THE mum of freed Brit PoW Aiden Aslin has told how Vladimir Putin’s goons sent her distressing videos of her son — but she defiantly told them to “f**k off”.
Angela Wood, 51, was contacted throughout the five months her son was held by the Russian tyrant’s soldiers, but showed true British grit in dealing with them.
The clips showed Aiden — released this week as part of a prisoner swap — with his hands bound and being yelled at by his tormentors in a hellhole jail in Russian-held Donetsk, Ukraine.
Similar images were sent to the family of former British soldier Shaun Pinner, who was captured by the Russians during the siege of Mariupol in April.
Mum-of-three Angela was repeatedly warned she would only see her son alive again if she put pressure on Boris Johnson to secure the release of oligarch Viktor Medvedchuk, 68.
She told The Sun: “They knew how vulnerable the families were, how anxious we felt, and they tried to turn the screw in a bid to take us to breaking point.
“The videos would arrive on WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter.
"They knew we were suffering and they tried to exploit it for their own gains.
“It was extremely hard to deal with — but we refused to play their games. As a mum, you’ll do everything to stop your children being harmed.
“You don’t want to see your son tied and bound. I could hear Russians in the background demanding things.
"But I refused to be cowed so I fought back. I told them to f**k off every time.”
Angela said support from the parents of other PoWs, the Foreign Office, MPs and the Ukrainian ambassador helped her to keep her resolve.
She explained: “Without their help, I don’t think we would have stood up as much as we did against Putin.
“He wasn’t going to have Aiden — and they weren’t going to use him to get their way.”
Aiden, 28, who was sentenced to death after a sham trial, spent the day with his family in Newark, Notts, yesterday after he was freed on Tuesday and flown to Riyadh on a Saudi diplomatic jet.
His release was brokered by ex-Chelsea boss Roman Abramovich, 55, who was on the flight.
Five hostages — Aiden, Shaun, 48, John Harding, 59, Andrew Hill, 35, and Dylan Healy, 22 — were then flown home to Britain.
Russian Abramovich, who is sanctioned by Britain, is said to have tried to play peacemaker when his ex-pal Putin invaded Ukraine.
In an emotional message to the oligarch, Angela said: “I want to thank you so much. I’ll forever be grateful.”
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