Conflicts & War

Two British aid workers captured by Russians in Ukraine

London, Apr 29 (EFE).- The Russian army has allegedly captured two British humanitarian workers in Ukraine, a non-profit said Friday.

A spokeswoman for the Britain-based Presidium Network told EFE that the Russian captured the two men at a security checkpoint near the southern city of Zaporizhzhia on Monday.

The British Foreign Office was yet to confirm the capture.

The non-profit said the two captured civilians were not workers of Presidium Network.

They were in Ukraine independently and voluntarily, even as they were in contact with members of the organization.

The Russian army arrested them when they were trying to evacuate a family – a woman and her two kids – from a town located south of Zaporizhzhia, a city on the Dnieper River.

The organization alleged that the Russian forces had razed their house.

In a statement, Presidium Network co-founder Dominik Byrne identified the pair as Paul Urey and Dylan Healy from Manchester and Cambridgeshire, respectively.

“Healy was captured by the Russian military at a checkpoint in Ukraine last Monday and last contact with him was at 3 GMT (on Monday,” Byrne said.

He noted that they feared that the Russians would portray them as British spies. “They are civilian volunteers.”

A statement from Paul Urey’s family expressed “deep concern” over his whereabouts and warned that the man was a diabetic patient and required insulin treatment.

On Thursday, the British Foreign Office confirmed the death of a British citizen in Ukraine.

The foreign office said another UK national was missing. It did not provide details.

British media said the two men were believed to have been fighting against the Russian forces in Ukraine as volunteers supporting the Ukrainian army. It has not been verified officially. EFE

prc/ssk

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