Mum of man captured by Russians just wants her 'hero' son back

A heartbroken mum has spoken out after her son was taken prisoner while serving alongside the Ukrainian marines.

Ang Wood, mother of Aiden Aslin, has now said that she wants "her hero back" after footage emerged of him being paraded in front of cameras by Russian troops. Speaking to Nottinghamshire Live from St Mary Magdalene Church, Ang has recalled the turmoil of the past week without direct contact with her son.

"I came here [the church] a few times since his capture and it is the only place that is like a shelter to me apart from my home. Two weeks ago I got a phone call from him saying 'I think we are surrendering, we have no ammunition, no food, we have no water.

Read more: Five million people have now fled Ukraine

"And then last Tuesday, early hours, I got to speak to Aiden again. It was a very short message that he was surrendering." Aiden had been fighting alongside his Marine unit in the southeastern city of Mariupol which has been subject to frequent shelling from invading Russian forces.

Mariupol's mayor noted that around 21,000 civilians in the city had been killed since the war began, emphasising the danger of the warzone. Meanwhile, Russia claimed more than 1,000 Ukrainian from the 36th Marine Brigade had surrendered in the ruined Mariupol.

The 28-year-old left his hometown of Nottinghamshire and moved to Ukraine in 2018 where he soon joined the military. He has been described by his mum as a "charismatic individual, very loveable, who was a man of the world and loved travelling".

His passion to explore led him to Ukraine where he discovered the "love of his life" who he had planned to marry. Before fighting in Ukraine, Aiden fought two tours with the Kurdish YPG group in Syria against so-called Islamic