British citizen Paul Urey, captured in April by pro-Russian forces in eastern Ukraine and accused of having fought as a mercenary in Donbass, died last Sunday in a prison in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, the Ombudsman reported today. , Daria Morozova.
According to what he told the Donetsk news agency (DAN), in the first medical examination Urey was diagnosed with “a series of chronic diseases”.
According to Morozova, among them insulin-dependent diabetes, damage to the respiratory system and kidneys, and a number of diseases of the cardiovascular system were detected.
In addition, added the Ombudsman of the self-proclaimed Donetsk Republic, Urey “was in a depressed psychological state due to indifference to his fate in his homeland.”
The separatist policy maintained that Urey understood that “British representatives ignored even the possibility of negotiating his return as part of the prisoner exchange procedure”.
In addition, he maintained, they did not provide the necessary medical supplies through the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
After accusing London of the alleged poor state of health, Morozova assured that, “despite the seriousness of the alleged crime” of which he is accused of having fought in the ranks of Ukraine, “Paul Urey was given the corresponding medical assistance “. “However, given the diagnoses and the stress, he passed away on July 10,” she said.
According to the version of the pro-Russian Donetsk, Urey was captured in April while trying to pass a checkpoint of the separatist forces.
According to the Donetsk News Agency, the British led combat operations and also recruited and trained mercenaries for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Before the Russian military campaign in Ukraine, he would have fought in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya. “He was a professional soldier,” says the pro-Russian agency.
Morozova assured that international organizations, as well as official representatives of the United Kingdom, were notified of the capture of Urey, but “there was no reaction” from London.
According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, there are approximately 2,700 mercenaries in Ukraine, who await the maximum prison sentence if they are captured.
The Supreme Court of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic sentenced two British citizens, Shaun Pinner and Aiden Aslin, and a Moroccan, Graguim Saadun, to death in June for considering them mercenaries.
The Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has issued precautionary measures for the three prisoners captured during the Russian military campaign in Ukraine, but Russia has already said that it will not comply with them.
Russia alleges that International Humanitarian Law does not cover mercenaries as combatants.
However, both Ukraine and the ECHR have stated that all three belong to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
All three were assigned to the 36th Marine Brigade in Mariupol, in the Donetsk region.
