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A British aid worker captured by pro-Russian separatists and charged with 'mercenary activities' by the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic has died whilst in detention, Kremlin-backed media has reported.

Paul Urey 'died on July 10,' Darya Morozova, a representative of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, said on Telegram.

Morozova said he died "due to illness and stress" and also mentioned that Mr Urey, who non-governmental organisations describe as a humanitarian volunteer, had diabetes.

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Separatist forces insist he was a 'professional' soldier, or a mercenary, a charge that can bring the death penalty in the region.

"Official representatives of the UK (including the Foreign Office, the embassy in the Russian Federation, and members of the British Parliament) were notified of the capture of Paul Urey.

"Also, at his request, the relevant information was transferred to foreign media. However, no reaction from the UK did not follow," Morozova wrote.

Mr Urey, 45, is believed to be from Culcheth, Lancashire, in the north of England and was captured by the Russian military along with fellow British national Dylan Healy, 22, in April.

Mr Urey was questioned about his motives for being in Ukraine on Russian TV while handcuffed.

He explained he previously travelled to Iraq, and Afghanistan between 2008 and 2010, as well as to Libya to "help the revolution."

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Mr Urey said he wanted to see if the refugee crisis was really as bad as the news in the UK portrays it, as he did not believe it was.

He called the British Government “corrupt”.

Mr Urey’s mother Linda saw the video and said: "This is physically my son, but he is not acting in his natural way; his words are too matter of fact and his facial expressions make me not believe what he is saying.

“Normally he speaks fast and to the point. I know my son like every mother, and this is not him being natural.”

It is said that Healy and Urey were detained at a Russian military checkpoint in the Zaporizhzhia region in late April while evacuating a Ukrainian woman and two children from the war zone.

The Star has contacted the Foreign Office for comment.

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