Shaun Pinner: Sandy man captured by Russians talks about ordeal and life after release

A man from Bedfordshire captured and sentenced to death by Russia has spoken about his experience – a year on from the start of the war.

Shaun Pinner from Sandy had lived in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol for nearly five years when Russia invaded last February. The former soldier served in the Royal Anglian Regiment and joined the Ukrainian Armed Forces. He was on routine deployment when Russia first invaded its neighbour just over a year ago.

As his platoon was surrounded by Russian forces during the siege of Mariupol the 49-year-old called his wife, Larysa, saying: “It’s over. We're surrounded. We might never get out.” Her words of encouragement telling him to survive and fight were the beacon of hope he held onto as he was taken away.

In the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic in eastern Ukraine, Shaun was interrogated by Russian soldiers.

He explained: “I was tortured, electrocuted and I was stabbed in the leg. For the first 50 days, all I had was bread and water and by the time I hit the trial, I was about 60 kilos and I looked like I had been to Belsen or Auschwitz.”

He added: “We didn't know where we were.”

Shaun said the worst method of torture was starvation. He said: “The only time they would give us food was just for propaganda. They'd film us eating a burger or sandwich. They’d tell everyone they were treating us well.”

For nearly two months, he was held on his own before being moved to a cell with other Westerners. During a show trial, Shaun was one of three men sentenced to death with Russian state media branding him a 'Nazi mercenary terrorist’.

Regarding Vladimir Putin, Shaun said: “He will be found out. His narratives are falling apart.”

In September, Shaun and fellow Britons boarded a flight – but its destination was unknown. When the doors closed, it was announced that there would be a prisoner swap and, given a safe departure out of Russian airspace, he would be free. After stopping off in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the former prisoners were flown to the UK.

He explained: “I was reunited with my family and we just spent 10 minutes not saying a word, just crying. It was just so good to be out.”

Shaun likened the bombing and behaviour of Russian forces in Mariupol to the ethnic cleansing he witnessed during a mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He said: “I don't know what gain out of that – destroying the whole city and displacing those people. It’s the ethnic cleansing that really gets you, I was in Bosnia in the 90s so it's very much reminiscent of those times.”

Shaun is with his wife and is now talking around the world about captivity, interrogation training and his time as a prisoner of war.

When asked how he would feel about going back to rebuild his life in Mariupol, Shaun said: “It's never gonna be the same again. It's flattened. The place is decimated.” And he added the war was “probably going to get worse before it gets better”.