And in a clip to plug the forthcoming broadcast, the former care worker is shown with a nasty cut and bruise to his forehead, suggesting he may already have been brutally beaten by Russian troops.
Meanwhile the 28-year-old’s mother admitted she was “in bits” – and called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to adhere to the Geneva Convention.
Mr Aslin, from Newark in Nottinghamshire, known by his Twitter handle, Cossack Gundi, moved to Ukraine in 2018, having fallen in love with a woman from the city of Mykolaiv, in Ukraine’s south-west, and subsequently joined the Ukrainian armed forces. His family says he has dual Ukrainian/British citizenship.
Earlier this week, he confirmed via social media he had been left with little choice but to surrender after his 36th Marine Brigade ran out of supplies and ammunition, with Russian troops poised to capture the southern port city.
In the unsettling footage, he is shown wearing handcuffs, with facial bruising and a deep laceration to his head. A voiceover describes him as “an English mercenary who fought on the side of the Nazis in Mariupol”. It adds: “Many lost him, but we found him. An interesting interview is coming soon.”
The interview was promoted by prominent state television correspondent Andrey Rudenko.
She continued: “Possibly there is hope for a prisoner swap arranged by the Ukrainians. I’m in bits. My son will be scared just as we are.”
As many as 1,000 men from the 36th, 300 of them wounded, are believed to have been taken prisoner.
Earlier this week, Aiden’s brother Nathan Wood, 25, said: “I’ve read about how the Ukrainian troops on Snake Island were tortured after their capture.
“Aiden is British so maybe the situation will be different, but Putin gave dire warnings as to the fate of any foreigners who fought on the side of Ukraine.
Mr Wood added: “My thoughts are that he could be used as some sort of propaganda tool, a trophy prisoner. The most difficult thing is not knowing what the end game will be.
“I hope there is something that can be done diplomatically because I face the possibility of never seeing my brother again. If he survives this, he may spend the rest of his life locked away in a Russian prison.”
