Two British men have gone missing in Ukraine according to the country’s national police.

Officers said Andrew Bagshaw, 48, and Christopher Perry, 28, were last seen on Friday.

They were heading to the town of Soledar in the eastern Donetsk region of the country, where heavy fighting is reported, and contact with them was lost.

Bagshaw, a resident of New Zealand, was in Ukraine to assist in delivering humanitarian aid, according to New Zealand media reports.

A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesman said: ‘We are supporting the families of two British men who have gone missing in Ukraine.’

It comes after five Britons were released by Russian-backed forces in Ukraine in September.

It is understood that Aiden Aslin, Shaun Pinner, John Harding, Dylan Healy and Andrew Hill were released and flown back to Britain.

National Police of Ukraine announced they were missing on Facebook.

In a statement they said: ‘On January 7, around 5:15 pm, the duty unit of the Bakhmut district police department received a report of the disappearance of two volunteers – citizens of Great Britain, aged 28 and 48.

‘It is known that the day before, January 6, at eight o’clock in the morning, Andrew Bagshaw and Christopher Parry left Kramatorsk for Soledar, but contact with them was lost.’

A statement on behalf of Mr Bagshaw’s parents was released this morning, which read: ‘Andrew is a very intelligent, independently-minded person, who went there as a volunteer to assist the people of Ukraine, believing it to be the morally right thing to do.

‘He was born in the UK, and Philip and Susan are very grateful for all the agencies from both London and NZ, who are working so hard to find him.

‘They are particularly grateful to Kiwi K.A.R.E, an NGO working with volunteers in Ukraine.

‘Andrew’s parents love him dearly and are immensely proud of all the work he has been doing delivering food and medicines and assisting elderly people move from near the battlefront of the war.’

NZ Herald have reported Kiwi K.A.R.E director Tenby Powell has previously praised Bagshaw’s work helping Ukrainian citizens, ‘Andrew has been doing incredible work’.

Mr Parry also joined other volunteers on a rescue mission in Ukraine to help people escape bombed areas.

Speaking to Sky News last year he said: ‘I went to a military command unit and spoke to a number of soldiers who described Bakhmut as the ‘worst place they had ever been’.

They were saying ‘this isn’t war, this is hell’. They call it the grey zone, because no one really has control, you could just bump into a Russian at any moment.

‘Missiles were landing on the building next door, the roof was shaking. I asked the soldiers, how feasible is it to get to the location of the next evacuee, and they said it was 50/50 you were going to get shot at by a tank.

‘They kept saying ‘you’re crazy, you’re crazy’ and they gave me an emblem from World War II which they took off a Russian which they had killed. It was a Nazi swastika from 1939.’

Asked what he plans to do now he doesn’t have access to a 4×4, Mr Parry said: ‘I have a Mercedes Sprinter van, which is capable of going to the majority of places, but not the most vulnerable.

‘I think people trying to evacuate now are either being shot dead or being forced to become Russian for the rest of their lives.

‘That is why I was willing to risk it, because I know that these people will be executed out on the street or shipped off.

‘Of course I’ll continue to work as much as I can, in areas that aren’t as dangerous. But I am here to go to the most vulnerable to try and help.

‘I am willing to go to the places that a lot of people aren’t.

‘I’ve calculated that the cost of the vehicle was £7,000, I evacuated 30 people so it works out around £500 per person. People say you can’t put a price on life, but some of these people would 100% be dead.’

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