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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World
Bill McLoughlin

British aid worker held by Russian separatists ‘murdered’, says MP

A British aid worker who was detained by Russian separatists may have been murdered, an MP has said.

Speaking in Parliament on Thursday, Alicia Kearns, MP for Rutland and Melton, called on the Government to look into the case of Paul Urey.

Mr Urey, 45, from Warrington, Cheshire, died on July 10 while he was in detention by Russian separatists.

The human rights ombudsperson for the Moscow-supported leadership in Donetsk has previously said Mr Urey died of chronic illnesses and stress, but Ukrainian officials have said his body showed signs of "possible" torture.

Ms Kearns sought reassurance that "the Government is doing all it can to hold Russian proxies to account for his murder", adding "because it was exactly that, by a state".

Defence minister James Heappey said: "We certainly are doing all that we can."

Mr Urey, who was described as an aid worker by the UK, was detained at a checkpoint near the south-eastern city of Zaporizhzhia in April and was accused of being a mercenary.

Despite initial conclusions surrounding his death, Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said there had been signs “of possible unspeakable torture”.

Previously, the Foreign Office summoned Russia’s ambassador over the reports of Mr Urey’s death in detention.

This comes as five other British nationals held by Russian-backed forces returned to the UK on Thursday.

Aiden Aslin, John Harding, Dylan Healy, Andrew Hill and Shaun Pinner have been reunited with their families after landing at Heathrow Airport, according to a UK non-profit.

The five were released after Saudi Arabia said it had brokered between Russia and Ukraine.

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