four questions after the death in custody of Briton Paul Urey in the separatist Donbass

“Russia must bear full responsibility.” London asked Moscow for accounts on Friday July 15 after the death of Briton Paul Urey, announced a few days earlier by the separatist forces in power in the Donetsk region of Ukraine. These claim that he is dead “illness and stress” during his detention. He was accused by the Russians of having “led military operations, recruited and trained mercenaries for Ukrainian armed bands”. Franceinfo is looking into the questions raised by this death.

How was he arrested?

The International Defense Legion of Ukraine, which includes foreign fighters, told the Interfax agency that Paul Durey was a worker employed by a humanitarian organization. As early as April 29, the UK-based NGO Presidium Network announced that two independent aid workers it knew, Paul Urey and Dylan Healy, had been captured by the Russian army in southern Ukraine. , as they sought to evacuate a woman and two children.

The arrest took place on Monday April 25, according to Dominik Bryne, co-founder of the NGO, who then gave an interview to the British channel ITV (in English). According to him, Russian soldiers entered the home of the woman whom the two Britons were trying to evacuate. The husband was reportedly forced to lie on the ground, while the soldiers searched for the two aid workers, described as“British spies”.

What was he accused of?

Separatist authorities in Donetsk claim the Briton was a “professional military” who had previously fought in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya. He is accused of carrying out operations in Ukraine, while playing a role in the recruitment and training of foreign fighters for kyiv.

Paul Urey is presented by Presidium Network as a 45-year-old family man from the north of England, between Manchester and Warrington. According to the NGO, he was not engaged in the army but he did spend eight years in Afghanistan as a civilian contractor.

A week after his arrest, images of the handcuffed Briton were broadcast on the Rossiya 1 channel. Paul Durey said he had traveled to Ukraine to check whether “the refugee crisis was really as bad as the UK was saying” and for “show evidence of UK media lies”. These remarks seem not very spontaneous: his mother, Linda, estimated that her son had spoken under duress, in an interview with Sky News (in English).

What do we know of his death?

Paul Urey’s mother had assured that her son was on a humanitarian mission, that he suffered from type 1 diabetes and that he needed insulin. “IHe was receiving adequate medical help. Despite this, in view of his diagnosis and the stress, he died on July 10.had announced (in Russian) a separatist official from the Donetsk region.

According to Daria Morozova, the deceased suffered from diabetes, kidney, respiratory and heart problems, as well as psychological distress. She asserts that the British authorities were informed of Paul Urey’s detention but that they would not have done anything for him, nor even ensured the transfer of medical supplies through the International Committee of the Red Cross.

After the announcement of the Briton’s death, London summoned the Russian ambassador on Friday to ask him for an explanation. In addition, the British Foreign Office claims to have raised the issue with kyiv and Moscow, in an email sent to the washington post (in English).

Are there other Western detainees?

The fate of the two prisoners raises concerns about foreign nationals captured in the Donbass. Thus, the separatist territory of Donetsk, whose independence Moscow recognized just before its February 24 attack on Ukraine, has already sentenced two other Britons and a Moroccan to the death penalty. These three men were indeed fighting: they were captured during the general surrender of the Ukrainian soldiers of the Azovstal factory in Mariupol.

>> War in Ukraine: why foreign fighters captured in the Donbass risk the death penalty

Here again, the Donetsk authorities have retained the qualifier of “mercenaries”, depriving these soldiers of the protection of the Geneva conventions, even though they were alongside the Ukrainian army. The three men lodged an appeal at the end of June and beginning of July with the Supreme Court of the self-proclaimed Republic of Donetsk. The UN has expressed its concern after the death sentence of these prisoners of war, which contravenes the Geneva conventions.