In this episode Saul and Patrick speak to Briton Aiden Aslin, who travelled to Ukraine in 2018 and enlisted with the Ukrainian 36th Naval Infantry Brigade. He describes his time on the frontlines in the Donbas before the full scale invasion was launched in February 2022, when he was deployed to Mariupol. Aiden was then surrounded by Russian forces in the Siege of Mariupol where he describes what it was like in the vast steel works complex in the final days of the siege before his surrender to Russian troops.

Join us next week for the second half of Aiden's interview when he describes his time in Russian captivity.

If you have any thoughts or questions, send them to battlegroundukraine@gmail.com.

Producer: James Hodgson

Twitter: @PodBattleground
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