Paul Urey, a 45-year-old British citizen, died of “illness and stress” in a prison in Donetsk, the territory’s pro-Russian separatist authorities said Friday, July 15, calling him a “mercenary”. “Despite the gravity of his crimes, Paul Urey was receiving adequate medical assistance. Despite this, he died on July 10,” said the human rights officer of the Moscow-controlled Donetsk People’s Republic.
His capture, at a roadblock in the Zaporijia region, was made public at the end of April. Paul Urey’s mother then indicated that her son was on a humanitarian mission, that he suffered from diabetes and needed insulin.
“Russia must bear full responsibility”
A non-profit organization based in the United Kingdom, Presidium Network, had confirmed that Paul Urey and Dylan Healy, another Briton, had been captured by the Russian army in southern Ukraine , as they sought to evacuate a woman and two children. Paul Urey is presented by Presidium Network as a family man who did not serve in the army, but spent eight years in Afghanistan as a civilian contractor.
Saying she was “shocked” by the news of the death, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss warned that “Russia [must] bear full responsibility.” The separatist territory of Donetsk has sentenced two other Britons and a Moroccan to death for mercenary charges.
