UK summons Russian ambassador over British national’s death in Ukraine

• The UK Foreign Office has summoned the Russian ambassador over the death of Paul Urey.
• Urey was detained in April and charged with mercenarism, self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic ombudsman.
• He had been “diagnosed with a number of chronic diseases,” according to the statement.

The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has summoned Russian Ambassador Andrei Kelin “to express the United Kingdom’s deep concern at reports of the death of British National Paul Urey in captivity in non-Government controlled areas of Ukraine,” according to a statement issued Friday by the FCDO.

“I am shocked to hear reports of the death of British aid worker Paul Urey while in the custody of a Russian proxy in Ukraine. Russia must bear the full responsibility for this,” UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss stated.

Truss said Urey “was captured while undertaking humanitarian work” and that he was in Ukraine “to try and help the Ukrainian people in the face of the unprovoked Russian invasion.”

“The Russian government and its proxies are continuing to commit atrocities. Those responsible will be held to account,” Truss said. “My thoughts are with Mr Urey’s family and friends at this horrendous time.”

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According to a statement on the website of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic ombudsman Daria Morozova, a British citizen named “Paul Johnson Anthony Dominic Urey” was detained in April and “charged with mercenarism.” Urey had been “diagnosed with a number of chronic diseases,” according to the statement.

Truss has directed Sir Tim Barrow, the FCDO’s second permanent under-secretary, to summon Kelin “to urge Russia to clarify the status of Mr Urey,” according to the FCDO.

“Sir Tim will demand that the Russian Federation fulfil all of its obligations under International Humanitarian Law, including respecting and protecting all civilians,” the FCDO stated.

“He will make clear that the UK holds the Russian Federation responsible for the safety and welfare of civilians in the non-Government controlled areas of Ukraine, including those within the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk ‘People’s Republics’, which the United Kingdom does not recognise as independent states,” it added.

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