The freed men revealed the news to Co Down man, Alec Pettet on a London-bound flight from Saudi Arabia
Russian tycoon Roman Abramovich played a key role in negotiating the release of five British POWs from their Ukraine prison hell, it has been claimed.
Saudi officials had given the men I-phones so they could call home and when they landed at Heathrow they were de-briefed and quizzed by officials before joining their families. Mr Pettet said he spoke to the men after hearing one of them had been shot while in Ukraine and added that the five Britons were seated together and although they appeared exhausted by their ordeal, they remained in good spirits and were happy to chat with other passengers.
"I explained that I'd read about them in the paper and then I'd realised who they were when I heard Andrew tell one of the air stewardesses that he'd been shot in Ukraine. I guessed they were the detainees who had been released. They were in good spirits and one of them, John Harding, even joked about being disappointed about how he looked in the paper.
In a separate video filmed by Mr Aslin, he said: "We just want to let everyone know that we're now out of the danger zone and we're on our way home to our families." The next court hearing in their case was scheduled for October. Ten others were released included citizens of Sweden, Croatia and Morocco, as well as two US military veterans, Alex Drueke, 40, and Andy Huynh, 27. Another 200 Ukrainian prisoners were also swapped in exchange for 68 year-old oligarch and pro-Russian opposition leader Viktor Medvedchuk.
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