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Reuters
Reuters
Politics

UK PM Johnson urges Russia to treat captured Briton with compassion

A still image taken from Russian state TV footage that it said shows Aiden Aslin, a British fighter captured in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol by Russian forces, at an unknown location, in a still image from a video released on April 18, 2022. RURTR/RUSSIAN STATE TV CHANNEL ROSSYIA 1/Handout via REUTERS TV

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged Russia to treat a Briton who was captured in Ukraine with compassion, adding that he had served in the Ukrainian army for some time and was not a mercenary.

Asked about a video of Aiden Aslin, a captured Briton who had joined the Ukrainian marines, Johnson urged the Russian state to treat him "humanely and compassionately".

"Although... we actively dissuade people from going to that theatre of conflict, I understand that he'd been serving in the Ukrainian forces for some time and his situation was very different from that of a mercenary," Johnson told lawmakers.

"I hope that he is treated with care and compassion."

(Reporting by Muvija M and Farouq Suleiman, writing by Alistair Smout; editing by William James)

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