Aid worker Paul Urey’s body has “signs of possible unspeakable torture”, says Ukraine.
Image source, HandoutThe body of a captured British man who died in detention has been returned by Russia with signs of “possible unspeakable torture,” Ukraine says.
Paul Urey, aged 45, is reported to have died in detention in July after being captured by pro-Russian separatists.
He was being held captive in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) breakaway region of Ukraine.
The UK has previously described Mr Urey as an aid worker and said Russia must face responsibility for his death.
Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said “Russians” had now returned his body with “signs of possible unspeakable torture,” giving no further details.
He went on to condemn the detention and torture of civilians as a war crime, vowing to “identify perpetrators of this crime and hole them to account.”
Mr Urey, from Warrington, Cheshire, was detained at a checkpoint near the south-eastern city of Zaporizhzhia in April and accused of being a mercenary.
Speaking to the BBC after the reports of his death, Mr Urey’s mother said she had been “so upset” when she heard of her son’s plans to go to Ukraine.
“Part of me thinks maybe he just, because of how ill he was, maybe he wanted to go and die there doing something,” she said.