text: British hostage in Chechnya describes ordeal . LONDON 1996-08-24 A British aid worker , held hostage in Chechnya for nearly four weeks , said on Saturday a cocked Kalashnikov had been thrust into his mouth at one point during his ordeal . Michael Penrose , a 23-year-old worker with the group Action Against Hunger , described his ordeal to a news conference when he arrived back in Britain from Moscow . " The worst period of physical manhandling was during that time when we were beaten with Kalashnikovs and at one point I had a Kalashnikov held to the back of my throat -- cocked , " he said . " For the first period we were held in a small room with no bed or anything . We had very little food and sometimes went two or three days without eating . " Gunmen seized Penrose , who comes from Swerford in southern England , Frenchman Frederic Malardeau and six other hostages from their car in Grozny , the capital of Chechnya , on July 27 . The assailants had demanded a ransom of 300,000 pounds ( $ 465,000 ) but no money was paid by the charity when they were released on Wednesday . The hostages were held in a house in or near Grozny which was bombarded regularly . " During the last 15 days of being held , the fighting in Grozny was very close . At first it was street fighting outside the house and then we came under very heavy shelling and bombardment from conventional weapons like tanks , artillery and grenade launchers , " he said . Penrose had been working for the charity which provides food to civilians for only a few weeks before he was captured . When asked if he would return to the mountainous region where rebels have been fighting Russian troops for full independence , Penrose said : " Not for the time being . I do n't think it 's safe for me . But maybe in the future , depending on the circumstances . "