The 48-year-old former British soldier appeared tired and bruised in a short propaganda video aired by Russian media on Saturday night.

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 to six weeks and now I’m in Donetsk People’s Republic.”

It is not known when the video was filmed or what led to Pinner’s capture. He was fighting alongside his friend Aiden Aslin, 28, from Nottinghamshire, who is thought to have surrendered to the Russian military last week after his battalion ran out of ammunition.