Russia bears ‘full responsibility’ for death of Briton in Ukraine, UK says

The UK expressed its “deep concern” at reports on Friday that a Briton has died in captivity in the Donetsk People’s Republic, a Moscow-run separatist region in Ukraine, and summoned the Russian ambassador for talks.

“I am shocked to hear reports of the death of British aid worker Paul Urey while in the custody of a Russian proxy in Ukraine,” said foreign secretary Liz Truss. “Russia must bear the full responsibility for this. Those responsible will be held accountable,” she added.

Sir Tim Barrow, second permanent under-secretary at the Foreign Office, summoned ambassador Andrey Kelin to “clarify the status” of Urey and demand that Russia “meet all its obligations under international humanitarian law”, the Foreign Office said.

The Foreign Office said it wanted to meet the Russian ambassador “to express the UK’s deep concern at reports of the death of British National Paul Urey in captivity in the non-government controlled areas of Ukraine”.

It added that the UK held Moscow “responsible for the safety and welfare of civilians in the non-government-controlled areas of Ukraine”, including those within Donetsk and Luhansk.

Russian state media cited a statement from a separatist official who said Urey had “a number of chronic illnesses” including diabetes, respiratory damage and several heart problems. “Given the diagnoses and stress, he died on July 10,” it said.

“We’ve talked to the British government,” said Dominik Byrne, co-founder of UK-based non-governmental organisation the Presidium Network. “They have verified he has died. He had diabetes, which needed to be controlled with insulin.” The Foreign Office did not confirm Urey’s death.

Urey, 45, and Dylan Healy, 22, went missing near to Zaporizhzhia in southern Ukraine in April, Presidium reported at the time, adding that the Russian military had captured the two men at a checkpoint. The Foreign Office did not confirm or verify the details then.

The International Red Cross aid organisation asked repeatedly to visit Urey and Healy in prison, according to Presidium’s Byrne, but their requests were refused. The Red Cross did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

The Presidium Network, which carries out relief work in Ukraine and other communities in crisis, became involved in the case through a UK-based contact of the two men.

Urey and Healy were in Ukraine of their own accord, without the support of an organisation, and were driving to help evacuate a woman and two children, Presidium said. Byrne said Healy was still being held in the Donetsk region.

Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, both British, and Brahim Saadoun, a Moroccan, have been sentenced to death by a Russian proxy court in eastern Ukraine, the BBC reported last month. They were accused of being mercenaries. The court is not internationally recognised.