Paul Urey RIP

British aid worker Paul Urey, 45, has died while being held hostage by pro-Russia separatists in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic.

Paul Urey did not go to Ukraine to fight or to hurt anyone - he went to help evacuate refugees. He was arrested and falsely accused of being a mercenary by a puppet state in Donetsk which is effectively a Russian state proxy.

Dominik Byrne, the co-founder and chief operating officer of the Presidium Network, said at the time of Urey’s capture that he was working independently in Ukraine as a humanitarian aid volunteer.

Britain's Foreign Secretary, Liz Truss, has summoned Russia's ambassador to the UK and told him that Britain holds the Russian regime accountable for what happened to Paul Urey.

Britain’s Foreign Office summoned the Russian ambassador, Andrei Kelin, on Friday afternoon to express “deep concern” over reports of Urey’s death.

The foreign secretary, Liz Truss, said: 

“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.”

The exact circumstances of Paul Urey's death are very unclear. But we can say with reasonable certainty that he was a brave man who went to Ukraine, not to harm anyone but to help vulnerable people who were in a desperate situation and that he lost his life after being wrongfully arrested whiled trying to provide that help.

Paul Urey will  be remembered as a hero by the people of both Ukraine and Britain.

Rest in Peace

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