Featured Image Credit: East2West News
Topics: Ukraine
Tom Sanders
A second British volunteer fighter has been captured by Russian forces in Ukraine whilst defending the besieged city of Mariupol, and has been paraded by his captors on state TV.
Ex-British Army soldier Sean Pinner, 48, was known to be serving as a ‘contract soldier’ in Kyiv alongside Ukrainian forces.
Advert
But in a chilling new video shared by Russian media, a tired looking Pinner can be seen testifying on camera about his role in the conflict.
Speaking directly to the camera, he says: "Hi I'm Shaun Pinner, I am a citizen of the UK.
"I was captured in Mariupol. I am part of the 36 Brigade First Battalion Ukrainian Marines.
"I was fighting in Mariupol for five-six weeks and now I'm in Donetsk People's Republic."
The footage was broadcast on a military TV channel linked to war journalist Andrey Rudenko, who also interviewed another captured British fighter, Aiden Aslin, on behalf of the Kremlin earlier this month.
Advert
Aslin, a 28-year-old former care worker, was captured last week. He had also been fighting in Ukraine in the same trenches outside Mariupol as Pinner.
The latest clip was posted on Twitter with the caption: "Another mercenary was caught in Mariupol.
"Shaun Pinner is an English mercenary. He says that he no longer needs the war and he wants to go home. He won't make it home.
"Captured Ukrainian soldiers testify about the atrocities of foreign mercenaries. And after the trial, they face the death penalty."
Advert
Pinner now faces interrogation by the Russian Investigative Committee, it was announced today.
He was described as 'an English mercenary who served in the Ukrainian Armed Forces Marines as a stormtrooper and is now in captivity'.
Pinner’s friends expressed deep concern for his safety amid fears that he may be tried as a spy by Russian authorities.
Shaun was previously filmed fighting alongside the Ukrainians at the start of the war.
Advert
Shaun, who moved to Mariupol four years ago to be with his second wife Larysa, joined the Ukrainian Army as a 'contract soldier'.
Russian propagandists claimed he had been killed in Mariupol at the end of last month, but it was later revealed that he had merely been injured and was residing in a field hospital.
Chris Garrett, who fought alongside Shaun in the Donbas in 2014, told The Sun: "He was wounded by shrapnel from a tank round in Mariupol and is in a military hospital.
"I'm told right now he's not dead and I trust the people who have told me. They're also British.
Advert
"I hope their information is right. It's entirely possible that the photocopy of his passport that the Russians were hawking around were looted from another place and used for propaganda."
Shaun previously served in the Royal Anglian Regiment and is originally from Bedfordshire.
If you would like to donate to the Red Cross Emergency Appeal, which will help provide food, medicines and basic medical supplies, shelter and water to those in Ukraine, click here for more information.