The State Department said Russia needs to be held accountable for the death of British humanitarian aid worker Paul Urey.
Urey was in Russian custody at the time of his death after being wrongfully captured, according to The Guardian.
“We are saddened and deeply disturbed at the death of Paul Urey, a British humanitarian aid worker who was captured by Russia while doing humanitarian aid work in Ukraine,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a July 18 post on Twitter. “Russia must be held accountable for the atrocities it is committing in its brutal war against Ukraine.”
Urey was a 45-year-old British aid worker who was working independently in Ukraine as a volunteer. He was captured and held hostage by pro-Russia separatists in the Donetsk People's Republic (DNR) after being detained at a checkpoint in southern Ukraine April 29, according to The Guardian. On July 10, the DNR's ombudsman, Daria Morozova, wrote on Telegram that Urey died from “illness and stress.”
Urey had been diagnosed with numerous chronic diseases prior to his capture, which included insulin-dependent diabetes, respiratory damage, kidney damage and numerous cardiovascular system diseases, The Guardian reported. Additionally, he was being held on charges relating to “mercenary activities.”
