The daughter of a British aid worker who died after being captured by Russian-backed forces shared the family’s heartache after five prisoners of war returned to the UK this week.
Paul Urey, 45, from Culcheth near Warrington, is believed to have died in July while imprisoned in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic. Fellow British humanitarian worker Dylan Healy, 22, detained alongside him, was among the five prisoners flown home this week.
The human rights ombudsperson for the Moscow-supported leadership in Donetsk has previously said that Mr Urey, who suffered from type 1 diabetes and was reliant on insulin, died of chronic illnesses and stress.
While five families were overjoyed to be reunited with their loved ones, for Mr Urey’s daughter Chelsea Coman, 20, there were “mixed emotions” after learning the Britons had been freed.
“We’re happy for the five men that have returned; we are happy for the families,” Ms Coman told the i newspaper.
“At the same time we are jealous, but not in a bitter way, that we won’t get that. Because our dad’s not returning home.
“The men were released from prison – they’ve got on a plane and were home in 24 hours. Whereas my dad was released two weeks ago, and I’m having to pay £10,000 to get him home.”
Ms Coman has raised more than £8,000 on GoFundMe to bring Mr Urey’s body home from Ukraine after she and her 17-year-old sister Courtney were told by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) that they would need to pay nearly £10,000 in repatriation costs.
“He doesn’t deserve to be out there at the minute,” Ms Coman said.
“It would set our mind at ease to be able to lay him to rest and know that he’s not in a different country still suffering, even though he’s died.
“We would get closure.”
Ms Coman, a full-time parent to her two-year-old daughter in Manchester, found out about her father’s death after seeing it on the news. Her stepfather, Christopher Chadderton, had tried to get to Ms Coman and her sister to tell them before they heard elsewhere, but was too late.
“[A journalist] rang me and explained about Paul’s death,” Mr Chadderton, 53, said.
He added: “Me and the children’s mum, we rushed back to try and tell the girls before they heard it on the news, but as we got there the girls were sobbing, holding each other.
“That was heartbreaking for me, to see the girls going through that.”
Mr Chadderton, a retiree, criticised the FCDO for leaving his stepdaughters “in a state of limbo, not knowing whether they could get their father back”.
“For me, personally, it doesn’t sit right,” he said.
“Rather than saying ‘don’t worry about the money, we’ll get your dad back’, it was a case of ‘to bring your dad back is going to cost this much’.
“I don’t understand how they could lead on two young girls in a situation [they were in] when they were grieving and confused. [There was] a lot of anger.”
It is understood that John Harding, Dylan Healy and Andrew Hill were set free alongside Shaun Pinner and Aiden Aslin on Wednesday and landed in Britain in the early hours of the following day.
Mr Harding said the UK-sanctioned billionaire businessman Roman Abramovich had played a “key part” in their release and described him as a “lovely guy” and a “legend” in an interview with The Sun.
“He’s [Abramovich] well respected by Ukrainians and massively by us now, too – he’s done a hell of a lot for us and we couldn’t thank him enough,” Mr Harding said.
“He was a sound bloke, a really lovely guy. He’s a legend – we absolutely love him and I’m so grateful for his efforts.”
An FCDO spokesperson said: “We have supported Paul’s family throughout this ordeal and will continue to work with the Ukrainian authorities to get him home. Our thoughts remain with the Urey family at this difficult time.
“The FCDO is unfortunately not able to pay for the repatriation of British nationals who have died overseas.”
