UK aid worker charged with being a mercenary by Russia is being used as an 'asset', says non-profit

There is a "genuine feeling" these men are being treated as hostages rather than prisoners, and the way they're being dealt with "in no way" conforms with the rule of law, reports Correspondent John Ray from Ukraine

An aid worker who potentially faces the death penalty after being charged with being a mercenary in Ukraine is being used as an "asset" by Russia and the pro-Moscow Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) in order to "force negotiations" , according to a non-profit organisation which he was affiliated with.

According to Russian state media Tass, Cambridgeshire aid worker Dylan Healy, 22, and military volunteer Andrew Hill have been charged with carrying out “mercenary activities”.

The outlet reported both men were refusing to co-operate with investigators.

Speaking to ITV News, Dominik Bryne, co-founder of Presidium Network - a non-profit organisation which Mr Healy was affiliated with - said the former chef had been helping to evacuate a woman and child from near Zaporizhzhia when he was captured by Russian forces.

Mr Healy was reportedly captured along with fellow aid worker, 45-year-old Paul Urey, in April. No mention of Mr Urey has been made in the latest set of charges.

Co-founder of Presidium Network Dominik Byrne said the Dylan Healy is being used as an "asset" by Russia to force negotiations

Mr Byrne told ITV News he was "concerned" that Mr Byrne was being "falsely accused with no evidence". He said that his network had proof that the 22-year-old was "100%" an aid worker and this had been supplied to the British government and to the Red Cross.

Mr Byrne continued that Mr Healy was not part of the Ukrainian military "wasn't armed, wasn't attached to the military in the UK before this and has never been in service".

"There was no way that he was a mercenary on the ground," he added.

Addressing what he said was a "bogus charge with no evidence at all", Mr Byrne said it was a tactic used by the DPR and Russia "to force negotiations with allies of Ukraine".

He continued it is a "huge concern and against international conventions, and really goes against what human rights is".

As a humanitarian worker, Mr Healy should be released, Mr Byrne said.

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The government has also condemned Russia for the "exploitation" of prisoners of war and civilians for political purposes.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is understood to be actively investigating and is providing support to both Mr Byrne and Mr Hill's families.

An FCDO spokesperson said: “We condemn the exploitation of prisoners of war and civilians for political purposes and have raised this with Russia.

“We are in constant contact with the government of Ukraine on their cases and are fully supportive of Ukraine in its efforts to get them released.”

Back in April, a video shown on Russian television featured a man speaking with an English accent who appeared to give his name as Andrew Hill from Plymouth.

A pro-Kremlin website said Mr Healy and Mr Hill would face the same mercenary charges as Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, two British military volunteers captured in Mariupol who have been condemned to death in Donetsk.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) on Thursday intervened in the case of Mr Aslin and Mr Pinner.

The Strasbourg-based court indicated to Moscow that it should ensure the death penalty imposed on Mr Aslin, 28, originally from Newark in Nottinghamshire, and Mr Pinner, 48, from Bedfordshire, is not carried out.

Mr Aslin and Mr Pinner were living in Ukraine before the invasion and the UK government has insisted that, as legitimate members of the Ukrainian armed forces, they should be treated as prisoners of war under the Geneva Convention.

It came after the government on Wednesday announced it was imposing sanctions on Russia’s second richest man, Vladimir Potanin, and Vladimir Putin’s cousin, Anna Tsivileva, in the latest round of measures targeting allies of the Russian leader.

Mr Potanin is the owner of the Interross conglomerate.

Ms Tsivileva is president of the JSC Kolmar Group coal mining company.