Aiden Aslin from Nottingham had been fighting for Ukraine since 2018. Graham Phillips, from the same British city, was a self-styled ‘independent journalist’ filming the war up close since 2014, from a viewpoint that appears to be sympathetic to Russia. But just months after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the pair had a chilling encounter in a prison in the occupied city of Donetsk. Aiden was now a prisoner of war, and Graham was his interviewer. The 44 minute video filmed by Graham Phillips was uploaded to YouTube - changing both of their lives forever.
Two Nottingham Lads begins with this disturbing video, and traces the lives of these two men back to understand how they got there and what motivated them? How did their parallel lives take such different turns, even if they ended up in the same dark place?
What makes you pick a side in a war that’s not your own?
It’s presented by Paul Kenyon, a reporter and author who has covered conflict and corruption for the BBC across his career. Over four episodes he recalls his own memories of the war in Ukraine, something he has followed up close for over a decade. Through interviews with Aiden, his family and comrades – and people who know Graham well – Paul explores the blurred lines between combatant, journalist, and propagandist in the digital age. This is a history series for the present moment—urgent, unfolding, and uncomfortably cle – about a war that is still shaping the lives of our two men from Nottingham.
Two Nottingham Lads is a Message Heard Production for BBC Radio 4