Following ‘perhaps terrible torture,’ the corpse of a British aid worker who was kidnapped by Putin’s goons in April was returned to Ukraine.
According to reports, Paul Urey, 45, passed away in a Russian prison in July from “illnesses” and “stress.”
Dmytro Kuleba, the foreign minister of Ukraine, said on Wednesday that “Russians” had brought back Mr. Urey’s remains for burial.
But according to Ukrainian authorities who spoke to The Sun, the body had visible evidence of abuse and was missing body parts.
Mr. Kuleba committed to look for those responsible for Mr. Urey’s killing and denounced Russia’s “barbarism and horrible war crime.”
Accused of being a mercenary, Mr. Urey, of Warrington, Cheshire, was stopped at a checkpoint near Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, in April.
Over ten weeks after the father of two had been kept captive by rebels in the Donetsk area, his death was confirmed in July.
Russian authorities said that Mr. Urey’s death was caused by sadness and a chronic ailment. He had type 1 diabetes and needed insulin.
However, following previous allegations made by the British man’s loved ones, Ukrainian officials assert that he was tortured after learning of his death.
The remains of Paul Urie, a British aid worker who was seized by Russia in April and declared dead in July as a result of “illnesses” and “stress,” have been returned. On Wednesday, Mr. Kuleba tweeted, “With indications of potential horrible torture.”
“Detaining and torturing people is brutality and an abhorrent war crime,” the statement reads.
According to the publication, officials saw that Mr. Urey’s corpse had many wounds and dismembered body parts.
I send my sincere condolences to Paul Urie’s family and friends, Mr. Kuleba continued. He was a courageous man who devoted his life to helping others.
He and his actions will never be forgotten in Ukraine. We will find perpetrators of this crime and bring them to account. They won’t get away from justice.
After learning of Mr. Urey’s death in July, Lyndsey Coulton claimed that her brother had been subjected to torture while being held captive.
She said at the time that “[The Russians] did something to him, I assume they tortured him.” “Officially he died from a chronic disease and depression, but I don’t believe that was the cause,” the speaker said.
More could have been done to rescue him, Ms. Coulton said. Why wasn’t he involved in a prisoner exchange?
She was right, according to Gulagu founder Vladimir Osechkin, whose death was compared to other prisoners who had been tortured in Russian prisons.
Our source said that beginning on April 28, 2022, Paul Urey was held at the Donetsk torture pre-trial detention facility, where he was assisted by torture specialists from the FSIN (the Russian penal system) and FSB (the Russian secret agency).
The Briton “suddenly had huge health problems” because the function of his kidneys and other important organs was interrupted. Russian prison physicians provide the same diagnosis to individuals who are tortured to death in bars.
Mr. Urey, who hails from Culcheth near Warrington, has been working with the Presidium Network, a humanitarian organisation, to try to save women and children from Ukrainian villages close to the frontlines.
His passing set up a vehement diplomatic spat between the UK and Russia.
Mr. Urey was imprisoned before his murder in pro-Russian separatists’-occupied area in Ukraine. In addition to establishing a people’s republic, they also swore fealty to Moscow.
Daria Morozova, a spokesperson of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), charged that British officials “ignored the prospect of negotiating his release” and “did not supply the essential medical supplies via the Red Cross.”
After his death, former Foreign Secretary Liz Truss led the outcry, declaring: “Russia must take full responsibility.” He was aiding Ukrainian people in the face of the unjustified invasion. The perpetrators will answer for their actions.
Regarding Mr. Kuleba’s claim that the humanitarian worker had undergone “possibly terrible torture,” the current prime minister Truss has not made a public response.