A Brit prisoner of war says he was stabbed, beaten and forced to listen to Soviet music 24 hours a day after he was captured by Russian forces in Ukraine.
Aiden Aslin shared his traumatic ordeal following his release from captivity alongside four other Brits on Wednesday ( September 21).
The 28-year-old, from Nottingham, says he had been in the war-torn country for several years and was already serving with the army before Putin declared war.
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He bravely opened up about his horrific experience and admitted he didn't think he would survive.
Fighting in one of the war’s hotspots in Mariupol, his battalion ran out of food and ammunition during the city’s siege in April.
He desperately rang up his mum and Ukrainian girlfriend before they all surrendered and said: "No matter what, I will see you again."
But when he was captured, Mr Aslin said his captors punched him when they realised he was British. They then separated him from the others and began interviewing him.
He was taken to the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, where he was beaten during an interrogation prior to the Russian-backed forces announcing his capture to the world.
He told The Sun: "The officer was smoking a cigarette and knelt down in front of me to ask, 'Do you know who I am?' I said 'no' and he replied in Russian, 'I am your death'.
"He said, 'Did you see what I did to you?'. He pointed to my back. He showed me his knife and I realised he'd stabbed me.
"He then asked me, 'Do you want a quick death or a beautiful death?'.”
Aiden asked for a quick death but said the Russian “smiled” and said it wouldn’t be fast.
In July the captured Brit was sentenced to death in a Donetsk court with fellow countryman Shaun Pinner.
During the ordeal, he described wanting to cry but not being able to as it was all a “matter of surviving”.
Despite the torture and death sentence, the Brit said he was sure he would make it back to his loved ones sooner or later.
It is understood Mr Aslin, Mr Pinner, John Harding, Dylan Healy and Andrew Hill, landed in Britain in the early hours of Thursday morning.
Mr Harding, Mr Pinner and Mr Aslin were hailed as defenders of "democracy and freedom" by their former commander in Ukraine.
They are believed to have served in the Georgian Legion, a pro-Ukrainian volunteer unit, under Mamuka Mamulashvili.
"All those guys did their best to defend democracy and freedom," Mr Mamulashvili said.
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