Ukraine: British man fighting in Mariupol 'forced to surrender'

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The family of Aiden Aslin says he told them his unit has no weapons left to fight with.

The family of a British man fighting in Ukraine said he has told them he will have to surrender to Russian forces.

Aiden Aslin, from Newark in Nottinghamshire, has been fighting in Ukraine since he moved there in 2018, and became a marine in the country’s military.

His unit has recently been defending the besieged city of Mariupol, which has been heavily bombarded by Russia.

His mother Ang Wood said her son told her he had no choice.

“He called me and said they have no weapons left to fight,” she said.

“I love my son, he is my hero – they put up one hell of a fight.”

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Ms Wood said her son – a former care worker who previously fought with Kurdish armed units in Syria against so-called Islamic State – “sounded okay”, but called for the UK government to provide more support to Ukraine.

“Boris [Johnson] needs to take [Vladimir] Putin down,” she added.

Brennan Philips, a friend of Mr Aslin who also spoke to him by phone, said he sounded “strong and in good spirits”.

“He called me and said ‘we have no food, no supplies, no ammo, we’re completely surrounded, we have to surrender’,” he said.

“Aiden was very well aware of what was going on, very calm.

“They can’t get out, they can’t fight back so they had no choice.

“I’m sure if they had a bullet left they would have shot it.”