A British soldier who fought in Ukraine has shared harrowing pictures of himself before and after he was captured by pro- Russian forces.
The dramatic images show Aiden Aslin uninjured in Mariupol before his surrender and then him sitting in handcuffs with a large red mark on his forehead.
Aslin, who was previously sentenced to death, is now back in the UK after being released by pro- Kremlin thugs as part of a prisoner swap.
He has revealed how he was treated "worse than a dog" as a prisoner of war, with his captors stabbing and beating him, the Daily Star reports.
Sharing two images of himself before and after he was captured, Aslin said: "The first photo is a still from an hour before I surrendered to Russian forces on the 12th of April, the second photo is from 48 hours later. I’ll leave it for you to decide on your own opinion."
In a later tweet he added: "A heads up, The reason I’m highlighting the abuse I suffered is because I won’t share details on those who are still in jail I know others suffered much worse abuse then what I did, for their own security until they are freed & safe I won’t mention anything that could hurt them."
Aslin, from Newark in Nottinghamshire, was captured by Russian soldiers in April while fighting as a Ukrainian marine.
He has been active on Twitter under the handle Cossackgundi since his release on September 21, and took to the site yesterday to reveal his treatment at the hands of Vladimir Putin's twisted troops.
He tweeted: "The first photo is a still from an hour before I surrendered to Russian forces on the 12th of April, the second photo is from 48 hours later. I’ll leave it for you to decide on your own opinion.
In the first, he is seen looking worried but in otherwise good health in a trashed Mariupol.
In the second, however, he is seen looking beleaguered and bruised while wearing handcuffs.
Aslin, who has a Ukrainian fiancée and dual citizenship after moving to the country in 2018, was obviously made to pose by Russian troops as he is seen propping his arms arm while his eyes droop.
The Brit is tweeting from the comfort of the UK after he returned home after being sentenced to death in the so-called Donetsk People's Republic [DPT] for "mercenary activities and committing actions aimed at seizing power and overthrowing the constitutional order of the DPR."
On Sunday evening, Aslin took to social media to express his gratitude to tech billionaire Elon Musk whose satellite internet constellation he used to contact loved ones.
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He captioned a video of himself in an abandoned, war-torn warehouse in which he opens by saying: "If you're watching this it means that we've surrendered."
Aiden wrote on Sunday: "Before I surrendered, I made this video I was so scared at this moment but the fact I was able to get this out truly is down to @elonmusk & I want to take a moment to thank you because of your starlink satellite I could inform the world & managed to call my family one last time."
