Newark's Aiden Aslin is alive but he may still be in besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol

After days of not knowing, news has emerged in the past few minutes Newark's Aiden Aslin is alive.

The 28-year-old has been staving-off the Russian invasion of Ukraine in the besieged and cut-off strategically-important south-eastern port city of Mariupol.

Widely expected to fall quickly, Mariupol continues to hold out against the Russian aggressor despite having been encircled for a large part of the war, now in its 16th day, and is seen as a beacon of resistance and now hope.

The city is without electricity or water. The civilian population remains trapped with a humanitarian corridor opened up to allow escape should the Russians stop shelling.

Aiden, who holds dual UK and Ukrainian citizenship, is with a unit of the Ukraine Marine Corps, and no-one knew whether he was dead or alive.

However, the best possible update arrived moments ago when the friend managing an online account for Aiden while he is at war posted: "Minutes ago I heard word from his (Ukrainian) fiancee that he was in touch with her.

"This is amazing news!

"Many of you had been asking about his unit taking casualties.

"We decided to keep quiet although we'd heard he wasn't among the reported dead. We had to know for sure before we said anything, and sometimes the identification takes time.

"The important part is that he's alive.

"How's that for an update!"

It is unclear how Aiden managed to get word out and it is assumed that he may still be in Mariupol.