw in a bid to take us to breaking point,” she told The Sun.
“The videos would arrive on WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter. They knew we were suffering and they tried to exploit it for their own gains.
“It was extremely hard to deal with — but we refused to play their games. As a mum, you’ll do everything to stop your children being harmed. You don’t want to see your son tied and bound. I could hear Russians in the background demanding things. But I refused to be cowed so I fought back. I told them to f**k off every time.”
Mr Aslin's release last Tuesday was confirmed by his local MP Robert Jenrick.
He has also now been reunited with his Ukrainian fiancée, Diana Okovyta, who shared a photo of the couple together after he arrived back to the UK.
Mr Aslin was captured earlier this year in Mariupol and then sentenced to death by a court in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic.
Aiden was forced to sing the Russian national anthem and praise his captors in twisted videos posted online.
He was held captive along with fellow detainee 48 year-old Shaun Pinner, a former British soldier who had been a member of the Royal Anglian Regiment.
The two along with other British prisoners of war John Harding, Andrew Hill and Dylan Healy were all flown back to the UK with Saudi Arabia's Prince Mohammed bin Salman believed to have played an instrumental part in their release.
