Russian tycoon Roman Abramovich played a key role in negotiating the release of five British POWs from their Ukraine prison hell, it has been claimed.
The five - some having been locked up on death row - enjoyed an emotional welcome back to the UK with their families via Saudi Arabia on Thursday.
One of the men, former British Army soldier, Andrew Hill, 35, was injured in a shooting and detained in the Russian-occupied Mykolayiv region. He shared details of his experience with a fellow passenger, engineer Alec Pettet whose family lives in Newtownards, Co Down. Mr Hill revealed that former Chelsea FC owner Abramovich, 55, had acted as a go-between with the Kremlin for their release.
