The mother of an aid worker from Manchester who died after being captured in Ukraine said her 'heart is broken' as five British prisoners were released from captivity.
Paul Urey, 45, died in July after being captured by Russian forces whilst working as a humanitarian aid volunteer at a checkpoint south of the city of Zaporizhzhia in south-eastern Ukraine.
Daria Morozova, the human rights ombudsperson for the Moscow-supported leadership in Donetsk, branded Mr Urey a 'mercenary' and claimed he had died in captivity of chronic illness and stress. After Mr Urey's body was released by pro-Russia forces, Ukraine's foreign minister said it had showed signs of 'possible unspeakable torture.'
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In a exchange brokered by Saudi Arabia between Russia and Ukraine, five British nationals captured in Ukraine have now been returned to the UK and reunited with their families, the PA news agency reports.
These include Dylan Healy, from Cambridgeshire, who was captured alongside Mr Urey whilst volunteering. Aiden Aslin, John Harding, Andrew Hill and Shaun Pinner also returned to Heathrow Airport last night.
Mr Urey's devastated mother, Linda Urey, said whilst she was "happy" for the men who were freed, she felt a deep sense of grief that her son wasn't one of the men returned home to safety.
It's understood Mr Urey's body still remains in Ukraine as his family desperately try to raise the funds necessary to repatriate his body back to the UK.
"Today should have been a happy day as they've done the prisoner swap," she said. "My son should of been on that plane but he is still in Kiev almost three months dead and not coming home.
"I'm happy for those who are freed but heartbroken by my son's death. I have nothing to celebrate, I'm numb and my heart is broken into a thousand pieces and my nightmare isn't over yet."
Mr Urey's daughter, Chelsea Coman previously told the M.E.N they had been quoted up to £10,000 by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) to repatriate her father's body.
A gofundme page set up by the family has so far reached just over £5,000 of the £10,000 target, as they ask for the public's help to return their dad so that they can hold a funeral.
Commenting on the possibility that her father was tortured, Miss Coman, from Audenshaw, said: "It's horrific to hear what might have happened. He went over there to help on his own and this is how badly he was treated."
The Foreign Office had been working for months to support those detained, while it is believed that Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman was involved in helping to free the British nationals.
Ms Truss, who is visiting New York for a UN summit where world leaders are discussing the ongoing war in Ukraine, thanked Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky "for his efforts to secure the release of detainees, and Saudi Arabia for their assistance."
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said the release "brings to an end many months of uncertainty and suffering, including the threat of the death penalty, for them and their families, at the hands of Russia."
"Tragically that was not the case for one of those detained and our thoughts remain with the family of Paul Urey," he said in a statement released on Wednesday night.
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