Substitute while the actions of the article are loading
Aiden Aslin, a British soldier fighting in Ukraine, spent weeks defending the besieged city of Mariupol from Russian attacks as block-by-block battles raged over control of the strategic port.
As Aslin’s unit, Ukraine’s 36th Marine Brigade, ran out of food, water and ammunition, he called his friend Brennan Phillips.
“The first thing he said was ‘surrender to the Russians,'” Phillips, a 36-year-old American, told The Washington Post about their conversation early Tuesday local time.
Aslin said his commander planned to hand over the unit within hours. And when Russian forces came for him, Aslin said he would “destroy his phone and throw it in the toilet,” Phillips said.
They knew this might be their last call. As they closed, Aslin texted him. “The last thing he said to me was, ‘Please don’t let them forget about me,'” Phillips said.
Phillips hasn’t heard of him since. The Washington Post was unable to contact Aslin. A Ukrainian official said on Thursday that some members of Aslin’s unit had been captured, but did not say whether anyone had surrendered.
In the days after Russia’s invasion, Ukraine is looking for volunteers from around the world. Some listened to the call, despite the risks. But Aslin joined the Ukrainian Marines long before the war – in 2018, according to Phillips – after a three-year stay in the fight against Islamic State with Syrian Kurdish forces.
There he met Phillips, who set up a team of combat medics in Syria and trained Kurdish and Western volunteers on the ground.
Aslin then tried to defend Donbass, a disputed region in eastern Ukraine, from pro-Russian separatists seeking more territory there.
Aslin settles in Ukraine. He got engaged. But that all changed on February 24, when Russian forces invaded.
Aslin soon became part of Ukraine’s last line of defense in Mariupol, which Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky recently described as crucial in preventing Russian forces from fortifying themselves in the east. “Mariupol is the heart of this war today,” Zelenski told the Associated Press on Sunday. “It simply came to our notice then. We are fighting, we are strong. If he stops beating, we will have weaker positions. “
Inside the terror in the bombed theater in Mariupol: “I kept hearing screams”
Aslin’s unusual story provides a window into the desperate situation in Mariupol, which is said to have been destroyed after a blockade left him without food, water, heat and humanitarian aid for more than a month. The constant Russian bombing has made it difficult to evacuate civilians. Mariupol Mayor Vadim Boychenko said on Wednesday that 50,000 to 70,000 people remain in and around the city. Earlier, he said more than 10,000 civilians had been killed.
For weeks, Aslin has spoken of his “disappointment” that Russian forces do not appear to be targeting his unit and others defending Mariupol, but rather “only civilians,” Phillips said.
Officials say Russian forces are behind attacks on a maternity hospital and theater in Mariupol, which killed several and injured dozens. Witnesses told The Post that Mariupol residents had been forcibly deported to Russian-controlled territory. Russia has been accused of committing war crimes in Mariupol and other parts of Ukraine.
Russia’s deliberate attacks on civilians in Mariupol are “war crimes”, says OSCE
Phillips said that when they spoke, Aslin looked “in a good mood” and seemed to “think about it for a long time.”
A day earlier, Aslin’s squad warned that it was heading into battle with declining supplies. Renewed attention to Mariupol comes as Russia reduces the ambitions of its military operation in Ukraine by withdrawing forces from the capital, Kyiv, and laying the groundwork for a major offensive in the east, according to US intelligence.
In a Facebook post, members of the 36th Marine Brigade said their unit had defended Mariupol for 47 days, but without supplies they faced death or capture.
Phillips said he told Aslin, “You have to find a way out. Do not give up.”
But Aslin, according to Phillips, said, “We have no choice, [we’re] completely surrounded, we have no ammunition, we have no food, we have no water, we have no ability to supply. “
Aslin expressed hope that he would be released as part of a prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Wednesday that 1,026 members of the 36th Marine Brigade “voluntarily laid down their arms and surrendered” near the Ilyich Ironworks north of the city. The ministry said 151 of them were injured and treated on the spot, after which they were later taken to a hospital in Mariupol. The group includes 162 officers and 47 women fighters, the ministry said.
Petro Andryushchenko, an adviser to the mayor of Mariupol, said on Wednesday that some members of the 36th Marine Brigade – “much, much less” than the number cited by Russia’s Defense Ministry – had been captured but not said if anyone had surrendered.
Aslin’s mother, Ang Wood, told the BBC that her son’s squad had surrendered because they did not have “weapons to fight”.
“I love my son, he is my hero – they are fighting like hell,” she told the BBC.
Ukraine is preparing for a new offensive as Russia strengthens its military forces in the east
Aslin stood out from Phillips when they met in Syria because he had a “heart for the people.”
A former caregiver of the elderly and disabled who volunteered, Aslin was “one of those people who was there for the right reasons,” Phillips said.
He “took care of the civilians while he was in Syria” and wanted to help end the war there. He has just extended his contract with the Ukrainian military for another six months, Phillips said when the invasion began.
Phillips posted a video on social media after his conversation with Aslin to draw attention to his friend’s story, he said.
“I realized that everything that happened to him after that was a documented war crime,” Phillips said, citing the Geneva Conventions, which said “prisoners of war must be treated humanely at all times.”
Now Phillips says he believes his friend is “either in Russian custody, he was killed, or worse.”
Add Comment