Furious British ex-soldier who was captured by Russia while fighting for Ukraine blasts Trump’s ‘repugnant’ peace plan
British hero Shaun Pinner, who fought against Russia in Mariupol, criticized Donald Trump’s peace plan as ‘surrender under the guise of diplomacy’.
The former Anglican Royal soldier captured by Moscow told the Mail on Sunday: ‘This is disgusting. I’m sick with anger.
‘This so-called 28-point ‘peace plan’ appears less like a strategy for a just and lasting solution and more like a plan to attempt to appease Putin, tie Ukraine’s hands, take away its right to defend itself and reward the aggressor with no intention of stopping.
‘A peace plan that protects the perpetrator and punishes the victim is not peace. ‘This is a surrender disguised as diplomacy.’
Pinner, 51, served in the British army at the age of 17 and moved to Ukraine in 2018 to help rebuild the army after Russia annexed Crimea and invaded Donbas in 2014.
He defended Mariupol following Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion in February 2022 and was finally captured two months later after a heroic defense.
Pinner was starved, tortured and sentenced to death before Roman Abramovich helped secure his freedom in September.
He has stayed in Ukraine with his wife Laryssa, whom he met out there, and says Kyiv can still defeat Putin if the West stands firm.
‘We don’t just make their nose bleed, we tie them up with ropes,’ he said. ‘We give them some right uppercuts.’
Shaun Pinner (pictured) was captured by Russian forces during the siege of Mariupol in April 2022.
He has since branded Donald Trump’s 28-point peace plan for Ukraine ‘capitulation disguised as diplomacy’
Referring to the daring operation to send trucks loaded with drones deep into Russian territory and destroy some of Putin’s most valuable bombers, Pinner said: ‘They had a running count of things like Operation Spider Web.
‘They no longer dominate the Black Sea. And now we see Russia being bombed almost every day.’
Regarding Ukraine’s morale, he said: ‘There is a fight. There is a desire to fight. Ukrainians did not give up. People are tired. Things like corruption scandals don’t help.
‘But I still tell people this is a functioning democracy. But I have reservations about the number of troops we have.’
Although Russia has claimed to have captured the key Donbas city of Pokrovsk in recent weeks, Pinner doubts this claim but said that even if they did, it was not the great victory Moscow claimed.
He said Putin’s forces in the city outnumbered Ukraine ‘eight to one’ and that defending it was part of a ‘strategic plan’ to ‘exhaust the enemy’s ability to advance’.
‘You must keep your motivation high to move towards the goal, which is to deplete the enemy’s resources so that Kiev can survive,’ he said.
‘I was there a year ago in November and the Russians were eight kilometers away. And if we take the bare facts of last year, they only penetrated eight kilometers into the city at an incredibly damaging cost.
Shaun Pinner stayed in Ukraine with his wife Laryssa (pictured), whom he met in the eastern European country.
‘There is a fight. There is a desire to fight. “The Ukrainians did not give up,” Pinner (photo taken behind bars on June 8, 2022) said of Ukraine’s will.
‘And if they take Pokrovsk it will be extremely difficult for them to advance. They will be completely exhausted, completely exhausted. And winter is coming.”
While much of the media has focused on Ukraine’s low morale with the arrival of winter amid the corruption scandal that has rocked Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s government, Pinner insists Moscow is suffering more.
‘Putin wants that cup,’ he said. ‘He needs that trophy to show the Russians. I think the pressure on Putin is completely underreported.
You look at the pressure its economy is under. He needs Pokrovsk, he needs a victory, because otherwise he will fall into winter, when everything will slow down.
‘You’re going to have a harsh winter and all it’s going to take away this year is body bags, coffins, not really any profit.’
