Russian ambassador to UK summoned to Foreign Office over death of British prisoner

The UK Foreign Office summoned Russian Ambassador Andrey Kelin on Friday 15 July in connection with reports of the death of a British aid worker in custody. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said of his death:

“I am appalled by reports of the death of British aid worker Paul Ury, who was held by Russian proxies in Ukraine. Russia must take full responsibility for this. Those responsible will be held accountable.”

The official representative of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic announced the death of Paul Ury today, writes cnn.gr. His death was also confirmed by the British charity Presidium Network, which says he is a humanitarian worker and denies that he was involved in any military activities.

45-year-old Uri from the British Warrington was detained on April 25 while passing a checkpoint in the Zaporozhye region, he was considered a mercenary who is fighting on the side of Ukraine. Dylan Healy was also detained with him. Volunteers were sent to the war zone with a humanitarian mission – to evacuate a family caught between fire from two sides in the epicenter of the war. Paul died in custody on July 10, separatist authorities said yesterday.

The International Defense Legion of Ukraine confirmed the information about the death of an employee of the humanitarian organization Presidium Network, British citizen Paul Ury, writes “Interfax-Ukraine“, quoting:

“We are saddened by the news of Mr. Uri’s death. We want to clarify that he was not in the International Legion. He did not fight in Ukraine. He was a humanitarian worker, as confirmed by the Presidium Network, the non-profit organization where Mr. Uri worked.”

The International Legion noted that since Uri was not a legionnaire, they could not provide additional information.

Earlier, the “DPR” reported that Paul Ury died on July 10 due to “diagnosis and stress.” They assured him that he was provided with medical assistance.

In April, Dominic Byrne, co-founder and chief operating officer of Presidium Network, reported the kidnapping of two British citizens in the temporarily occupied territory of the Zaporozhye region – Paul Ury and Dylan Gili.

In May, Russian television showed a video of Uri. In the footage, a man in handcuffs says he took a picture of the blown-up bridge “to show evidence that the media in England are lying.” Paul Ury also admitted that he had previously been to Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya. However, the Briton’s mother told the BBC that her son was behaving unnaturally in the video. She’s sure he’s under pressure. The woman was worried about her son’s health – he suffered from type I diabetes and needed insulin.

Relatives of the deceased Briton, writes “Correspondent”, blamed the Russian government and those directly imprisoned for his death. According to them, they know for sure that Paul had insulin with him at the time of his arrest, as he suffered from diabetes. The authorities of the DPR could not help but know what kind of drug it was, and for what diagnosis it was prescribed. They also refused to let representatives of the Red Cross and other international humanitarian organizations come to the prisoners, who tried several times to check the conditions in which the British were being held.

This only indicates, the family believes, that the conditions were appalling, and the DPR did not want to know about it. Now the family wants to return Paul’s body to Britain, but human rights activists believe that there is little chance of this. They intend to ask the British government to join the negotiations on the extradition of the body. In this case, with the help of a forensic examination in Britain, it will be possible to determine the exact cause of Uri’s death. Relatives suspect that he may have been tortured, although there is no independent confirmation of their assumptions.

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