UK PM Johnson urges Russia to treat captured Briton with compassion

LONDON (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged  Russia to treat a Briton who was captured in Ukraine with compassion, adding that he had served in the Ukrainian army for some time and was not a mercenary.

Asked about a video of Aiden Aslin, a captured Briton who had joined the Ukrainian marines, Johnson urged the Russian state to treat him “humanely and compassionately”.

“Although… we actively dissuade people from going to that theatre of conflict, I understand that he’d been serving in the Ukrainian forces for some time and his situation was very different from that of a mercenary,” Johnson told lawmakers.

“I hope that he is treated with care and compassion.”

 

(Reporting by Muvija M and Farouq Suleiman, writing by Alistair Smout; editing by William James)