Urey, who according to his family was working as a humanitarian aid worker in Ukraine, died in custody on July 10, a spokeswoman for the separatists said on Friday in the online service Telegram. He was not a humanitarian worker, but a mercenary, but still received “appropriate medical care” in detention.
A medical examination of the man after his arrest several weeks ago revealed a number of chronic diseases such as diabetes, lung and kidney weakness and several cardiovascular problems, the spokeswoman said. “Given this diagnosis and the stress, he passed away on July 10.” The exact circumstances of death could not be independently verified.
According to media reports, the Brit was traveling with an aid transport in the contested Zaporizhia region in south-eastern Ukraine, where he was arrested by troops loyal to Moscow. The Separatists accused him of being a mercenary. In an interrogation video broadcast on Russian television, he stated that he had already fought in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya.
The separatists sentenced several foreigners to death as mercenaries for the Ukrainian troops. The deceased was not one of those convicted.
Source: Nachrichten
