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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Charlie Jones

Brit fighter captured in Ukraine shares horror of being electrocuted in Russia torture

A former British soldier captured fighting in Ukraine has revealed how he was tortured and repeatedly electrocuted by his captors.

Shaun Pinner, 49, was living in his adopted city of Mariupol when the war broke out and was captured there towards the end of his contract training Ukrainian soldiers.

He had planned to go into a humanitarian role after the end of his work.

Talking to Sky, he revealed how he was left with his "muscles were popping out of his body" and bleeding from his legs, after his captors attached clips and ran 200 volts of electricity through him.

He was tied up, cut, beaten and repeatedly called a Nazi during the horrific affair.

The repeated shocks caused Mr Pinner's legs to inflate and he was left unable to walk

Shaun Pinner during his interview about his time as a captive (Sky)

He said: "I was screaming.

"And then I had 200 volts go through me on the chair. I couldn't feel my leg anymore."

He was charged with being a foreign mercenary and therefore was not considered elligible for the protections afforded captive Ukrainian soldiers.

He was sentenced to death by the Supreme Court of the Russian puppet state People's Republic of Donetsk.

Pinner had joined the Ukrainian armed forces after serving with the British Army, fighting in both Bosnia and later volunteering against ISIS.

After retiring from the British Army, he moved with his Ukrainian wife to Mariupol and joined the local armed forces there in 2018.

When the war broke out and Mariupol was surrounded, he was captured in April 2022.

The European Court of Human Rights ordered Russia not to kill Pinner and fello British-born prisoner Aiden Aslin but Russia claimed they were no longer bound by that Court.

They were freed in September 2022 during a prisoner exchange in a deal reportedly organised by ex-Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich.

British citizens Aiden Aslin (L) and Pinner (R) and Moroccan Saaudun Brahim (C) attend a sentencing hearing (STRINGER/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)

He had previously spoken out about how he was abused by his captors after they found out he was a West Ham supporter.

When he was asked what team he supported, he was buzzed with a cattle prod for saying it was the London team.

He quickly changed his answer to the local Ukrainian football team.

"I said 'Shakhtar Donetsk, Shakhtar Donetsk!' and they were laughing and building that rapport," he said.

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