A grieving mother desperate for the return of her aid volunteer son’s body from Ukraine has told of her anguish.
Brit Paul Urey, 45, died on Sunday while being held by Russian-backed separatists in Donetsk.
Devastated mum Linda said: “The International Red Cross are trying to get his body home to us. It’s a waiting game, I’m afraid.”
And she added of her torment: “My chest is feeling like it’s going to explode.”
The 62-year-old, from Preston, Lancs, also branded the separatists “murderers” and demanded to know: “Why did you let him die?”
Paul, of Warrington, Cheshire, was on a humanitarian mission when he was captured near Zaporizhzhia.
And Donetsk People’s Republic officials, who held him over alleged “mercenary activities”, said he died through “illness and stress” in custody.
It is feared diabetic Paul could not access medication and failed to cope with interrogations.
The separatists said he was “given necessary medical assistance despite the grave crimes he committed.” They added: “However, given the diagnoses and stress, he passed away.”
Downing Street said the Foreign Office was “urgently investigating” and had summoned the Russian ambassador.
In a propaganda video yesterday Brit Aiden Aslin, captured fighting for Ukraine, said he may be kept alive for three years – despite facing the death penalty.
Care worker Aiden, 28, of Newark, Notts, and fellow Brit Sean Pinner, 48, were falsely convicted of being mercenaries and sentenced to death by the Donetsk People’s Republic.
In the video, broadcast by Kremlin news outlet RT, Aiden was forced to sing the Russian national anthem and told the world his sentence will not be discussed until 2025.
He said he hoped that would allow him to “redeem myself to the people of Donbas so I can tell people what I have experienced while being in Donetsk, like the Ukrainian shelling”.
In a bid to save his life, Aiden has given interviews to pro-Russian journalists condemning the actions of Ukraine.
