A British man who was reported to have been detained by Russian forces while working as a humanitarian aid volunteer in Ukraine has died, separatist rebels have claimed.
Paul Urey, reported to be from Manchester by the Press Association, was captured along with another worker, on April 25 at a checkpoint south of the city of Zaporizhzhia in south-eastern Ukraine.
Daria Morozova, the human rights ombudsperson for the Moscow-backed separatist leadership in Donetsk, said Paul Urey, who they labelled a British "mercenary", died in captivity on Sunday.
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She said he had died of chronic illnesses and stress. "From our side, he was given the necessary medical assistance despite the grave crimes he committed," she added.
The Presidium Network, a non-profit group, said in April that Mr Urey and Dylan Healey, from Cambridgeshire, travelled to Ukraine of their own accord. They were not working for the Presidium Network, which helps to get aid into Kyiv.
The organisation said the pair were driving to help a woman and two children to evacuate when they went missing. Mr Urey, 45, was charged with "mercenary activities" by investigators in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), recognised only by Russia and Syria, in eastern Ukraine before his death, the Mirror reports.
He was questioned about his motives for being in Ukraine on Russian TV while handcuffed. He explained he previously travelled to Iraq, and Afghanistan between 2008 and 2010, as well as to Libya to "help the revolution."
Mr Urey said he wanted to see if the refugee crisis was really as bad as the news in the UK portrays it, as he did not believe it was. He called the British Government "corrupt."
His mother Linda saw the video and said: "This is physically my son, but he is not acting in his natural way; his words are too matter of fact and his facial expressions make me not believe what he is saying. Normally he speaks fast and to the point. I know my son like every mother, and this is not him being natural."
Speaking after his initial capture, Linda Urey said that she had "begged" her son not to return to Ukraine after he'd come home for leave. She said her son had type 1 diabetes and needed regular insulin. Following reports of his death, she told Sky News she was "absolutely devastated."
Russia claims Urey had been suffering from diabetes and respiratory, kidney and cardiovascular issues but that they gave him "appropriate medical assistance." They continued: "However, given the diagnoses and stress, he passed away."
Downing Street has expressed alarm at reports of Mr Urey's death. A No 10 spokesman said: "They’re clearly alarming reports and our thoughts are obviously with his family and friends."
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