The Russian Federation has returned the body of tortured British volunteer Paul Urey through the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic. He had been illegally held hostage in temporarily occupied Donetsk from April to July 2022, Ukrainian parliament commissioner for human rights Dmytro Lubinets has aid.
"As the ombudsman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, I can already say responsibly today that his death was violent. A person simply cannot endure such torture. I saw a photo of the dead body and anyone who sees it will have no doubts," Lubinets said.
He noted that the final cause of Urey's death would be confirmed by a forensic examination, the British embassy in Ukraine has been duly informed.
Lubinets said that Urey's murder by torture is a war crime, which will serve as another piece of evidence during a tribunal of the Russian political and military leadership.
"The Russian Federation is once again showing its cannibalistic face. Every day thousands of civilians illegally held hostage by Russia in the temporarily occupied territories are tortured and threatened with extrajudicial executions," Lubinets stressed.
He recalled that British nationals Paul Urey and Dylan Healy were captured by Russian military near Dniprorudnyy, Zaporizhzhya Region in late April 2022 when they were carrying out their activities as volunteers evacuating exclusively civilians from the combat zone.
The DPR has not released Dylan Healy and "accused" him of being a mercenary along with four other foreigners - Andrew Hill and John Harding from the UK, Vjekoslav Prebeg from Croatia and Mathias Gustavsson from Sweden.
"As the Ukrainian parliament commissioner for human rights, I express my sincere condolences to the family and friends of violently killed Paul Urey. Ukrainians will never forget everyone who stood up to help our country in the fight against Russian aggression as a civilian volunteer or a military volunteer," Lubinets concluded.
Lubinets appealed to the UN commission of inquiry due to the abuse of the remains of the Ukrainian military by Russians. Lubinets pointed out that the bodies of the dead deserved respect regardless of whether they were military or civilians.