Have definitely healed or, like, im now a lot bigger compared to when i was released. Im sure everyone would remember the images. I was a lot skinnier than i am now. But i think mentally, you know, im mentally better than i was, especially, like, just coming out of captivity. Erm, but as most people can probably observe, like, i still have, like, a lot of issues mentallyjust dealing with going back out into the big wide world after going through what we did go through. I am wondering how a youth in his late teens turning 20 could become so fixated on fighting in other peoples wars. Because thats what happened. Pretty much, erm, and i think. I think, like, the important thing to realise is. Is that, like, my childhood, like, when i was growing up, i never. Never had any aspirations to go into any sort of conflict or military setting. Like my sole goal in life was to grow up, become a police officer. That was like my goal, like, my career ambition. But it wasnt until 2014 when around tha
aiden aslin, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. it is just over a year since you were released from captivity after being held by the pro russian forces in occupied donetsk. looking at you, your physical scars have healed. what about your mental scars? erm, definitely my physical scars have definitely healed or, like, i m now a lot bigger compared to when i was released. i m sure everyone would remember the images. i was a lot skinnier than i am now. but i think mentally, you know, i m mentally better than i was, especially, like, just coming out of captivity. erm, but as most people can probably observe, like, i still have, like, a lot of issues mentallyjust dealing with going back out into the big wide world after going through what we did go through. i am wondering how a youth in his late teens turning 20 could become so fixated on fighting in other people s wars. because that s what happened. pretty much, erm, and i think.i think, like, the important thing to realise is.is t
yeah. and within 48 hours of being taken into captivity, you were subjected to really very serious physical abuse. definitely. and i think i wouldn t say so much the worst part in the way i look at it, like, i knew what was going to happen, like to a degree, just before i surrendered, because i had that opportunity to use the starlink system, which is the internet satellite that we had. i knew the best thing that i could do is take a. a pre surrender video just to tell people what s going to happen to us. did you imagine, as you did that pre surrender video that, my mother is going to watch this ? i actually sent it to her. so i said to her, like after i d spoken to her, like, just make this as public as possible. because my fear at that point was that i wouldn t be alive in the next 2a hours. i was expecting to just be executed because i had. i had already seen the videos and rumours of what wagner were doing to ukrainian soldiers.
executed because i had already seen the videos and rumours of what wagner were doing to ukrainian soldiers. the abuse was a beating. you also ended up being stabbed? yeah. where were you stabbed? just on the left shoulder. you survived all of that. but you do say, and you re very honest about your mindset through all of this, you say again that you tried to put up defensive walls in your mind, and the scale of the violence that was meted out on you, it sort of caved in those walls. yeah. so, when i think back to the moment when i was being beaten, i think one of the things that strikes out to me, at least from what i remember, i don t remember crying, but i remember screaming. and when it did stop and over time, from that moment when he showed me that he stabbed me, it was at that moment where and over time, from that moment when he showed me that he stabbed me,
in the next 2a hours. i was expecting to just be executed because i had already seen the videos and rumours of what wagner were doing to ukrainian soldiers. the abuse was a beating. you also ended up being stabbed? yeah. where were you stabbed? just on the left shoulder. you survived all of that. but you do say, and you re very honest about your mindset through all of this, you say again that you tried to put up defensive walls in your mind, and the scale of the violence that was meted out on you, it sort of caved in those walls. yeah. so when i think back to the moment when i was being beaten, i think one of the things that strikes out to me, at least from what i remember, i don t remember, like, crying, but i remember screaming. er, and when it did stop and over time, from that moment when he showed me that he stabbed me,