Republican Ombudsman Daria Morozova said on her Telegram channel that captive British mercenary Paul Ury died in the DPR. According to him, he died on July 10 due to chronic illness and stress. Recently, the guy was held in one of the institutions of the prison system of the DPR.
The Human Rights Commissioner said that during the first medical examination of a foreign military man, he was diagnosed with several chronic diseases. Including – insulin-dependent diabetes, damage to the respiratory system, various diseases of the kidneys and cardiovascular system.
“Despite the seriousness of the alleged crime, on our part, Paul Uri was provided with appropriate medical care,” says Morozova.
According to him, the British authorities, international organizations and the media did not react in any way to Uri’s detention in the DPR, despite knowing this. “Besides, [власти Великобритании] The Ombudsman did not provide the necessary medicines through the ICRC,” he said. In his opinion, such indifference to the fate of the Briton undermined his mental state.
According to the Telegram channel Rise, the man’s mother told the media that her son is a volunteer, has diabetes and needs insulin.
The DPR Ombudsman also stated in his article that Uri was taken prisoner in April while he was trying to circumvent the checkpoint, which was allegedly controlled by the republican army. Morozova also noted that Uri is a professional soldier (participated in operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya) and engaged in recruiting and training mercenaries for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Paul’s mother Uri Linda reported in an interview weatherAfter his son could not join the army, he decided to work in the field of humanitarian aid. Linda also said that her son is a “family man with children.”
In addition to Uri, two more Britons were previously detained – 48-year-old Sean Pinner and 28-year-old Aiden Aslin. They were sentenced to death in early June. Saadoun Brahim, a 21-year-old Moroccan, was also convicted along with British nationals. They were found guilty of attempting to seize power in the DPR, but dropped the charges under the article “Involvement of a mercenary in an armed conflict or hostilities.” All three appealed.
It was alleged that Pinner was wanted by British law enforcement as he was recognized as a terrorist for his participation in hostilities in Iraq and Syria. For some time he lived with his Ukrainian wife in Mariupol.
The head of the DPR said earlier that the executive service of the Ministry of Justice of the republic has already prepared a place for the execution of foreign mercenaries by non-public execution. If the court refuses to comply with the mercenaries’ objections, the sentence will be executed. Recently, the moratorium on the death penalty in the DNR has been lifted.
Pushilin also said that neither the British nor the Moroccan side had approached the DPR for prisoner exchange negotiations. Shortly before that, Russian Ambassador to London Andrey Kelin said that Great Britain had applied to the diplomatic mission for negotiations on the return of mercenaries to their homeland. But diplomats directed London to DPR specialists, because in this case “we are talking about the jurisdiction of the DPR”.
The DPR also includes three American mercenaries. The last of these, 35-year-old Suedi Murekezi, was arrested in Kherson in June and then sent to Donetsk. This was reported by The Guardian on July 14.
Relatives of the man said he came to Ukraine four years ago and did not take part in the fighting. They believe he was wrongfully accused of war crimes.
The publication notes that Murekezi is currently held in the same place as other previously detained Americans – Alexander Dryuke, 39, and Andy Huyn, 27. They were on the side of Kyiv, who were arrested during “a fierce battle with Russian troops near Kharkov”, The Telegraph reported on June 15.
After that, the State Department announced that Washington was working on a prisoner exchange. But the head of the DPR said that none of the US representatives had contacted him about this.
According to the Washington Post, Druke is in contact with his family and US State Department officials. He hopes that the American authorities will engage in his release. According to the aunt, the United States is working on this, but the American prisoners are in a republic not recognized by Washington, where the United States has no diplomatic relations.
In contrast, Druke said earlier that “if I had a better understanding of what really happened here, I wouldn’t have come.”
The Russian Ministry of Defense previously stated that 7.1 thousand mercenaries from more than 60 countries of the world came to Ukraine. Most are European.
The Russian Ministry of Defense reported that since June 17, about 400 foreign mercenaries were destroyed in three weeks during a special operation by Russia in Ukraine.