Behind-the-story: A British volunteer soldier turned twitter persona
The war in Ukraine has been fought on two fronts: on land against Russian troops – and on social media. Aiden Aslin, a British national fighting with the Ukrainian forces, personified these simultaneous struggles.
The former care worker from Newark, in Nottinghamshire, was engaged in the very real fight against Russian troops. But was also one of those sharing a continuous stream of their experiences on social media in a bid to disrupt Kremlin propaganda.
Aslin, who goes by the name Johnny, has amassed thousands of followers with his twitter account (@cossackgundi). Yesterday, the volunteer soldier who once also travelled to Syria to fight against Islamic State was captured by Russian forces in Mariupol.
The news of his capture was broken by a statement tweeted on his behalf. “It’s been a pleasure everyone, I hope this war ends soon” it said.